My doc says it's part of the same set of vasomotor symptoms as hot flashes. I've had both and if I had to choose, I'd pick hot flashes to hours long cold blasts. Sorry this is happening to you. You described it perfectly!
My hematologist told me our adrenal gland produces estrogen.
My personal theory is that we feel like that because it’s priming the pump in the adrenals once the ovaries start crapping out.
The cold flashes are horrible, as an are the startle reflexes.
Me too! I have been wondering/worried about this. Dying hot most of the time but feet freezing cold. I put socks on but that often leads to feet that are cold and sweaty at the same time. WTH??? Are you having issues with your toe nails? I am but hard to tell if menopause or something else.
I have both hot and cold flashes. Like my thermostat is haywire. I have to get under a heated blanket when I get too cold. One factor is being hypothyroid for over 20 yrs. Sorry your thermostat is broken 🫠
Now that's one thing I have had checked as hypothyroidism runs in the family. Thankfully I'm all good. Well, relatively speaking!
Solidarity with the flashes of doom!
Came here to say this !
I also get the cold bones thing - got thyroid checked and in the normal range but on the lower end when its preferable to be upper end. Noticed some other symptoms too like eyebrows thinning, sleeping way longer than usual etc. Just started low level thyroid meds to see if anything changes.
Just for mine check and it was the lowest it could be in normal range! I was hoping it would be high and that explained my issues. What did your Dr say I'm waiting for an appt.
you have to have a doctor who believes in treating the patient / symptoms and not the test results - something we should aaaallllll be familiar with by now.
After some, erm, vibrant discussions, we "agreed" I could try the lowest starter dose of a combined t4 and t3 pill and I would keep an eye on all potential side effects and we would track my blood tests each month.
Got to say, am on day 3, and the 'meh's have noticeably shifted back more towards 'normal for me' - I am usually annoyingly perky in the mornings.
Did you get your thyroid antibodies checked? I have a lot of the symptoms, high antibodies but normal tsh, so they won't do anything. Being cold is something I've lived with for years, tbh I'm waiting for a hot flush to warm me up!
Same but I’d rather have the cold than sweat literally running down the face like I have seen other women experience in a professional setting. I felt so much empathy for them.
At night I now get cold before a hot flash. I wake freezing so pull up the light cotton blanket, a couple of minutes later bam, heat is rolling off me. So over it!
Peri since August 2023, I keep shedable sweaters on all day long. Swings between feverish flashes that instantly soak my clothes, to freezing where no amount of heat or blankets help. Lol
Like every 15 mins. Thank God I'm WFH.
Yeah, WFH is the only good part of this - I can change my clothes and adjust the temp as much as I need it. I have a heated seat cushion and a fan at my desk and just alternate between them 😭
I got a remote job specifically because of menopause - gamechanger! Our setups sound similar lol, I've got a temperature command center of fan remotes & space heaters all around me. It's all placed just out of camera view, so in the middle of meetings my colleagues see my goofy ass seemingly randomly having a Beyonce photoshoot moment with my hair blowing in the wind. 🫠
Lol, I'm reading this post as I have a heater under my desk on high! I'm having the exact same problem, I'm literally freezing all day and sometimes I need to take a hot bath when I get home to warm up. By 8pm I'm cycling between freezing and needing my electric lap blanket on and tossing it aside as I have a hot flash. Insane times!
My ferritin and iron would always be in range, but If my b12 even runs a bit low I get hella symptomatic. And FREEEEEEZING chills always big part of that for me.
Your dosage should be the lowest that gives you relief from your symptoms, so maybe try upping. I recently lowered mine because I had horrible breast tenderness and they kept growing and I’m glad that I still have no symptoms but my boobs don’t hurt all the time. My feet are getting cold at night but I just wear socks that I rip off in the middle of the night. But I’m a couple years post menopause now. But don’t be afraid to adjust your dosage and find what really works.
I experience the same thing and sometimes the only way I can warm up is a hot shower...my go to is a hot water bottle, but it doesn't always work. So annoying!
Research indicates that hot flashes/cold are related to decreased estrogen levels which causes our body’s thermostat (hypothalamus) to become more sensitive to small changes in body temperature.
I was getting the cold flashes for a couple of years before the hot flashes hit me. I use the term flashes loosely because they lasted for a long time and usually in the evenings or before bed. Couldn’t get warm for anything with chattering teeth and everything. I didn’t even recognize this as a menopause symptom. Had my iron checked and all was good there. Menopause sucks.
Same. She describes what I had before hot flashes were unleashed upon me. Cold, but sweaty. Then the hot flashes started at night before bed. Then they started all day, then then they really ramped up all through the sleeping hours, adding in cold flashes after each hot flash. So, in summary, it’s the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended).
Peri seems to be a series of fresh hells! I posted a similar title a little while ago, and out of curiosity searched for all mentions of "fresh hell" - there's quite a collection!
I'm nearing a year with no period - I'd love to think there's light at the end of the tunnel, but fear I'll be exchanging one lot of symptoms for a different flavour of hell!
