This one is for the flashers.
I know it seems strange to talk about beating the heat when the temperature outside is cooling off. But that is only. a moderate help when dealing with the heat inside. In this entry, I'm sharing my tips for mitigating hot flashes. This topic has come up recently, three times. Three times always triggers some reflection -- maybe I should share it here. At first, I thought, 'but that's not very spiritual.' That thought presumes that life is compartmentalized. I'm letting that world view go.
Here are three tips that have helped me sleep again even with hot flashes.
Bamboo Nightgown!
On a call a few months back, my friend Elizabeth mentioned how her bamboo nightgown helped so much with the hot flashes. Nights were getting to be quite problematic. I would heat up, which would heat up the sheets, which would trigger more heat in me. It was a vicious cycle. I would wake up several times a night feeling like I would combust. As I share a bed, there was a limited area for me to roll onto cool sheets. I frequently flopped over so my head was at the other end of the bed and arrange my body to try and get all of my skin touching cool parts. This only worked until the new part of the bed is hot. And the cycle would repeat. I didn't get how bamboo would make a difference, but I'd give it a go. Turns out, just as advertised, bamboo doesn't become hot and radiate heat back into me. Thanks to Elizabeth and bamboo, I'm sleeping again. I still get night sweats but not the inferno level like before.
Nighttime Emergency Kit
When an intense hot flash occurs, my brain shuts off. I'm incapable of engaging in conversation or even answering simple questions. I can't think at all; I just need to cool off. One day I had an intense hot flash just sitting in the living room. Suddenly, I was on my feet and grabbing an ice pack from the freezer. Oh, it felt so good. I sat down with it pressed along my spine and a normal temperature quickly returned.
That night, I packed up my first nighttime emergency kit. My nighttime emergency kit is a lunch size cooler. In it, I put one long, soft ice pack, like one you would wrap around your neck, and one hard freeze pack. I put it next to my bed. When I get a hot flash intense enough to wake me, I reach down grab the long ice pack and lay it along my spine. I am cooling off and back asleep with barely having woken up. The hard freeze pack is for the nights when I need round two. It stays cold much longer. I haven't gone to bed without my emergency kit since that first night. On occasion, I don't need it, but I'm always glad it's there.
Peppermint Oil
I've read in a number of places that peppermint oil can be helpful for hot flashes. I started keeping a bottle next to my bed. I put a drop behind my ears before I lay down. Some people find it wakes them up, but I don't have trouble falling asleep. I find the aroma soothing and the cooling sensation starts the night off well.
Bamboo nightgown, nighttime emergency kit, and peppermint oil, that's how I'm sleeping through the nights again.
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