Women suffering from breast cancer or having a history of breast cancer cannot have hormone therapy as a part of their treatment regimen for getting relief from hot flashes.
However, along with the medications the lifestyle has to be changed also with cutting off alcohol and caffeine from the food and having diet rich in vitamins.
The medications that are used by the doctors for giving cancer patients relief from these challenges are: Blood pressure lowering medications: These medications will keep the blood pressure of the cancer patients under control.
The medicines as for example clonidine and Aldomet help in lessening the severity as well as the frequency of the hot flashes.
They do this by modifying the response of the blood vessels to the brain's command to immediately release the heat in a quicker way.
However, no one should have these medications without the prescription and consultation of the physician.
Antidepressants: Some doctors prescribe antidepressant medications in a lower dose so that these challenges can be kept under control.
These medicines intercept the chemicals such as epinephrine and serotonin in the brain that are responsible for sending the alarm for hot flash.
Effexor is one such product and it has been seen in studies that those women who have breast cancer and have used this for reducing hot flashes have got positive results in 50% of cases.
They had quick improvement and most of them confirmed about 80% of decrease in the problem after taking the medicine in the first week.
Also, the side effects were mild.
Other antidepressants which are used for this purpose are Paxil which is an excellent alternative for Effexor and Wellbutrin, Prozac, Cymbalta and Zoloft.
However, those of you who are having tamoxifen should ask their doctor about which antidepressant should they use.
Sedatives: Those sedatives which are mild such as Bellergal-S has also been prescribed by some doctors for treating hot flashes.
These sedatives slow down the chemical activity in the brain and are regarded as safe and effective.
However, you should not take them with alcohol.
Products with progesterone: Products which have progesterone in them are also effective in reducing these diseases in women.
In recent studies it has been found that about 80% of women who take these medicines such as Megace have much lesser hot flashes occurrences.
These medicines also serve another purpose.
When used with in high dose for a longer period it is considered as a good treatment for breast cancer.
However, these medicines also have some side effects but if you can take them then it is a very good cure for both cancer and hot flashes.