Hot Flushes at Work: A Practical Survival Plan

Hello.

You are halfway through a sentence in a meeting. Somebody has just asked you a direct question. And a furnace has switched on somewhere behind your sternum.

Nobody warned you about hot flushes at work. Now somebody has. This is not a list of miracle cures and it is not medical advice. It is the practical bit: what to keep nearby, what to wear and what to do in the ninety seconds when it hits.

Set up the desk drawer

The single most useful thing you can do this week is stock one drawer. A small fan that does not announce itself to the whole floor. A water bottle you actually like drinking from. A spare top. Something to tie your hair back with. Face wipes. That is the starter kit, and it fits in a drawer most of us already have.

Then do the same for the car and the bag you carry every day. A flush does not check where you are before it arrives.

Dress for ambush

Layers that peel off quietly beat one heavy top every time. Fabrics that breathe beat fabrics that trap. And the layer underneath has to be one you are happy to be seen in, because at some point you will be sitting in it in front of other people.

When it hits mid-meeting

Pause. Take a sip of water. Say "Give me one second" and take the second. Nobody in the room is timing you, and almost nobody notices as much as you think they do.

If the word you needed has gone missing as well, which it will, keep one sentence ready that buys you time without apology. Something like "Let me come back to that." Then come back to it.

On the train, in the queue, at the checkout

Same plan, smaller kit. Fan in the bag. Layer you can lose. Water. And permission to step out of the queue for a minute if you need to. The groceries will wait.

The one piece of medical advice

See your GP. If hot flushes are getting in the way of your work, your sleep or your life, that is worth a proper conversation. Write down what has been happening for a fortnight beforehand so you are not relying on memory in the room, which, let's be honest, is not at its best right now.

The book

Be Better @ Managing Menopause has the full drawer list, the 3am plan, the exact sentences for when the word goes missing and what to say to your GP. It is short, it is practical and it would rather make you laugh than lecture you. It comes with a free printable GP Appointment Page: two weeks of notes on one sheet.

No miracle cures. No lectures. One piece of medical advice, and it is see your GP.

Betty xx