Heidi Rae Coaching - Menopause & My Symptoms

Beauties!

I'm going to talk about what made me realize we had a problem all up in here! I have always been a girl who is cold. Like, all the time. I have always slept in sweats with socks, heavy blankets tucked all up around my face. Super sexy, I know! At work, I have a space heater that is on no matter what month of the year it is AND a heating pad on my back. All day, every day.

It all started with being at work, sitting (literally sedentary). OR at the gym, directly under the fan whilst drinking ice cold Diet Coke (obviously). OR in bed with no covers on and the heating pad off... and all of a sudden, outta no where BOOM! My core body temperature would jump to the point of me looking around to see if I'd just been swallowed up by some hilltop volcano that was spewing fire and ash throughout my extremities. I am not exaggerating. The term, "hot flash," does no justice to the intense flow of lava going through my veins.

I googled, "What can I do when having a hot flash?" Would you like to know what it said?! I'm going to tell you! "Imagine you are laying in a cold place." Allow me to provide my internal response to that very solid advice... WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL?! This had to have been a man, or a woman, who has never experienced these horrific "flashes." You want me to "imagine that it's cold??" I tried it, by the way. It DID.NOT.WORK.

These hot flashes, that for me occur morning and night, have increased anxiety as well. When they come on, and I cannot cool my core down immediately, I find myself panicking. I am in an actual panic, which probably intensifies the hot flash. This is not the best cycle ever invented.

Ice packs help. Stripping down naked helps, but is not recommended at the gym whilst on the treadmill evidently. Also not recommended whilst at work in a public office, it seems. Running cold water on my hands helps. Being present also seems to help me - thinking about my senses, going through them, and reminding myself that it will go away.

The hot flashes, and accompanying anxiety, has been my most common and constant symptom. But, I have others and that's up tomorrow! PREPARE YOURSELF for TMI.