An Elektra Member Talks Debilitating Hot Flashes…and How She Found Relief

Written by: Erin O'Connor

Published on: Mar 05, 2025

Last modified on: Mar 05, 2025

5 min read

When Krisanthi Pappas hit the one-year mark after her last period — Thanksgiving Day of 2016 — she thought, this is it. Officially postmenopause, she assumed “hey, the hard part is over.” Then came the debilitating hot flashes. As a professional performer and piano teacher, the menopause transition hasn’t just been uncomfortable for her, it’s been majorly disruptive.

We spoke with Krisanthi about her experience struggling with extreme hot flashes while managing a personal breast cancer risk, a quest for effective treatment, and the difference a supportive partner can make.

On her “hot flashes from hell”

My mother died when she was 59 and when she did go through menopause, I remember her having hot flashes, but I was young and didn’t think anything of it. I never really talked to her about menopause, because you don’t think to do that when you’re in your 20s. Then I got older, and here I am.

That day in 2016 when I had my last period, everything turned off like a switch and my body went into utter shock in so many ways. It was true hell, feeling full of rage, depression, anxiety, zero sex drive, vaginal dryness, brain fog, and most of all — the hot flashes from hell. Once, one of my musicians was sitting next to me, and I started having a hot flash. I was thinking “God I hope you can’t tell” and he says to me “Oh my god. Are you all right? Are you having a fever? Your body feels like it’s on fire.”

“Once, one of my musicians was sitting next to me, and I started having a hot flash. I was thinking ‘God I hope you can’t tell’ and he says to me ‘Oh my god. Are you all right? Are you having a fever? Your body feels like it’s on fire.’”

My best description is this: imagine yourself standing in a hot, pitch black tunnel where you can barely take a breath. You hear a train coming and as it nears, the ground beneath you begins to shake. The air gets hotter, the train rumbles down the tracks, and the horn starts blasting. It comes speeding, your body sweltering and your heart pounding so hard that you can barely catch a breath. And then, the train goes through, the ground stops shaking, and the noise softens until it’s finally gone. You walk out of the tunnel back into the light and go on with your day. This happens again and again every hour of every day and every night.

On trying everything out there

I prefer not to take medication, so when this first started happening, I thought “there’s got to be some ways around this.” I started taking black cohosh, which is a supplement that didn’t do much for me. I tried meditation, acupuncture, every kind of holistic approach there was.

My mother died of breast cancer, and I’m at a higher risk of having it because of the family connection. My spouse, Barbara, has also had breast cancer twice, and so we both just try not to do anything in the estrogen world, but that seemed to be the biggest help for everybody. So, a couple years ago, I did hormone therapy for a very short time and it did help, but I experienced low blood pressure and ultimately decided to stop taking it — which sent me back into hell.

On what finally helped

I read about a new drug called Veozah in an email from Elektra — it’s not estrogen hormone therapy, and it’s supposed to help with hot flashes. It sounded too good to be true. When it finally hit the market, I tried to get a prescription for it and had some trouble getting the insurance company to cover it. My gynecologist was trying to get them to okay it, and thank God for her because I was ready to give up. Finally, they approved it, and I thought “maybe something will happen, maybe not.”

10 days after I started the medication, I realized, like, oh my gosh, I haven’t had a hot flash yet. The whole day went by. I never had even one hot flash. I was so shocked. I was like, in tears over it, I was so happy. I just couldn’t believe it. My whole day structure has changed because now I’m not being disrupted.

“My whole day structure has changed because now I’m not being disrupted.”

On having partner who just gets it

With Barbara, my spouse, she went through menopause at a younger age, because when she had breast cancer, she had to start taking tamoxifen and that put her into early menopause when she was in her 40s. She didn’t go through the same menopause I’m going through, so she can’t relate to some of it, but of course she’s a woman and has her own set of other physical experiences that she goes through. She’s definitely understanding.

Even if you have a really understanding husband, you have a different body, and it’s just hard to explain the things that you deal with. It’s definitely been helpful having her, and she’s been a wicked advocate.

On she wish she knew before

I’m such an optimist by nature that I don’t like to be focused on the negative, but it would just have been nice to know, like this might happen to you. And if it does, here are some solutions — to have some solutions readily available. If it weren’t for Beth [my Elektra Guide] and Elektra, I would not have even known there was help.