I’m into my third week of Operation Stop HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy.) Days 4 through 15 have been much easier than I would have predicted. My main symptom has been nocturnal hot flashes. And thanks to a new “fan”, those have hardly been noticed.
Now I remember, pre-BHRT, that nighttime flashing was a real problem. I’d start burning from the inside and wake up sweating like the proverbial porker. I’d fling the covers off onto my unsuspecting spouse and wait for a nonexistent cooling breeze to manifest. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, I’d finally cool somewhat only to overshoot to the other side of the thermostat and freeze as dampness evaporated from my skin.
Worst of all, I’d be wide awake. And irritated. And sleep deprived the next day. Which irritated me more. You can see why I wasn’t crazy about going off my BHRT even though I’d decided that it was time.
Luckily, help manifested in an amazing form and right on time. My girlfriend’s husband sent me an email about a friend of his who’d invented a special fan to cool those nighttime flashes before they’d awaken his menopausal beloved. Seems she was suffering the same vicious cycle of sleep deprivation/crankiness so many of us are privy to with nocturnal flashing. When his invention gave her back her sleep and equanimity, he knew he had to make more of them. I had to have one! He sent me a prototype to try.
This special Hot-Flash Cooling fan called My Breeze hooks onto the end of a goddess’s bed. A small remote control that can be worn like a necklace or sit on the bedside table is used to activate the fan at the first sign of that telltale heat.
The fan blows blessedly cool air for a couple of minutes (or for however long you have preset it; both time and power are adjustable for each goddess’s preference) thereby stopping the flash in its tracks, before it can overtake you. Most important, it stops before you become fully awake. Goodbye soaked sheets, freezing spells, and sleepless nights. Hello sweeter, gentler, more rested you. And me.
My Breeze comes with courtesy bars to keep the fan from disturbing your mate. And they’re pretty! Which is a big deal to me since I did spring for some nice bed linens recently.
For me, the My Breeze fan is a godsend. It may make the difference between gracefully easing off BHRT or going through a prolonged, uncomfortable withdrawal.
If you also suffer from nighttime hot flashes and resultant insomnia, I recommend that you try this amazing fan. Yep they offer a 14 day free trial. Visit the website and click on “Is it for you?” to ascertain the right fan for your bedstyle, sleeping habits -like whether you sleep with pets and are they trainable like my cat. Okay, maybe trainable is too strong a word. I basically told her that it was time to move to the other side of the bed or actually to occupy that fancy cat bed we bought her years ago. We worked it out.
As for the rest of the journey off BHRT, it’s too soon to tell if there will be other symptoms, but I’m betting no. I’ll keep lifting weights to prevent osteoporosis, exercising, eating right (most of the time), and of course, adjusting my attitude with wine and chocolate.
This looks really interesting. I’ll have to recommend to my clients along with their cool-jams.
Hope all is well.
Anita
I checked out the website for this fan and it looked great until I did the little survey and learned that if you have night sweats it isn’t really advised that you get one. I’m glad that they have the survey there though!