Looking Forward To Hot Flashes

I can't wait to start having hot flashes.

Ouch.  My blog just flinched from all the dirty looks.

Before you send out the menopause mafia, let me explain. I am almost always cold. There are three times when I am not cold.  At the end of a workout, during a very hot shower, and the month of August. That's the only time the temperature reaches 80 degrees here, which is my threshold for warmth.  I will not detail all of the times I am cold, because it would be too much information and we don't know each other that well yet.

I was born into sunshine and warmth (California), spent a large part of my childhood in heat and humidity (North Carolina), and currently reside in wet and cold (the Pacific Northwest).  Clearly I am not living where I was meant to be.  Last summer when we were in Mexico, everyone else was dying from the hot temperatures.  I was quite comfortable. My family had to drag me kicking and screaming back to Washington.

To be clear, I don't have any underlying medical problems to account for my cold intolerance, like thyroid or anemia.  Trust me, I've been checked.  If medication could fix this, I'd be on it.  I also do not have low body fat.  I'm just always cold.

My husband is the opposite.  He is Norwegian, and the perfect day for him is 50 degrees and drizzly.  I foresee problems in our "where to live when we retire" future.  You should see how we sleep at night.  Let's just say there's a large difference in what we wear to bed, and I'm not allowed to get anywhere near him in my fleece.

So you can see why the idea of a hot flash is appealing to me.  I admit I have never met a woman who has experienced one that thought it was enjoyable.  In the words of Joni Mitchell, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.  I'm sure I'll miss these cold feelings after I start having hot flashes.  I promise to come back and let you all know how wrong I was.

But for right now, as I sit typing with my cold fingers on this nice spring day, I'm looking forward to hot flashes.  Feel free to flog me in the comments.  Maybe I'll get so mad it will warm me up!

In related news, I was contacted by the Exert Company about a product they have developed called Exert Smart Body Coolant, which is a spray that cools the skin when a hot flash starts. They offered to send me some to sample and review. I was honest and told them that in my current state, I would probably experience hypothermia if I tried it.

I have no idea if it works or not, but the reviews I've read are good, so it might be worth a shot if you are experiencing hot flashes.

I also came across Haralee.com, a company that sells moisture wicking sleepwear and pillowcases for night sweats and hot flashes.  This is a great company, and their pj's are cute too!