Monday, February 15, 2010

Aaaaand I'm back

Here’s the deal; if I were you I would NOT want to hear about my fucking fantastic vacation. Don’t get me wrong – once I pull pics off the camera you are damn well GOING to hear about it, but in the meantime let me share a little inappropriate personal revelation.

I have been dealing on and off with mega hot flashes due to that bitch we call menopause. The upside is that I have not had a period since SEPTEMBER 2009. That’s somewhere in the neighborhood of five MONTHS. Needless to say this is welcome turn of events.

But sweet baby jesus the hot flashes! All winter I’ve been sleeping with the bedroom window open. Yes, as in even if it BELOW ZERO AND SNOWING I’m sleeping with the damn window open so I don’t wake up in a pool of my own sweat three times a night.

These hot flashes have been coming and going for a while. Oddly I’ll have weeks of relief where they are minimal in number, duration and intensity. As of late I HAD been sleeping clear thought the night which is six kinds of awesome. Then BAM – hotter than the hammered down hinges of hell.

The last several days those suckers were back with a vengeance! By the plane ride home Sunday I was in agony. I must have woken up six or seven times last night. Sheet thrown off, sheet pulled back on, rinse and repeat. I had to dry my hair bare assed naked this morning or risk passing out on the cold, tile floor. Which in hindsight sounds delightful; people it was sixteen degrees outside!

Then mid-morning it hit me. What did I NOT do all last week? What do I fail to do on the weekends and over holidays and the like? Drink GREEN TEA.

Back about a year or so ago I added green tea to my morning office routine. Having read all these bits and pieces about the virtues of green tea I finally found one that didn’t taste like...well…grass clippings that had been steeped in manure.

So as I sipped my morning brew and realized I did not feel as though I were about to spontaneously combust I got to pondering cause and effect. Is it possible all that stands between me and insanity is a teabag? Discuss among yourselves.

7 comments:

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

It hasn't hit me yet, but this is good to know.

Also, you might want to sleep in pajamas made of underarmour material. They make wickedly expensive ones marketed for menopausal women, but the basketball shorts and t's that Wal-Mart sells, made by Starter, would do the same thing for $15.

I know this because when my friend had hot flashes and night sweats from chemo the fabric really helped him.

Jen on the Edge said...

Which green tea do you like?

I'm thinking about Jenn's idea that you wear basketball shorts and t-shirts and am trying to get a mental image of you wearing those.

ree said...

Since the full-on hot flashes haven't hit yet, (although, really...can I just stop having periods and not have to deal with those, please?), I don't know about the green tea, but I can tell you that I try to drink it every day myself...

Try Tazo's Ginger Green (I think that's the name) - yum.

Daisy said...

This is quite possibly the best and most alliterative description of hot ever: "hotter than the hammered down hinges of hell."

Good to have you back.

Anonymous said...

Hm. I'm with you on how that tea tastes, so I've never given it a chance to work it's magic on me.
I'm getting hot and cold flashes lately. Vacillating between DYING of heat and shivering cold. Maybe I'll start drinking tea.

Leanne said...

Shoot. Thanks, I'm writing this one down. I was however hoping that you would suggest that I had to drink more wine to stop them.

Barb said...

Sure, now that I've gotten past hot flashes you tell me! Seriously I always kept ice around to put on my wrists. Seems to help cool you down rather quickly.