Hot Flashes

[lightsabove.livejournal.com]

Some background first. I am 22, 23 in April, and am on Lo/Ovral birth control pills. I have tried different types of BCP, and have even tried the Nuva Ring (which was a horrible decision because of mood swings and unable to function in a day to day setting, plus yeast infections).

I have always had bad hot flashes. I know it's normal to get them with your period, but I still feel really young, and feel that it's too much.

I wake up multiple times a night from hot flashes. During the day, I have at least 4 or 5 a day the week of my placebo pills, plus maybe a day before and after.

Is there something I can do to lessen these symptoms? Is this something I should get checked out?

Comments

[archangelbeth]

I would suggest getting things checked out, yes. Estrogen, progesterone, and thyroid levels, would be my suggestions.

Good luck!

[lightsabove.livejournal.com]

How do they test these things?

[chantalzola.livejournal.com]

Blood (in my experience at least)

[archangelbeth]

Yup, blood. *sigh* I tend to chew my free hand to distract myself while they're siphoning my blood off to a zillion little vials. (...which can result in bite-marks all over my free hand and fingers.) Agreed, drink a lot of water before the test. I only last blood-draw heard this advice! *facepalm*

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

I don't know where you were told that it's normal to get hot flashes during a period. They're common when someone is going through perimenopause and menopause, though not everyone gets them.

As archangelbeth suggested, you should get your hormones and thyroid checked out. The usual way is to get blood drawn at a lab with a doctor's requisition which will usually have a number of boxes ticked off for what the doctor wants checked. The lab may need to draw more than one vial of blood, so you should be prepared for that. 8 hours of fasting is also commonly required.

One tip, though, to produce veins that can easily be coaxed to accept a needle is to drink PLENTY of water the day you're having the blood drawn.

If you're specifically getting the hot flashes during your placebo week, then perhaps you can discuss the possibility of going on the 3-month-at-a-time hbc (sorry, can't remember if that's Seasonique? or Seasonale?) so that the hormone levels remain at a more constant level for at least three months.

Good luck, because hot flashes are no fun when one is older. I'd hate to imagine how frustrating it would be to have them at a much younger age.

[lightsabove.livejournal.com]

Well, this is one way to face my fear of getting my blood drawn. Gah.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, if you drink plenty of water, the veins get all plumped up so it's easier to insert a needle. I have lousy veins to begin with. They're fragile and collapse easily.

I'm also not keen on needles. I don't remember if I've ever watched seeing one go in. So there's nothing wrong with closing your eyes (and probably taking long, calm breaths).

I still do maintain a sense of humour. When I talk to the technicians, I tell them about my fragile veins and joke that, if a vampire had to exist on my blood alone, that vampire would starve. BWAHAHA.

[lightsabove.livejournal.com]

LOL Thank you. Still terrifying ;)

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

If you do decide to go the "three month at a time" route, you don't need to switch to Seasonale/Seasonique to do so. You can just stack! (Don't take the placebos and instead open up the new pack.) Though, depending on your insurance plan, you may run into issues where the pharmacist won't give you your pills because it's not "time" yet. I don't know how to ameliorate this besides have your doc write the prescription to reflect how you take your hbc.