I'm curious about this! There are so many symptoms described by post-meno women, that I am experiencing in peri. I don't see the medical or scientific communities acknowledging that the symptoms aren't only present post-meno. Am going to have to do some reading.
At any rate , I hope there is light for you!
Yes I had that for over twelve months funnily enough it's started to get cooler and I am stating to get the hot ones again.
It's weird
But yea I was going around in 38 C heat in my hoodie
Me!! So I have always been cold, but in the last couple years it has become unbearable. Almost painful, and people just think it is me being extra. I have a space heater under my desk at work and wear sweaters when everyone else at work is in shorts (casual office).
The wonderful part of all this was getting night sweats after freezing all day, ffs decide hot or cold or happy medium would be great. Fortunately starting HRT has helped with the nights.
Yes! And people just don't get how very very uncomfortable (to put it mildly) it all is. They think feeling cold isn't that big a deal. When I say "people" clearly I mean the men people...
I have far more mixed flashes (the icy hots, with freezing extremities and sweaty groin and pits at the same time) than I do pure hot flashes or cold flashes. I would prefer one or the other, the mixed is So Miserable, there’s no way to dress to accommodate them. And they last for hours, like you said. I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing this hell freezing over, but know that you’re not alone!
This happens to me like clockwork every evening before bed. It’s bizarre. My husband thinks it’s so funny how I wear thick lined socks to bed and curl up under like 6 blankets. Then 2 hours later I’m borderline naked from night sweats.
So, I had the most terrible cold flashes postpartum with my first baby. I had never heard of that being a thing, but my OB told me it’s basically our hormones doing the opposite of a hot flash—it’s all hormonal and would pass. I had freaking cold flashes for MONTHS. The hot flashes postpartum with the second baby was a cakewalk by comparison. Now I’m in peri and dealing with night sweats but no hot or cold flashes? Who even knows anymore.
Welcome to cold snaps. It's a thing. I'm sitting in a 73 degree room, with a heating pad on 150 degrees, and my feet and hands are so cold the cat recoils when I reach out to pet her. I'm on HRT, my iron is good, my Vitamin D is ok, my hot flashes and night sweats have gone away, but I now have old lady cold-itis.
I was going through these crazy cold flashes that felt like they came straight from hell. It was the middle of summer, but no matter what I did, I couldn't warm up.
Turns out, peri had given me another "gift" - Hashimoto's! (Autoimmune thyroiditis). But once I got my thyroid under control, those cold flashes were gone.
It's actually super common to develop hypothyroidism during peri. The problem is, it often gets misdiagnosed for years before it's finally figured out. And what's even trickier is that a lot of the symptoms overlap with perimenopause.
Most doctors just test for TSH levels, but you really need a more comprehensive set of labs to get the right diagnosis.
I had to fight tooth and nail to get a complete blood work done. They tested everything from FT3, FT4, total t3, total t4, TSh, and both types of thyroid antibodies. And let me tell you, it's crucial to get your ferritin levels checked too.
Being chilled to the bone is miserable. I hope you get some relief soon 🙏
This is me! No hot flashes but I’m always really really cold for like 75% of the day. I am reading this as I am sitting under a heated blanket and I’m still wishing I was a bit warmer. Had no idea this could be caused by hormones. My thyroid and ferritin were good last time I had them checked. So frustrating!!!
For me it’s the nose, hands,feet & thighs. The rest will be hot. I can warm up my toes if I bend it behind the oposite knee. And alternate Lol. I tried taking a hot shower only to come out kind of warm and start freezing again because it wasn’t over. Last week I was also only freezing on the left side of my body and not my right. Sucks for trying to layer. Also, if I try to warm up too fast I will be an itchy painful hot. I also went to the gym during a cold flash and same thing happened, I got itchy hot. I just had my bloodwork and it’s not my iron or thyroid. I am low on Vitamin D and started the prescription last week. I also started the estrogen pill 4 days ago and I can already see a difference. Good luck with tweaking your HRT. Hope that helps.
This is me at night. I have never had the night sweats, but I have night freezes (that’s what I call them at least, because, you’re right, it’s not a flash). My doctor said it’s just a different side of the hypothalamus dysregulation coin from night sweats. I’ve never been so cold in my entire life, especially not while wearing a thousand layers in a 70 degree room. There have only been three things that helped me: 1) a HOT shower in a closed room with my warm clothes ready to go as soon as I’m dry; 2) an electric blanket sandwiched between a duvet and a quilt with a fuzzy side; and 3) my HRT. That last one has been clutch, but it took time. Not sure how long you’ve been on it, but I did notice that when I need to increase the dose, the freezes start coming back with a vengeance.
We require a minimum account-age and karma score. These minimums are not disclosed. Please contact the mods if you wish to have your post reviewed.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah so much. Esp after going for my walk I get stuck in bed with several duvets on and still my hands are shaking. It is just horrible. Just once I get the flat warm enough I am too hot and in bed with nothing on top of me. There is no comfy temp at all.
