"The issues that you raised are very common, so you are not the only one that goes through that. I would not be able to solve some of your questions as they are very specific to each individual, and only the personal physician can help solve them with direct communication with each person according to their individual characteristics. What I can say is that there are many additional options that you can do on your own to  to help address night sweats, hot flushes and insomnia. We find that acupuncture works very well with some patients to improve their quality of life, reduce hot flushes- the  number and intensity, and improve the quality of their sleep. We  find that patients that do some form of relaxation, meditation, mindfulness stress reduction, breathing exercises can be helpful as well. A few years ago in a study that was done in the UK, women that had exposure to only 4 weekly educational sessions on relaxation, and they actually implemented it afterwards for only 20 minutes a day, were able to reduce their hot flushes by 90% in a matter of 3 months. In our Place ….of wellness we have many classes that teach different types of relaxation exercises, you can open the following link to get a taste of some them. http://www.mdanderson.org/education-and-research/departments-programs-and-labs/programs-centers-institutes/place-of-wellness/programs/index.html

Exercise is another method that actually can help all the symptoms that you mention, I usually suggest regular daily walking of 30 minutes preferably in the early morning when you actually enjoy the fresh air and the sun. Keeping a good nutrition is another important element and I would suggest with the help of a nutritionist develop your own personal program of improving your nutrition. In general the following link will lead you to the general recommendations that we give to people touched by cancer, but actually are good for anyone interested in prevention. http://www2.mdanderson.org/app/pe/index.cfm?pageName=opendoc&docid=2637

I hope that can be a good start."

Moshe Frenkel, M.D.