My face was flushed — I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it. Even the backs of my hands were moistened with sweat. My entire body felt oddly, uncomfortably and suddenly very warm.
If you’re a “woman of a certain age,” you’ll recognize the telltale signs of a hot flash. But I was 24 and not at all sure what was going on. It was one of many unexpected things happening to my body around that time. By then, I was kind of taking it day by day.
Months before my first hot flash, I’d been feeling unusually bloated and crampy. At times I felt a sharp pain on the right side of my abdomen. Just two years removed from playing competitive college soccer, I was now too uncomfortable for even a slow jog. One doctor diagnosed me with IBS; another thought I had a