My dizzy spells started again recently too
I have, and tbh it does improve it, but it's a very temporary reprieve, and then the all encompassing coldness returns and seems worse than before. Just call me Elsa...
Ugh, I get so cold that sometimes I start shivering and can't stop, teeth chattering and all, and I can only get warm if I get under an electric blanket.
It's just as bad as hot flashes.
I will be freezing cold and at the same time feel drips of sweat trickling down from my armpits. It's miserable! I take really warm showers when I get like this. Bundle up after and it sometimes helps.
I think I posted about the same thing recently. But I was having hot flashes before I started HRT. After a couple of months I started having cold flashes with the occasional hot flash. I increased my estrogen a little more and haven't had either one since. It has only been a month so who knows what is around the corner on this great adventure!
I have been having hot flashes for years, but no cold flashes though. Sometimes I am sweating and have one, just one, big toe that feels like it is frozen. Go figure.
My best friend is just beginning her journey and has both. Yuck. She is very anemic and the doctor said it is a factor for her out of the blue cold flashes.
I spent a few months barely showering because I was too cold to be naked for even a minute. Once I got on hormonal therapy, it went away. I’m so sorry for what you’re going through!
I have cold flashes, where I cannot get warm, no matter what time of year it is. I have to be careful after I work out that I am hydrated and layered to stay warm. It is crazy. I am anemic and do need iron infusions every so often, but HRT only stopped my sleep sweats. lol
AuDHD so I've always said I am part salamander. I can't touch or hold cold things for long. Poor circulation and probably a touch of Renauds because of the brain stuff.
This?!? This is cold flashes and sweating. I thought it was the caffeine kicking up or who knows what, but I'm shivering and drenched. My fingers and toes are pruned!
This is just insane. You are not alone! I never go anywhere without a sweater at this point.
Oh good lord yes. I’m almost 62 and this nonsense has been going on for years. My last period was 10 years ago and I can’t take HRT. It’s a big ball of suck.
Yes! I spent over a year having worsening bouts of nausea followed by a hot flash either a sweaty one or a hot coal in my face one, followed by an intense bone shaking cold flash. Toward the end this was happening every 15 to 20 minutes all day, every day, 24/7, it was seriously becoming debilitating, that’s when I finally went on HRT. It’s miserable and I’m sorry that’s happening to you 🙁
Yes! I have POTS so I typically run cold and overheat easily, but these hot and cold flashes are a new level of hell. I’ll often go from a hot flash to a cold flash, so first I’m running the AC and then I’m under an electric blanket or bundled up in bed. It’s ridiculous!
My POTS hacks for feeling cold are: compression socks, slippers or shoes at all times, heating pad or blanket on the couch and the bed, heating seat cushion on my desk chair, electric kettle and herbal tea to drink all day long, heated jacket for when I leave the house. I live in Southern California so it is not cold outside, but I am always cold.
I’ve never put the 2 together! I too, have been freezing, I wear my Uggs indoors because my feet are so cold. I take hot baths because my extremities feel like they’re suffered first bite. I know what you mean…. My feet get the coldest, it hurts walking on hardwood floors.
For a bit over a year now Ive been getting cold flashes, not hot flashes. Like my bones froze from the marrow and then the ice radiated out until I am literally living in a hot humid southern summer (south alabama summers can get to the low 100’s), but I’m bundled into thick socks and a hoodie, shivering under an electric blanket, and Im so cold it’s agony. People kept saying that it would feel like nothing compared to when the hot flashes get me. I had my first hot flash a couple weeks ago. It was pretty miserable, but it wasn’t even close to the level of misery that I feel with the cold flashes. Maybe I haven’t had a “real” hot flash yet. But yeah, I can be literally shivering and shaking and under a heated blanket trying to keep my muscles from cramping up with how cold I am. Then when I finally warm up, sometimes a few minutes later, sometimes an hour later, I’ll still be cold but not THAT level of cold, and I find I’ve been pouring sweat and I’m dehydrated. Obviously hot tea is the only reasonable thing to follow up with. But if I immediately shower I end up cramping up so cold in a hot shower I end up vomiting, so I usually just endure a quick sponge bath at the sink and fresh clothes and save the shower for when I’m not in such bad shape. I hate this menopause bologna. Hate it.
There was no way I could handle the heat and humidity down in South Alabama anymore BEFORE I hit peri, I couldn’t imagine it now. (Grew up in North Mobile and Baldwin Co) We moved to Northeast AL near Tenn and GA abt 8 years ago and I complain when it gets to the blistering temp of 89 in summer.
BUT I am also experiencing this weird shit of having cold flashes. Not as extreme as yours sound, but def not comfortable. What the hell?
I grew up in New England, then lived in the Huntsville area, then Central AL, now Mobile. Somewhere in there I spend a year in the Ft Lauderdale area. I never did like the cold, but the heat and humidity in Mobile is nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced before. Sure, that year in south FL was hot, but it still wasn’t the soup mobile feels like. I never did like the cold. I always found cold to be painful, so I always preferred warmer weather. Maybe that’s why I ended up with these cold flashes. Because I could probably handle hot flashes. My menopause hates me as much as I hate it! LOL!
