Question...
So, I've survived and all. I made it through all the sessions of ABVD and radio and am in my fifth month out of the mire. However, it seems that my inner temperature gauge has gone ahead forty years and I am constantly hot and flustered. During chemo it was not unusual for me to sit infront of a rotating fan strong enough to blow my eyelashes off (literally) and still be hot. I was always on about the air being stifling, the windows always needed to be down in the car and all the doors needed to be open in the house. It drove my family mad, my constant need to "change the stale air". Mum likened it to menopause, inbetween cursing me while her teeth chattered.
But I've still got it. I have always been someone who rugs up and feels the cold before anybody else would so this is unusual for me. I was wondering if anyone else has had/is having similar experiences??
Thanks Annie
P.S. Hats off to all those participating in discussion threads about eating well during treatment. Special mention to Kristi, Paul and Phil. Unreal!! Check out their breakfast menu guys, they'll be healthier when they come out the other side of this, almost like detox.
You were about 2 weeks ahead of me in your treatments so I always paid extra close attention to your posts to get an idea as to what I was in for.
I'm the exact opposite from you. I don't get hot but I get cold VERY easily and my whole metabolism seems to have changed. Before this mess I could lose weight at will depending on how I worked out (lift weights, gain size. Run or do aerobics and the weight would come off easily).
I feel great and am back to working out every day again; the muscle is coming back faster than I expected but I struggle to lose any extra weight no matter what I do. The muscles that got zapped by radiation are also still a bit stiff and a lot less flexible than they were prior to starting radiation - just like you said it feels like my body has aged 20 years. I'm still hopeful that feeling goes away eventually....
Hi Annie I had the exact same heat problem from my first round of chemo I also had ABVD. My doctor told me it destroys our overies and with me being 47 and already going into menopause this put some speed and heat to it. I was having these hot flashes every 22 minutes and worse during chemo. I started drinking red clover tea once a day and no they come about every 5 to 8 hours. I hope this helps.
When I went thru ABVD in 1993 I drank lots of cold water takes away the hot flashes and flushes out the cemo faster. I hope this will help. Also I dont have the hot flashes anymore and its been 15 years. The cemo does put u into monpause faster so you get heated but the out come is that you dont have to buy stocks in kotex anymore :)smile. It is all worth it in the end.
I've been cleared by a gynocologist and my oncologist that I am NOT going through early menopause. And at 25, I'm really glad of that.
Thanks for your replies, even if there's no permenant solution, it's nice knowing I'm not alone. I'll try the red clover tea, I'm assuming you can get it from health food shops.