During my physical therapy for my back a year ago, my therapist recommended an ice pack. He used one at the end of my exercises and stretches and it seemed to help, and so I went home, called up Amazon and ordered the pack.
It's full of a mysterious gel that stays cold hours after a stint in the freezer. I use it on my back after working out and Darcy uses it on her sensitive legs after shaving. Sometimes I use it at night while watching television, and recently after doing just that very thing I realized I was cold from the pack. Cold as in I-need-a-blanket-cold which, as my family will tell you, is RARE. That got me thinking that maybe this gel ice pack was the answer to my hot flashes in the night.
I put the Colpac inside of one of Darcy's pillowcases. It's from a set of sheets someone passed down to us and the sheets are thermal. Who buys that in Florida? Darcy puts them on her bed during our
So, as I sat shivering from my Colpac one night the light bulb glowed above my head with an idea, and a couple of days later after my nightly shower and hair blow dry, as I sat sweating gallons from both those activities, I thought what the hell, let's try this. I got the Colpac from the freezer, put it into the pillow case and laid it under my covers while I finished getting ready for bed, securing the perimeters, and locking down the house. When I returned and lifted up the ice pack, that spot was freezing, and I thought perhaps this could be used along the lines of the pioneers putting in hot stones or my parents' generation putting in hot water bottles in the bottom of the bed for warmth.
I've experimented with it for a week now. First, let me say that the Colpac stays cold for roughly six, maybe seven, hours in the night. At first, after cooling off various spots in the bed, I left it on the floor and picked it up when needed during the night, putting it back there when cool. Eventually, and this is the way I leave it now, I left it in the bed near the side.
Now my routine is: cool down the bed, move it, climb in, lie down on my side, and put the pack against my back. When I'm cool I push it to the side. When I wake up flashing, I push it against my back again. My back tolerates it better than my front, but I've also hugged the sucker during really bad episodes. Even if I just leave it, never moving it from one side to the other, and just barely touch it with my arm, the coolness comes off of it in waves and I feel better.
It works! I've had a couple of nights where I had to put the pack on the floor because I was too cool. TOO COOL! People, that is not something that ever passes the lips of menopausal, high flashing women. This nightly bed buddy is the answer, and I'm sorry there isn't a way for me to
It's revolutionary. Thank me after you try it.
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