Age,sleep,body heat

[Crankin]

I did not feel hot overall. My experience was more like Helene's, but I didn't get cold after. I had just a couple of flashes a day, but I always awoke with one. That continued long after my period ended. I've been in menopause for 14 years, and I'd say I had a flash upon wakening for 10 years.

[OakLeaf]

I've been menopausal for six years now, and I'm still freezing all the time. Right now we have plenty of heat in the house, and I've got four layers of wool on plus a wool cap, plus before dinner (which, a hot meal will warm me up briefly) I had a heating pad stuck inside my vest all afternoon.

[azfiddle]

As long as I'm keeping up with my HRT I'm fine now- my experience was much like Helene's but when I was waking up 3 or 4 times a night and having trouble staying focused at work, I started hormones. I've tried skipping for a few days and as soon as I do, I start waking up feeling warm (never as bad as my peak sweating hot flashes).... and so I've gone back to the pills. I know I need to get off of them eventually...

[ny biker]

I'm still peri. Whatever I'm experiencing lasts a few months and then changes. Haven't noticed having a warm face upon waking without a full-body flash, but that could change tomorrow...

[Greenbike]

I'm 54, haven't had a period since last July. I now sleep with an extra sheet, so I don't have to disturb hubby in the middle of the night. I wake at midnight and then again about 3 to pee and cuz I'm a bit hot, it goes away quickly if I make sure I have only the sheet on me. I only sleep through the night if I take a sleeping aid (which I don't like to do). I've also been under a lot of stress, and I grind my teeth. So I'm a mess. After reading all your posts I no longer feel alone.

[Catrin]

Surgical menopause in 2008, still haven't had what I would consider a "full" heat flash - at least not what others described and I've never had HRT. I get a little warm sometimes, and I had problems sleeping for a couple years which, in retrospect, was probably due more to "the change" than anything. I do go quickly between stacks of cover at night to just a sheet sometimes, but it isn't extreme. I've noticed that I DO have much more of a problem getting warm in the winter than I once did, and I enjoy hot weather far more than I once did. Unsure if that's from getting older, from being much smaller than I once was, being 8 years post-surgery or all of the above (probably).

[ny biker]

I'm 54, haven't had a period since last July. I now sleep with an extra sheet, so I don't have to disturb hubby in the middle of the night. I wake at midnight and then again about 3 to pee and cuz I'm a bit hot, it goes away quickly if I make sure I have only the sheet on me. I only sleep through the night if I take a sleeping aid (which I don't like to do). I've also been under a lot of stress, and I grind my teeth. So I'm a mess. After reading all your posts I no longer feel alone.

I always wake up at least once each night but it never bothers me. I usually have no trouble getting back to sleep. Even if I have a hot flash, I find that as long as I remain calm I'll be fine. For years I also ground my teeth. I tried plastic bite guards which I got from the dentist, but they didn't work -- I just bit down really hard on them in my sleep. My dentist was surprised since they apparently help his other patients just fine. Eventually I did enough damage to my teeth to warrant a crown and root canal. After that the pain from grinding my teeth was sufficient to wake me up, and somehow that translated into an end to the problem -- the immediate pain put a stop to the subconscious behavior.

[shootingstar]

For certain, I don't feel "colder" nowadays when going to sleep at home in menopause.

Now if I sleep long enough (5-6 hrs. of sleep is actually not that often. I need to work on this.), I feel as if I've lost an extra .5 lb. or more..after going to washroom. It's as if sleeping more and deeply, burns some more "energy" for me. However I have read somewhere, that medically sleeping well and regularily contributes to weight regulation.