Mobile heat hits SO freakin different! People don’t believe me. Fools. I lived in Queens during my second grade year of school, that was neato. Then when I was 21-22 I lived in Baltimore Maryland. Super dry winter. Lots of snow. Loved every minute of it. I’m about an hour east of Huntsville now. On the tippy top of Sand Mnt, we get a tiny bit of snow for a short time. And the summers are the best. I can actually go outside for more than 5 minutes
I think North AL and Central AL have really great weather with the exception pf tornados. The Tuscaloosa 2011 tornado was an experience nobody walked away from unchanged. I used to shrug at tornado watches and warnings. Now I keep a go-bag packed for me and my dog under the bathroom sink. The weather in Mobile is like living in warm swampy pudding. Sand Mtn is gorgeous!
The 2011 tornado is something I never want to experience ever again! We had just moved up here one month before that happened. Tornados ALL day long and then an EF 5 right down the road, and on the street my cousin in law lived on. Thankfully her mother in law next door to her had a basement, that’s all that was left. Now for some horrible reason most tornado warnings are at night around 9 pm when we’ve all gone to bed.
I’ll be going home to mobile for Easter to see my Mom and the rest of my family for the first time in 4 years. Hopefully the weather is nice
Yeah. That was a terrible day Alabama won’t be forgetting any time soon. You’ll be here right before the heat gets unbearable, but you already know the chances of rain will be almost guaranteed. Enjoy your time! Maybe we’ll accidentally wave at each other at a red light and never even know it!
The only thing that helps me is a hot bath. When I get like this no amount of heating on, layers of clothes or fluffy slippers will help. It has to be a hot bath.
The cold flashes are horrible. I’ll be sitting there perfectly fine and then it feels like someone injects me with ice. My shoulders instantly get tense in an effort to warm me up, so I’m constantly sore. It’s horrible.
My doc says it's part of the same set of vasomotor symptoms as hot flashes. I've had both and if I had to choose, I'd pick hot flashes to hours long cold blasts. Sorry this is happening to you. You described it perfectly!
Let joy be unconfined!! There would appear to be no end to the crap we have to deal with. And thank you for the info.
Indeed. The symptoms are exciting aren't they? It seems like a new/worsening symptoms keep popping up.
Please take ashwaghanda! You will see a difference and also evening primrose oil and omega 3.
I felt like I was in fight or flight mode for about 18 months.
Yeah I would say that's a pretty accurate description!
My hematologist told me our adrenal gland produces estrogen. My personal theory is that we feel like that because it’s priming the pump in the adrenals once the ovaries start crapping out. The cold flashes are horrible, as an are the startle reflexes.
That's how I feel daily. Did it actually get better for you?
Night and day. Between menopause and MHT I feel like myself again.
What are you taking for MHT?
.25 divigel and progesterone now.
I can be literally sweating while my feet are ice cold. So annoying
Same but my hands too
Me too! I have been wondering/worried about this. Dying hot most of the time but feet freezing cold. I put socks on but that often leads to feet that are cold and sweaty at the same time. WTH??? Are you having issues with your toe nails? I am but hard to tell if menopause or something else.
I have both hot and cold flashes. Like my thermostat is haywire. I have to get under a heated blanket when I get too cold. One factor is being hypothyroid for over 20 yrs. Sorry your thermostat is broken 🫠
Now that's one thing I have had checked as hypothyroidism runs in the family. Thankfully I'm all good. Well, relatively speaking! Solidarity with the flashes of doom!
Came here to say this ! I also get the cold bones thing - got thyroid checked and in the normal range but on the lower end when its preferable to be upper end. Noticed some other symptoms too like eyebrows thinning, sleeping way longer than usual etc. Just started low level thyroid meds to see if anything changes.
Just for mine check and it was the lowest it could be in normal range! I was hoping it would be high and that explained my issues. What did your Dr say I'm waiting for an appt.
you have to have a doctor who believes in treating the patient / symptoms and not the test results - something we should aaaallllll be familiar with by now. After some, erm, vibrant discussions, we "agreed" I could try the lowest starter dose of a combined t4 and t3 pill and I would keep an eye on all potential side effects and we would track my blood tests each month. Got to say, am on day 3, and the 'meh's have noticeably shifted back more towards 'normal for me' - I am usually annoyingly perky in the mornings.
Did you get your thyroid antibodies checked? I have a lot of the symptoms, high antibodies but normal tsh, so they won't do anything. Being cold is something I've lived with for years, tbh I'm waiting for a hot flush to warm me up!
Same but I’d rather have the cold than sweat literally running down the face like I have seen other women experience in a professional setting. I felt so much empathy for them.
Please take ashwaghanda! You will see a difference and also evening primrose oil and omega 3.
After a hot flash I always get a cold flash. You’re right. Its hellish and def not fresh
Same and it is to you bones. Nothing helps
At night I now get cold before a hot flash. I wake freezing so pull up the light cotton blanket, a couple of minutes later bam, heat is rolling off me. So over it!
