hot flushes post menopause - they're back with a vengeance!

Well past menopause, I don't get hot flushes but if I get up in the night I always find I'm overheated when I get back into bed - just when DH wants to cuddle up!

I had them till I was close to 70 not so often and mostly at night. Speak to your GP or ask to speak to someone who specialises in Menopause.

I still get them but I know what makes it worse - alcohol but I'm on the wagon at the moment - for weight loss but no flushes today or yesterday.

I’m 73. HRT is the only thing that works but I can’t be prescribed because I had breast cancer when I was 66. I had to stop then. I was referred to a menopause clinic and tried on 3 different medications but none worked. I carry a fan and get some funny looks when using it in winter.

I went thru surgical menopause 12 years ago. I had a phase of hot flushes about a month ago. For me, it's linked to how much caffeine I drink. I'm a tea addict and can easily drink 10 or 12 cups a day. It affects my bladder too giving me a bit of urge incontinence. If I give up the tea, both the flushes and the bladder issue go away.

maggierose, my daughter has a fan that she wears round her neck. She's always hot even though nowhere near menopause and says this gadget is the best £10 she ever spent. I just looked at prices and they seem to cost between £10 and £20.

GagaJo

I went thru surgical menopause 12 years ago. I had a phase of hot flushes about a month ago. For me, it's linked to how much caffeine I drink. I'm a tea addict and can easily drink 10 or 12 cups a day. It affects my bladder too giving me a bit of urge incontinence. If I give up the tea, both the flushes and the bladder issue go away.

I was told by my consultant to drink decaffeinated everything (tea, coffee, soft drinks) and also to cut out chocolate. I do check labels as caffeine can be in the most unsuspecting places, including most fruit teas unless they are decaf.

Yes, I still get a vicious one every night and occasionally during the day and I’m 72! I went on HRT at 64 and been on it ever since but although it hasn’t completely stopped the flushes they are greatly improved from having one every hour, day and night. I think I would had gone completely insane if I hadn’t gone on HRT as I’d been suffering for 12 years. So much for ‘it only lasts a few years’ , yeh, right!

I still get them too. I am 63 and well past menopause.

I have thyroid issues, and my endocrinologist thought the flushes may be related, but now thinks otherwise. I didn't realise that HRT could be prescribed post-60. Maybe I will speak to my GP about trying that.

Another here who still gets them. Also, post menopause, I am generally just much of a 'hot' person than I was before. I was always cold before and now I'm the one out without a coat in December. Conversely, my husband who has always warm feels the cold much more now he's older.

It was always me putting my cold feet on him in bed to warm up and now we've reversed roles.

I'm 64 and woke up last night with a mega flush...I could hear my heart beating in my ear and I was soaking...I also felt so anxious and still don't feel the best today....Not felt like this for a few year...

My GP told me that hot flushes can last well into your 80s!!!

My mum told me that HYMNBOOK
I thought she was havering!!!!

Help ,I have been having terrible hot flushes. Waking up two or three times a night recently, well into my 70s. But just doubled my BP tablets and been very anxious , wondering if that's the connection. Always been a worrier,. Full of what if.

I have intermittent atrial fibrillation - on medication, but still get episodes every week or so. I notice that often before/during an episode, I have a feeling of anxiety and may come out in a sweat. (Also still get hot flushes at 70).

If I wake in the night sweating and anxious, the first thing I do is take my pulse. I know it's normally about 60 bpm, but when having an AF episode, it's all over the place, jumpy, hard to find and impossible to count.

Mine and Muffintop - it might be worth trying to take your pulse if you wake like that in a sweat again.

Hot flushes, yes, I am totally mixed up as to whether these flushes are caused by anxiety or if they are related to being in the menopause!
I am 57 ( soon to be 58 but I'm clinging on to my 57 years haaa ) and for the past 5 years have suffered with anxiety which seemed to all link up with going through the menopause! So its safe to say its slightly baffling as to which is causing it !!!

Whichever it is, I just crack on with it, can't do anything else really.

We're allll united ...

Very good information here. Scrolling down to Diagnosis there's a link to a video on taking your pulse.
www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/conditions/atrial-fibrillation
Most people with hot flushes years after menopause will not have atrial fibrillation, but knowing about it is a good thing anyway, as it gets more common as we age.

BigBertha1

I still get them but I know what makes it worse - alcohol but I'm on the wagon at the moment - for weight loss but no flushes today or yesterday.

