I'm Hot….No, Cold

Do I even have to tell you about ’em? But my question is how long do we have to have ’em. I am no longer menopausal. I am in the post-stage. So, why am I posting? Because I still have hot flashes that send me to Hades! I know I’m not alone. When I’m at a church program, all of a sudden I see a sea of programs fanning the heat, mine among them.

I am in the mirror readying for an event. Makeup perfect, I reach for my top, which is stylishly complicated. I’m pulling the cord that goes behind my back to come through the front to tie neatly so my waist looks it looks like I have a waist. I’m just a little flustered, not enough to worry about it. Then, before I can “Whew! “at managing my top, this surge sneaks up on me. I run to the bathroom and blot to outrun the “blot, blot, blot,” but too late; the fire is burning. and I gotta do an emergency redo. What?!!

TV watching is like…sweater on, sweater off, sweater on, sweater off. “Pass me a throw...Oh, I forgot, throws put me to sleep.” Why am I so chilly? I get so hot till my normal temperature feels like I engulfed ten freeze pops. And one more thing: Bed!

I make a great bed, on a platform foam cooling mattress, with alternative down comforter covered with a duvet, and high-count sheets. I snuggle in. Then, the heat starts. to rise…from the sheets (dirty minds…y’all ain’t that old, huh?). I wave a comforter off like a matador challenges a bull, “Ole!” Then, the chill hits and back under I go. This, for the last 25 years. What?!!

Remedies? I’ve tried them all: No caffeine, Black Cohosh, some kind of herbal yam, all to no avail. But I do like fans. They work. When I attended my nephew, Mannie’s wedding, his sister, Sophia gave me a fan to use ’cause it matched my hot pink silk caftan top. As the reception ended, she asked for the fan. As she reached for it, I almost chopped her hand off!

I must say my hot flashes are sporadic; they will stop for a while, but they always come back. Maybe they are with me to keep me alert. Some of y’all never had them, but I hope you understand when I take your napkin or whatever I can find and start fanning. I’m just sayin’.

 

 

 

 

Joy Juice

There are some things in our biological/genetic makeup that we cannot control. We do what we can to sustain our ‘magic,’ and we relax in the knowing that we are designed perfectly to be what we are, splendid creatures of God.

“Love has the final word”  – Rickie Byars