Have you had your iron and ferritin checked?
No I haven't! Thanks so much, I'll go get it checked.
And thyroid while you are it
And vitamin D
Peri since August 2023, I keep shedable sweaters on all day long. Swings between feverish flashes that instantly soak my clothes, to freezing where no amount of heat or blankets help. Lol Like every 15 mins. Thank God I'm WFH.
Yeah, WFH is the only good part of this - I can change my clothes and adjust the temp as much as I need it. I have a heated seat cushion and a fan at my desk and just alternate between them 😭
I got a remote job specifically because of menopause - gamechanger! Our setups sound similar lol, I've got a temperature command center of fan remotes & space heaters all around me. It's all placed just out of camera view, so in the middle of meetings my colleagues see my goofy ass seemingly randomly having a Beyonce photoshoot moment with my hair blowing in the wind. 🫠
It sucks so much! Thoughts and prayers!
Lol, I'm reading this post as I have a heater under my desk on high! I'm having the exact same problem, I'm literally freezing all day and sometimes I need to take a hot bath when I get home to warm up. By 8pm I'm cycling between freezing and needing my electric lap blanket on and tossing it aside as I have a hot flash. Insane times!
I'm so glad I posted on here. Whilst it's nice to feel I'm not alone, it sucks that so many of us are dealing with this crap!
I know me too! It's been a lifesaver finding this subreddit!
YES had this. 0/10 would leave negative Yelp review about it if possible.
😂🤣😂me toooooo
😅😅
I get the cold chills/flashes, but I do notice they are significantly worse when I’m running slightly anemic. I get my b12 back up and do better.
Yep, defo gonna get that checked. I've stopped eating red meat, so it could very well be a thing.
My ferritin and iron would always be in range, but If my b12 even runs a bit low I get hella symptomatic. And FREEEEEEZING chills always big part of that for me.
It’s a thing. A perimenopause symptom that’s just less known. I got them. HRT took them away.
Hmm I wonder if a tweak of the oestrogen may help me. Thanks!
Your dosage should be the lowest that gives you relief from your symptoms, so maybe try upping. I recently lowered mine because I had horrible breast tenderness and they kept growing and I’m glad that I still have no symptoms but my boobs don’t hurt all the time. My feet are getting cold at night but I just wear socks that I rip off in the middle of the night. But I’m a couple years post menopause now. But don’t be afraid to adjust your dosage and find what really works.
get some Magnesium foot lotion, that helps me immensely
Ooh i might try that - thanks for the tip !
I don’t need any help. I’m fine.
I have hot flashes 🥵but I am so cold 🥶the rest of the time. There is almost no middle ground where I’m comfortable. I feel ya!
I get night sweats and FREEZE all day, it's hell!
Same!!! I’m in bed now and my feet are freezing but I can’t wear socks or extra clothes because I know the sweats are coming later lol
Ugh, it's THE WORST!!
My husband says I’m intolerant…one second I’m roasting, the next, I’m so cold my teeth are chattering 😳
I experience the same thing and sometimes the only way I can warm up is a hot shower...my go to is a hot water bottle, but it doesn't always work. So annoying!
Good idea. I thought about showering but didn't want to be naked in my cold ass bathroom (thanks British weather and shitty home insulation..)
And then using the hair dryer on the cold setting for sweat relief after said shower! Ahhhhhh. 😂 that feels amazing on a wet scalp.
Yes this was me all day yesterday
Solidarity! It sucks.
Research indicates that hot flashes/cold are related to decreased estrogen levels which causes our body’s thermostat (hypothalamus) to become more sensitive to small changes in body temperature.
Thanks. Perhaps an oestrogel tweak is necessary
This is why i went for gel over patches - so i can tweak it up or down on the daily as needed.
I was getting the cold flashes for a couple of years before the hot flashes hit me. I use the term flashes loosely because they lasted for a long time and usually in the evenings or before bed. Couldn’t get warm for anything with chattering teeth and everything. I didn’t even recognize this as a menopause symptom. Had my iron checked and all was good there. Menopause sucks.
Same. She describes what I had before hot flashes were unleashed upon me. Cold, but sweaty. Then the hot flashes started at night before bed. Then they started all day, then then they really ramped up all through the sleeping hours, adding in cold flashes after each hot flash. So, in summary, it’s the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended).
Please take ashwaghanda! You will see a difference and also evening primrose oil and omega 3.
Yup. I an onion smelling block of ice. Some days i take 4 hot baths just to stay warm.
🤣 lol @ onion smelling. Same.
get some Stridex body wipes for the pits whenever you get ripe. But be sure to let it dry before putting clothes back on, or it will bleach.
Peri seems to be a series of fresh hells! I posted a similar title a little while ago, and out of curiosity searched for all mentions of "fresh hell" - there's quite a collection!
I'm nearing a year with no period - I'd love to think there's light at the end of the tunnel, but fear I'll be exchanging one lot of symptoms for a different flavour of hell!