This for me too. The alcohol bit, that is.

For the first time in ten years, I actually sailed through the hot summer weather, even the nights, relatively speaking (I'm never a good sleeper).
The only reason I could think of was that I had cut out almost alcohol this year.

Then we had a family celebration a couple of weeks ago, and we were left with several part-used bottles of wine that needed using up, plus one of gin.
I haven't over-indulged, but my hot flushes have returned with a vengeance in the couple of weeks since I started having the odd glass of these - the gin in particular,

As far as I am concerned, that was all the confirmation I needed that alcohol triggers my hot flushes, and I need to keep off it.

Thanks everyone for replying ,. Hope it's anxiety,. And will settle once I adjust to the new Ibersartan tablets. I was very worried when my BP was high. Old age never comes alone does it? !!! There always seems to be something ,. Still caring for my mum who is 100 next month,. And doing better than me. Will plod on.

Hi Leonora my ears pricked up when you mentioned the marina coil.
I'm nearly 60 and had one fitted last week as the progesterone part of my hrt.
How did you get on with the marina? Thanks Aly

Gransnet at its best with pooling of helpful advice. Easy to see that there are numbers of cases where 'sufferers' can help themselves when they share the same symptoms : giving up Caffeine is one. The palpitations and true AF and really dodgy feelings that one gets/this one got from too much Caffeine can be improved or completely removed by giving up Caffeine, even for a while, to assess the difference. I remember years ago giving up far too much tea during the working day. I just stopped. Probably not the best idea to go cold turkey. After two days I had such blinding pain and couldn't move my head or neck, couldn't focus, was out of balance etc., that by evening I was seriously thinking of calling an Ambulance!
I got out of bed and carefully wobbled downstairs and decided to make a cup of tea. 10 minutes later, no more symptoms or problems! It was only then I realised the problems that being hooked on Caffeine drinks could cause.
Decaff ever since.

Alcohol is another trigger for night sweats, day sweats too. Anxiety can also make one feel panicky and sweaty and out of control. Lots of sugar in the diet - if eliminated as a test - can often bring about a real improvement.

A young person in my family used to drink loads of CocaCola. He was used to sweating profusely - especially his face and head. When he gave up drinking Coke, he stopped sweating. Is it 7 teaspoons of sugar in each glass?

Sometimes, even in 2022, we're maybe too accepting. It's still possible to hear patients relate that their Doctor or medical advisor told them, don't worry 'it's your age!'
Not always true and not terribly fair - lots of health problems and sweating and sleep problems have little to do with Menopause, but are definitely hormone-related. The best plan is probably to get a referral to an Endocrinologist. Blood tests and a careful appraisal of life style and symptoms can often reveal that something needs 'tweaking'. It's a miracle the human body works like it does - until something is out of sync. That's when it's probably not the best idea to assume it's all due to a natural phase of life that was encountered years ago.

I was so relieved when my Endocrinologist - after a whole raft of tests - informed me that my suffering was all down to my Thyroid. Drugs were prescribed, adjustments made. End of hot flushes and waking in the night in a panic. It's worth a try, as well as being able to have discussions about HRT; but a GP who doesn't specialise is possibly not the best equipped to review hormonal problems when he or she could send you to someone who does specialise and might have the easy answer to lots of our problems.

Interesting thread. I went through a normal menopause in my early 40's. Probably due to the different types of steroids I was taking them due to a serious on-going illness. By my 50th birthday and operation to remove my large colon, thought this was all behind me.

A few years back I was put on vaginal pesseries to treat my constant UTI's. I am now 81 and, much to my surprise, still get the occasional hot flush - usually at night. I am by myself so just throw off the covers, etc for five minutes to cool down. I did wonder if that was normal at my age, so this thread has been pretty re-assuring.

Post menopause I did change from someone who was nearly always cold, to as I have been since, always feeling quite warm. Got rid of my winter weight duvet and use a 4.6 tog one during the really cold weather.

Mine have returned too and IM 73.
I’ve heard some people say it’s linked to the Covid jab .

GagaJo

I went thru surgical menopause 12 years ago. I had a phase of hot flushes about a month ago. For me, it's linked to how much caffeine I drink. I'm a tea addict and can easily drink 10 or 12 cups a day. It affects my bladder too giving me a bit of urge incontinence. If I give up the tea, both the flushes and the bladder issue go away.

Try decaf tea and coffee might b better for u