I have always know what hot flashes were. As early as I can remember I can picture my mother standing outside in her nightgown in the middle of winter. Thinking my mother was fortunate to have periods where she was warm was apparently a grave misunderstanding on my part.
I am one of "those people" who in the middle of summer will have a blanket over me just to take the chill off; while others around me are in shorts and a tank top. So when I was told that a possible side effect was hot flashes I thought "bring them on"...finally I will be warm. What I was not anticipating was the degree in which they occur.
When you go to a Thai restaurant they forewarn you that dishes are one chili hot (mild) up to four chilies hot (bum burner)...well hot flashes kind of work the same way. Sometimes I just get a mild wave..just to warm you and other times I feel like I need to strip off and dance naked in the snow. I wonder what the neighbours would say?
I also wish there was a way to gauge when they came on and to what "chili" level they would be. I have discovered dressing in layers is probably the way to go and I am glad it is winter as the 4 chili ones would be brutal in the summer.
Here is my hot flash guide:
One Chili- This is just a mild wave of heat. It causes a slight perspiration line on the top of your lip and only warms your face. These tend to come in waves of three or four and are just enough to annoy you as opposed to warm you.
Two Chilies- I tend to get these after eating spicy food or while all bundled up waiting for my husband to still put on his shoes. Not only does the perspiration line occur but you feel like to want to lift your wig up a bit just to let some of the steam out. This one often causes sweat along your brow and lip line..sometimes extending to the back of your neck. These can be cooled down quickly with a couple of quick pulls to your shirt acting as a body fan or a cool cloth to the back of your neck.
Three Chilies- When I first started getting these it was usually the day or so after chemo but "oh lucky me" <sarcasm> kept having them. These usually occur when I am cuddled up with the hot water bottle, cat and dog in bed. This requires a quick pull down of the covers, flipping the cat off the bed and sending the dog into a barking fit. My face gets flushed as though I have drank one too many bottles of wine and my back is sweating. After flinging the hot water bottle off the bed and flapping the sheets like I am trying to take off, some relief of cool air usually sets in and all goes back to normal.
Four Chilies- This one is red hot and I feel sorry for anyone with in a 50' radius of me. These are brutal and I normally experience these day 3 and 4 after chemo and always in the middle of the night when I am/was sound asleep. This is full out war! To conquer this battle..flip all sheets off the bed...sorry to my poor husband..turn the ceiling fan onto high.
As you know animals usually sense a natural disaster and are gone way before the sheets go flying. Once Arctic temperatures are sufficiently felt, you realize you are soaked completely through your pajamas and then you begin to freeze. You cannot get the fan off and sheets up fast enough. You think about changing the wet pajamas but begin to shiver and try to curl into your husband to steal any heat that maybe remaining on him. Only he moves away as your are ice cold and wet and not to mention ...trying to sleep. You find the semi-warm hot water bottle and sheepishly look at your husband only to have him grab the bottle, grumble and go refresh it. This one takes a good half hour until the rest of the night to recover as does all things surrounding. The cat comes back after an hour or so but treads lightly...the dog decides that his bed is a safer, and a less disturbing option and the husband, as wonderful as he is...is probably thinking about the spare room bed.
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