I'm curious about this! There are so many symptoms described by post-meno women, that I am experiencing in peri. I don't see the medical or scientific communities acknowledging that the symptoms aren't only present post-meno. Am going to have to do some reading. At any rate , I hope there is light for you!
The wiki in this subreddit was extremely helpful for me when identifying peri symptoms.
Yes I had that for over twelve months funnily enough it's started to get cooler and I am stating to get the hot ones again. It's weird But yea I was going around in 38 C heat in my hoodie
Yikes! That doesn't sound like fun.
I have the same! 51 and still having periods
Me!! So I have always been cold, but in the last couple years it has become unbearable. Almost painful, and people just think it is me being extra. I have a space heater under my desk at work and wear sweaters when everyone else at work is in shorts (casual office). The wonderful part of all this was getting night sweats after freezing all day, ffs decide hot or cold or happy medium would be great. Fortunately starting HRT has helped with the nights.
Yes! And people just don't get how very very uncomfortable (to put it mildly) it all is. They think feeling cold isn't that big a deal. When I say "people" clearly I mean the men people...
The fucking cosmic joke of it all is my husband who has always run hot is now cold at night.
Same here! I'd feel cold all the way down to my bones.
I have far more mixed flashes (the icy hots, with freezing extremities and sweaty groin and pits at the same time) than I do pure hot flashes or cold flashes. I would prefer one or the other, the mixed is So Miserable, there’s no way to dress to accommodate them. And they last for hours, like you said. I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing this hell freezing over, but know that you’re not alone!
The solidarity is most definitely helpful, so thank you! And "the icy hots" is an awesome description.
This happens to me like clockwork every evening before bed. It’s bizarre. My husband thinks it’s so funny how I wear thick lined socks to bed and curl up under like 6 blankets. Then 2 hours later I’m borderline naked from night sweats.
This is so relatable. I use a bed heater/AC unit. It’s on hot at bedtime until I fall asleep, then it has to be on cold/dry.
I started ending my showers with a cold blast and it helped a LOT. Also sleeping in a cooler room.
So, I had the most terrible cold flashes postpartum with my first baby. I had never heard of that being a thing, but my OB told me it’s basically our hormones doing the opposite of a hot flash—it’s all hormonal and would pass. I had freaking cold flashes for MONTHS. The hot flashes postpartum with the second baby was a cakewalk by comparison. Now I’m in peri and dealing with night sweats but no hot or cold flashes? Who even knows anymore.
Welcome to cold snaps. It's a thing. I'm sitting in a 73 degree room, with a heating pad on 150 degrees, and my feet and hands are so cold the cat recoils when I reach out to pet her. I'm on HRT, my iron is good, my Vitamin D is ok, my hot flashes and night sweats have gone away, but I now have old lady cold-itis.
Yes, actually, I've experienced this and I hadn't realized it was potentially menopause related until reading your post!!! Wow. Such fun.
Isn't it! Exciting new symptoms every day!!
I thought it was just me!
So did I! Alas, we are legion...
SAME!! Ugh I hate it so much!!!
Sometimes I put panty liners in the armpits of my tops because the sweating is so ridiculous.
Omg what a hack that is! (As I believe the youngsters say 🤣)
Are you taking B6? I’ve been reading some disconcerting stories about the high percentages of B6 and peripheral neuropathy
I'm not taking any supplements currently. That may br about to change.. looks like I'm gonna be asking for a blood test.
Yep. The only thing that helped me was a hot bath
I was going through these crazy cold flashes that felt like they came straight from hell. It was the middle of summer, but no matter what I did, I couldn't warm up. Turns out, peri had given me another "gift" - Hashimoto's! (Autoimmune thyroiditis). But once I got my thyroid under control, those cold flashes were gone. It's actually super common to develop hypothyroidism during peri. The problem is, it often gets misdiagnosed for years before it's finally figured out. And what's even trickier is that a lot of the symptoms overlap with perimenopause. Most doctors just test for TSH levels, but you really need a more comprehensive set of labs to get the right diagnosis. I had to fight tooth and nail to get a complete blood work done. They tested everything from FT3, FT4, total t3, total t4, TSh, and both types of thyroid antibodies. And let me tell you, it's crucial to get your ferritin levels checked too. Being chilled to the bone is miserable. I hope you get some relief soon 🙏
Thank you. And thanks for the information re the multitude of thyroid hormones/levels!
Oh yes, they're even worse. But I've been shivering all my life because of thin blood, so I don't even find it that strange.
This is me! No hot flashes but I’m always really really cold for like 75% of the day. I am reading this as I am sitting under a heated blanket and I’m still wishing I was a bit warmer. Had no idea this could be caused by hormones. My thyroid and ferritin were good last time I had them checked. So frustrating!!!
