As I rapidly approach the official midpoint of my forties, I don’t feel it. Not at any point in recent years have I felt ‘middle-aged’, and I’m struggling to get a grasp on the fact I’ll turn 45 in less than 2 months. Seems that time isn’t relegated to flying only when you’re having fun.

That is, I haven’t felt ‘middle-aged’ until the past couple of weeks. Over the last few years, I’ve had issues with ‘night sweats’, and stress-induced hot flashes that would fire up the minute my eyes opened at 3 a.m. But, life improvements have been made during the last year, and I no longer wake up stressing over stupid things I can’t possibly change in the darkest wee hours and sweating my ass off.

Now, it seems I’m simply sweating my ass off any old time of the evening or early hours of the morning, and it’s driving me crazy. Recently, while chillaxin’ on the sofa enjoying a few minutes of TV after dinner, I broke into a mad sweat like I’d just run a 20-minute 5k. When I started stripping off layers of clothing, my hubby didn’t complain – imagine that – just looked at me like I’d completely lost my marbles.

Most of the instances are during the night, like a couple of nights ago. I think I kicked off the covers at least four times, making for a not-so-restful sleep. We keep our house at 62F during the night, so it doesn’t take too long to cool off. Still, there’s nothing like waking to sweat running down the backs of your knees. Gross.

At first, I tried denying that what I was experiencing was indeed hot flashes. But after a few episodes, I think it’s safe to say I can’t see that it could be anything else. The research states that hot flashes are usually preceeded by something, some kind of weird feeling. Mine? Hellz no, it’s just an all-out, no-holds-barred internal spontaneous combustion, welcome to my sauna. Bring your own towel, please.

Thankfully, I haven’t yet had to resort to one of those tiny personal fans that you see some more ‘mature’ women carting around with them, nor have I stuck my head in a freezer. Yet. I’m a naturally warm person anyway, so I’m sure things are just getting interesting.

Researchers say that a healthy diet and exercise are great for controlling hot flashes and keeping them at bay. If mine are this frequent as a marathoner, what would I be in for if I didn’t work out? I shudder at the thought.

Apparently spicy foods and alcohol can be contributing factors to inducing hot flashes, two of my favourite things. No more wine with a good dish of curry or Mexican food, I guess. *Sigh*

Stay tuned for more mid-life adventures. Ugh.

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