Hot Flashes 2.0

In the spring, I mentioned reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flashes by cutting out caffeinated coffee, tea, and sodas. My hot flashes began in January of this year and making this huge reduction in caffeine brought those flashes down to a minimum, overnight. My primary source of caffeine was brewed coffee. I cut back to half caffeinated/half decaf brewed coffee, then went to all decaf brewed coffee. In late summer, wanting to reduce my caffeine even more, I switched from brewed decaf to instant decaf. The amount of caffeine in either preparation for coffee sounds insignificant, but when you figure that a person (me) may be consuming 5 or 6 cups of decaf per day, the amount of caffeine can add up to that of one or two cups if caffeinated coffee, over the course of a day. Some individuals are more sensitive to caffeine and every reduction possible is beneficial. This was the case for me.

To get an idea of how much caffeine is in various preparation methods and roasts, healthline.com provides some data. So, I live in Coffeeland, USA. Starbucks Pike Place Roast Decaf (the standard Starbucks decaf for my area) has about 20 milligrams of caffeine per 12 oz. cup. Home-brewed, supermarket coffee-in-a-can grounds have around 7 to 8 milligrams of caffeine per 12 oz. cup. Grocery store instant decaf granules (the kind in a jar, not the Starbucks single-serve packets) provide about 3.1 to 3.8 milligrams of caffeine per 12 oz. cup. The choice for instant coffee now saves me about 85 milligrams of caffeine per day, in comparison to the brewed decaf that I had been drinking all winter and spring. That is about the amount of caffeine in an 8 oz cup of caffeinated coffee. For this period in my life, this is important for my comfort. My hot flashes are rare, now. This may in part be due to my body making the adjustment to reduced estrogen levels. I am unwilling to experiment with a cup of caffeinated coffee to see if hot flashes resume. (I like not feeling sweaty.)

I do drink a lot of decaf coffee each day. I enjoy the flavor. So, I made the maximum concession, while still finding enjoyment in the activity. It was a matter of weighing benefits against costs. As long as I felt the benefits (no hot flashes or heart palpitations) outweighed the costs (sacrificing some of the pleasurable flavor in brewed coffee), I was willing to make this change. In addition, the heart palpitations that I had lived with for decades practically vanished. I had a brief spell of an irregular heart beat two or three evenings in a row, last summer, but that has been it. I don't know what caused that aberration, but I do associate the near-cessation of palpitations with cutting out caffeine.

There are some bonuses to drinking instant decaf, now. It's quicker to prepare. There are no filters to buy, and no basket or filter holder plus carafe to wash out. The counter space where my coffee set-up previously sat is now freed up for other kitchen activity, or just a cleaner-looking space. I can take my instant coffee granules with me when I go to food courts and similar take-out counter-service restaurants, asking for a cup of hot water to go. I  fact, when I was at the airport recently, I walked up to the Starbucks counter and asked what the charge for a cup of hot water would be. They said it was free. I took my hot water to a table near my gate, mixed in a spoon of instant granules and made a "free" cup of coffee for myself. I wouldn't do this in a restaurant where I sat at one of their tables. That would just seem tacky to me. But in a take-away situation, I don't see why not, if the establishment is willing to provide a free cup of hot water.

Anyway, I am glad to be able to wear fleece again. The occasional hot flashes that I do experience are limited to specific scenarios, such as an anxiety attack or a fever. I am working on calming myself during anxiety attacks. It's similar to a biofeedback process. The feedback comes not from electrical sensors, but from the hot flash, itself. You know the saying, "every cloud has a silver lining?" Well, the silver lining of my hot flashes has been finding ways to live a physically and emotionally healthier life.

How I Made $83 an Hour

First, let me say this, I was super reluctant to take this route. Really, there are some things for which I don't like to compromise my comfort or convenience. When traveling by air, I like the convenience of arriving at the airport by my own car, which entails the expense of high parking rates at the airport. Nonetheless, I am willing to pay for parking, either at the airport proper or at a discounted, off-site parking location, just so I can be more comfortable getting there.

I recently went out of town for a few days. My departing flight was super early in the morning, and my returning flight was late at night. I am especially not a fan of the off-site parking joints when it means I have to get up extra early for a flight or be there long after dark (kinda sketchy area near the airport). So, I had talked myself into paying the full rate at the airport, which would have cost about $140 for the days that my car sat parked. A few days before leaving town, my car began acting up. I didn't have time to get it looked at, and I was very concerned about driving the hour and fifteen each way to the airport. In addition, I didn't have anyone that I could ask for a ride. (Due to the distance, I consider a ride to the airport to be a pretty big favor.) I looked into shuttle possibilities, but as both of my daughters were coming with me, a shuttle would have cost close to $200. After spending a weekend on the fence about driving, taking a shuttle, or daring the public transit, I made a last-minute decision to take a series of 2 public buses and 1 stretch on light-rail for my transport to and from the airport. We had to walk a mile to the bus stop (with heavy backpacks, and yes, it was uphill part of the way) and ride public transportation, which took 2 hours. However, it was worth it, as our cost was $25.50 in total for the 3 of us to get to and from the airport, yielding a savings of $114.50. The additional time, compared to driving to/from, was about one and a half hours. Going on these figures, I estimate my hourly savings' rate at about $76.33. But wait, it gets better. Gas for my car to get to and from the airport would have cost about $10, giving me a total savings of $124.50 or $83/ hour for my time. Of course, I had to get both daughters on board with this crazy plan. So I offered each of them an incentive, $25 to spend any way they wanted while we were out of town. When you're young, beautiful, and broke, $25 sounds pretty enticing (or at least it did for my two daughters). They said, "let's go for it," and we did. With "sharing" that awesome hourly rate (bribing offering an incentive of $50 total to my daughters), my hourly rate for a little inconvenience dropped to $49.67. That's not bad, and I think it was worth the inconvenience.

I also like to remind myself that when I "earn" money by saving what I had planned on spending, those "earnings" are not subject to income taxes. If I had taken a paid job for that same amount of money, income taxes would have eaten into the earnings, and I would have had to work more hours to earn that sum. And truth be told, my area of expertise is in a very un-lucrative field. Convincing someone into paying me $83 per hour would be a tough sell.

Who knows, maybe my car would have made it to the airport and back, or maybe it wouldn't have. I'm glad I didn't chance it. It's in the shop now, and I'm hoping the repairs are not too exorbitant. The good news, though -- now that I've done the bus and rail to the airport, and discovered it wasn't bad at all, I will take this route again. The bonus is we all got a bit of exercise before sitting on a plane for a few hours.

You know, when we travel, I think nothing of taking public transit in other cities. And I take the bus whenever I want to go into Seattle. So, I'm kind of surprised that it took me this long to take transit to and from the airport. I guess I just need a little push in the right direction every now and then.

How about you? Has there been something that you've were reluctant to try, but you did and were glad for the push to get you into that experience?