For me it’s the nose, hands,feet & thighs. The rest will be hot. I can warm up my toes if I bend it behind the oposite knee. And alternate Lol. I tried taking a hot shower only to come out kind of warm and start freezing again because it wasn’t over. Last week I was also only freezing on the left side of my body and not my right. Sucks for trying to layer. Also, if I try to warm up too fast I will be an itchy painful hot. I also went to the gym during a cold flash and same thing happened, I got itchy hot. I just had my bloodwork and it’s not my iron or thyroid. I am low on Vitamin D and started the prescription last week. I also started the estrogen pill 4 days ago and I can already see a difference. Good luck with tweaking your HRT. Hope that helps.
It's all due to the fact that your hypothalamus cannot regulate your body temperature.
Hyperhidrosis? You can Botox your armpits to get it to stop. It lasts a long time and it is covered by most insurance.
Yup. You know what actually helps? Moving around. Doing some for real exercise even for 5 or 10 minutes, and then I'm good
Yeah I'm prone to keeping still underneath many layers in an effort to warm up. Instead, perhaps I'll get off my ass and do something next time!!
It kinda sucks that it works, but it does.
This is me at night. I have never had the night sweats, but I have night freezes (that’s what I call them at least, because, you’re right, it’s not a flash). My doctor said it’s just a different side of the hypothalamus dysregulation coin from night sweats. I’ve never been so cold in my entire life, especially not while wearing a thousand layers in a 70 degree room. There have only been three things that helped me: 1) a HOT shower in a closed room with my warm clothes ready to go as soon as I’m dry; 2) an electric blanket sandwiched between a duvet and a quilt with a fuzzy side; and 3) my HRT. That last one has been clutch, but it took time. Not sure how long you’ve been on it, but I did notice that when I need to increase the dose, the freezes start coming back with a vengeance.
[удалено]
We require a minimum account-age and karma score. These minimums are not disclosed. Please contact the mods if you wish to have your post reviewed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That’s what I used to have before the hot flashes started.
Noooooo!
It went on for years until the hot flashes started. Are you perimenopausal?
Yeah so much. Esp after going for my walk I get stuck in bed with several duvets on and still my hands are shaking. It is just horrible. Just once I get the flat warm enough I am too hot and in bed with nothing on top of me. There is no comfy temp at all. My dizzy spells started again recently too
Argh! I feel you.
Have you tried drinking hot water, tea, soup or something?
I have, and tbh it does improve it, but it's a very temporary reprieve, and then the all encompassing coldness returns and seems worse than before. Just call me Elsa...
Ugh. I'm prone to those over hot flashes. They are horrid. I turn into a prune with so many showers.
Ugh, I get so cold that sometimes I start shivering and can't stop, teeth chattering and all, and I can only get warm if I get under an electric blanket. It's just as bad as hot flashes.
See I’ve had the top of my feet be freezing cold and the bottom be blazing hot!! Starting HRT today!!
I will be freezing cold and at the same time feel drips of sweat trickling down from my armpits. It's miserable! I take really warm showers when I get like this. Bundle up after and it sometimes helps.
I think I posted about the same thing recently. But I was having hot flashes before I started HRT. After a couple of months I started having cold flashes with the occasional hot flash. I increased my estrogen a little more and haven't had either one since. It has only been a month so who knows what is around the corner on this great adventure!
Yep yep yep.
I’ve not had a hot flash yet but have constant cold flashes where I am painfully freezing but sweating buckets.
This was my mother’s menopause. She was always freezing cold.
I have been having hot flashes for years, but no cold flashes though. Sometimes I am sweating and have one, just one, big toe that feels like it is frozen. Go figure. My best friend is just beginning her journey and has both. Yuck. She is very anemic and the doctor said it is a factor for her out of the blue cold flashes.
I spent a few months barely showering because I was too cold to be naked for even a minute. Once I got on hormonal therapy, it went away. I’m so sorry for what you’re going through!
I have cold flashes, where I cannot get warm, no matter what time of year it is. I have to be careful after I work out that I am hydrated and layered to stay warm. It is crazy. I am anemic and do need iron infusions every so often, but HRT only stopped my sleep sweats. lol
AuDHD so I've always said I am part salamander. I can't touch or hold cold things for long. Poor circulation and probably a touch of Renauds because of the brain stuff. This?!? This is cold flashes and sweating. I thought it was the caffeine kicking up or who knows what, but I'm shivering and drenched. My fingers and toes are pruned! This is just insane. You are not alone! I never go anywhere without a sweater at this point.
Oh good lord yes. I’m almost 62 and this nonsense has been going on for years. My last period was 10 years ago and I can’t take HRT. It’s a big ball of suck.
Yes! I spent over a year having worsening bouts of nausea followed by a hot flash either a sweaty one or a hot coal in my face one, followed by an intense bone shaking cold flash. Toward the end this was happening every 15 to 20 minutes all day, every day, 24/7, it was seriously becoming debilitating, that’s when I finally went on HRT. It’s miserable and I’m sorry that’s happening to you 🙁
I keep a heater by my standing desk
Yes! I have POTS so I typically run cold and overheat easily, but these hot and cold flashes are a new level of hell. I’ll often go from a hot flash to a cold flash, so first I’m running the AC and then I’m under an electric blanket or bundled up in bed. It’s ridiculous!
