Medication Question - Hot flashes.

[Namaste]

Okay, I feel like a middle aged woman saying this, but I legit think I'm having hot flashes. >.>
Like I'll be freezing one minute, and sweating the next. No change in activity level, no change in the actual temperature. I even got tired of stripping down and bundling back up, so there is no long any change in the clothing I'm wearing either. Just one second I'm freezing, because it IS kinda cold, and then the next I'm sweating, I feel like I'm DYING from the heat.
These kept me up all last night as well.

Today I realized I've been having them since I started taking imipramine the other night, and I read that antidepressants which mess with serotonin levels can cause hot flashes.

I was wonder, first, if these sound like hot flashes, or some other problem?
Two, if it's a common side effect with trycyclic antidepressants?
And three, what I should do about it?

On the third, logically most would say to call the prescribing doctor, of course, but I'm terrified of phones, and I don't know if my mom will call. PLUS everytime I have side effects with medication, they basically just tell me to try and deal with it for a bit. Some side effects supposedly go away with time, so is this one of those?
Should I just stop taking it if it continues? I'm on a starting dose, so tapering wouldn't be necessary, and I'm not even on it for mental health issues (I'm on it for sleep problems and pain issues) so I don't think I'd be I'd be at risk stopping or anything. Of course they always say never to stop such things without doctor approval, but I don't want to be just miserable forever, because knowing how this goes, I WON'T get approval, I'll be on it until my next appointment six weeks from now, and I don't know that I can handle this for six weeks. Like I said, it completely made it IMPOSSIBLE to sleep, and it's a miserable feeling. I think if I stay on it and it's the problem here, then things are gonna get REALLY bad, REALLY quickly, because sleep deprivation of course screws everything up.
I'll probably at least sit it out for a few days more, but if it persists, I'm not sure what I can do. I can't deal with this for six weeks, and from experience, no matter how miserable I am, doctors always want me to deal with it until the next appointment. =/ I hate stopping medications without advice, but I may end up backed against a wall with no real choice...

Oh, and I suppose if anyone knows how to deal with hot flashes, any tips or tricks to cool down or regulate temperature, I'd appreciate it. I'm probably gonna go take a cool bath soon, but that will probably only be a rather temporary fix, unless I stay there for a few hours, which would get super boring for me.

[Stellata]

Anxiety can make sudden changes in body temperature.
Oh, and the medication for it, too. [Efexor was terrible with me for that. Good practice for the menopause though!]

[Namaste]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stellata

Anxiety can make sudden changes in body temperature.
Oh, and the medication for it, too. [Efexor was terrible with me for that. Good practice for the menopause though!]

Normally when I'm anxious though, it's not THIS extreme, so I don't think it's that...

[Namaste]

I so do not want to take it again tonight. I'm terrified I'll have another miserable night like last night where I'm constantly switching between extreme temperatures and completely unable to sleep. It was sort of terrible. =(

[Animad]

Right, DON'T stop the medication without say so from a doctor. Whatever the reason why you're on a medication, if that one is one that needs tapering down then it will need tapering down as they all affect the same body systems and pathways. One way of tapering them down is taking them one every other day or half a tablet every day. We can't give you advice on that.

As it says on the packaging that this is a side effect then yes, it may be you're having this as a side effect. Side effects from ADs usually last for up to 2weeks and then reduce or stop if they're going to. Within this time you won't get the full benefit. As well as that, the side effect may be just something that is there once or twice and then passes; you've not been on long enough to know. As well as that, from what you say, some people also present like that if they have a fever so if you're feeling ill then it may also be that (as the inside of your body is warm and because that is warmer then your fingers etc feel colder as there is a bigger difference between their normal temperature and the outside world and their new temperature and the outside) so I would not be happy saying "yes, this definitely is a side effect", the same as it is impossible with any signs after starting a new med to say it definitely isn't, even if it's not on the packet (and the ones with only a real minority of people experiencing it aren't on the label and it may be that it is also affected by another drug you are on or something else such as food you eat or something you're drinking (and I don't just mean alcohol)).

I'd keep taking the meds, see how it goes over the next few days. If it worsens or stays the same then see a doctor then (you should be able to get an appointment with a doctor (even if it is a different one) much earlier than the one you have booked) as well as if you get other side effects/ feel really ill (the same as if you take your temperature and it is greater than 38C (100F) as that is a sign that there is inflammation somewhere in your body which there shouldn't be and is often (though not always) due to infection). The doctor can then decide from that what is best for you to do. But, in the meantime you should take the meds as you've been prescribed them and not take anything else with them unless you've been told to or told that it is fine to take them together.