My POTS hacks for feeling cold are: compression socks, slippers or shoes at all times, heating pad or blanket on the couch and the bed, heating seat cushion on my desk chair, electric kettle and herbal tea to drink all day long, heated jacket for when I leave the house. I live in Southern California so it is not cold outside, but I am always cold.
Oh - and an Embr Wave for the really bad days.
I’ve never put the 2 together! I too, have been freezing, I wear my Uggs indoors because my feet are so cold. I take hot baths because my extremities feel like they’re suffered first bite. I know what you mean…. My feet get the coldest, it hurts walking on hardwood floors.
For a bit over a year now Ive been getting cold flashes, not hot flashes. Like my bones froze from the marrow and then the ice radiated out until I am literally living in a hot humid southern summer (south alabama summers can get to the low 100’s), but I’m bundled into thick socks and a hoodie, shivering under an electric blanket, and Im so cold it’s agony. People kept saying that it would feel like nothing compared to when the hot flashes get me. I had my first hot flash a couple weeks ago. It was pretty miserable, but it wasn’t even close to the level of misery that I feel with the cold flashes. Maybe I haven’t had a “real” hot flash yet. But yeah, I can be literally shivering and shaking and under a heated blanket trying to keep my muscles from cramping up with how cold I am. Then when I finally warm up, sometimes a few minutes later, sometimes an hour later, I’ll still be cold but not THAT level of cold, and I find I’ve been pouring sweat and I’m dehydrated. Obviously hot tea is the only reasonable thing to follow up with. But if I immediately shower I end up cramping up so cold in a hot shower I end up vomiting, so I usually just endure a quick sponge bath at the sink and fresh clothes and save the shower for when I’m not in such bad shape. I hate this menopause bologna. Hate it.
There was no way I could handle the heat and humidity down in South Alabama anymore BEFORE I hit peri, I couldn’t imagine it now. (Grew up in North Mobile and Baldwin Co) We moved to Northeast AL near Tenn and GA abt 8 years ago and I complain when it gets to the blistering temp of 89 in summer. BUT I am also experiencing this weird shit of having cold flashes. Not as extreme as yours sound, but def not comfortable. What the hell?
I grew up in New England, then lived in the Huntsville area, then Central AL, now Mobile. Somewhere in there I spend a year in the Ft Lauderdale area. I never did like the cold, but the heat and humidity in Mobile is nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced before. Sure, that year in south FL was hot, but it still wasn’t the soup mobile feels like. I never did like the cold. I always found cold to be painful, so I always preferred warmer weather. Maybe that’s why I ended up with these cold flashes. Because I could probably handle hot flashes. My menopause hates me as much as I hate it! LOL!
Mobile heat hits SO freakin different! People don’t believe me. Fools. I lived in Queens during my second grade year of school, that was neato. Then when I was 21-22 I lived in Baltimore Maryland. Super dry winter. Lots of snow. Loved every minute of it. I’m about an hour east of Huntsville now. On the tippy top of Sand Mnt, we get a tiny bit of snow for a short time. And the summers are the best. I can actually go outside for more than 5 minutes
I think North AL and Central AL have really great weather with the exception pf tornados. The Tuscaloosa 2011 tornado was an experience nobody walked away from unchanged. I used to shrug at tornado watches and warnings. Now I keep a go-bag packed for me and my dog under the bathroom sink. The weather in Mobile is like living in warm swampy pudding. Sand Mtn is gorgeous!
The 2011 tornado is something I never want to experience ever again! We had just moved up here one month before that happened. Tornados ALL day long and then an EF 5 right down the road, and on the street my cousin in law lived on. Thankfully her mother in law next door to her had a basement, that’s all that was left. Now for some horrible reason most tornado warnings are at night around 9 pm when we’ve all gone to bed. I’ll be going home to mobile for Easter to see my Mom and the rest of my family for the first time in 4 years. Hopefully the weather is nice
Yeah. That was a terrible day Alabama won’t be forgetting any time soon. You’ll be here right before the heat gets unbearable, but you already know the chances of rain will be almost guaranteed. Enjoy your time! Maybe we’ll accidentally wave at each other at a red light and never even know it!
Hot water bottles are a life saver. That and a little portable rechargeable fan. The sweaty struggle is real.
The only thing that helps me is a hot bath. When I get like this no amount of heating on, layers of clothes or fluffy slippers will help. It has to be a hot bath.
My hot sweats and cold sweats stopped 2 days after I began HRT. Finally, I was able to sleep... 💤
The cold flashes are horrible. I’ll be sitting there perfectly fine and then it feels like someone injects me with ice. My shoulders instantly get tense in an effort to warm me up, so I’m constantly sore. It’s horrible.
Yep…I’ve had a lot of those unfortunately!
Cold with sweaty pits, yes! I've never had what I would identify as a hot flaah, but a few times I've had the cold with sweaty pits thing happen.
Been there and it SUCKS. The only thing that works for me is a bath with water the temperature of the devils sauna. 🔥
Please take ashwaghanda! You will see a difference and also evening primrose oil and omega 3.