Understanding Hot Flashes: Triggers, Relief, and More
Hot flashes bothering you? A hot flash is a feeling of intense heat, not caused by external sources. Hot flashes can appear suddenly, or you may feel them coming on. Their frequency also varies. Find out more about hot flashes and night sweats and how to deal with the symptoms on both a practical and emotional level.
Hot Flashes: What Can I Do?
What are hot flashes? Hot flashes, also called flushes, occur when your body temperature rises suddenly and you feel warm all over. They usually happen in the middle of a cold night as part of menopause. You might have one every hour for several hours at first, then less frequently until they stop completely after two to three years. The cause is unknown but it’s thought that estrogen levels drop during perimenopause and early postmen pause.
Lifestyle Changes to Improve Hot Flashes
Hot flashes, a common symptom of the menopausal transition, are uncomfortable and can last for many years. If lifestyle changes don’t work well enough, talk with your doctor or nurse practitioner about other options such as hormone therapy. HT is an effective treatment option for reducing hot flashes. It also helps prevent bone loss and heart disease. Talk with your healthcare provider before taking any medication. You should not use estrogen-only pills without talking with your health care professional first. If you have questions about using HT, ask your doctor or nurse practitioner.
What Causes Menopause Symptoms?
Menopause occurs naturally when women reach their midlife stage. During this time, ovaries no longer produce eggs. This causes menstruation to end and hormones to change. Hormone production drops dramatically, which leads to physical changes like thinning hair, weight gain, mood swings, sleep problems, vaginal dryness, and increased risk of osteoporosis. Learn more about what happens during menopause here.
How do I know if my period has ended? Your menstrual cycle ends once you’ve gone through 12 consecutive days without having a period. Some people experience irregular periods throughout life; others go through cycles where there are fewer than 21 days between each period. Most women will notice some sort of bleeding around day 14 of their cycle. However, most women who haven’t had a period yet still bleed regularly from the vagina. The average age for menopause is 51. But everyone experiences different things differently.
When to see a doctor
If you notice frequent episodes of hot flushes, talk to your health provider about whether these could indicate something else going wrong. For example, it’s possible that you’re experiencing early signs of heart disease. You should tell your healthcare professional right away if you think you’ve had a stroke, especially if you don’t remember what happened before the event.
Women who develop hot flashes tend to have had their first period later than others do. This means there was less chance for ovulation and fewer eggs available to fertilize. Women whose cycles were shorter tended to have more frequent hot flashes. The length of your cycle depends partly on whether you take birth control pills. Birth control pills prevent ovulation; therefore, taking them will lengthen your cycle.
Other risk factors for developing hot flashes include being overweight, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol.
Should I Take Hormones for My Hot Flashes?
Women who use an antidepressant to help manage hot flashes generally take a lower dose than people who use the medication depression. There are risks associated with taking hormones, including increased risk of heart attack stroke, blood clots, breast cancer, gallbladder disease, and dementia. Should I Take Hormones for My Hot Flashes?
If you decide to try using hormones to control your hot flashes, there are several options available. Your doctor will recommend one based on your personal situation. If you do not want to get pregnant while trying to stop having menstrual periods, then birth control pills containing both estrogen and progestin might be best. Birth control pills contain only estrogen when they are taken as emergency contraception after unprotected sex. They usually contain no more than 50 mcg of progestin per pill.
Treatment / Management
There are no proven treatments for hot flashes other than hormone therapy. However, there are some nonhormonal therapies available:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy has shown promise as an effective intervention for reducing the number and severity of hot flushes. It involves teaching patients how to identify triggers and develop coping strategies.
- Relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation may help reduce tension and improve mood.
Menopausal symptoms can cause significant distress in women during this time of life. Although many women experience relief from hot flashes within 6 months or so of starting treatment, most find that their symptoms continue beyond 12 months. The simple best ways to manage HT include: Exercise regularly, Eat healthy foods, Get enough sleep, Avoid caffeine.
Questions Our readers usually Ask
What hormone is best for hot flashes?
Estrogen is the primary hormone used to reduce hot flashes. Most women who have had a hysterectomy can take estrogen alone.24
How long does it take for hormones to stop hot flashes?
How long do hot flashes last? It used to be said that menopause-related hot flashes fade away after six to 24 months. But for many women, hot flashes and night sweats often last a lot longer—by some estimates seven to 11 years.
How do I know if I need hormone therapy?
If you are experiencing unexplained depression, anxiety, or fatigue, or even hot flashes, weight gain, and bone loss, then you may be an ideal candidate for hormone replacement therapy. This specialized therapy will address these symptoms and help you start feeling like yourself.
Does Vitamin D Help hot flashes?
It is postulated that a contributor to hot flashes is a menopausal decline in serotonin, a neurotransmitter with known effects on thermoregulation. As Vitamin D can protect against experimental serotonin depletion in rats, one proposed mechanism for symptom alleviation is prevention of serotonin decline in menopause
Is yogurt good for hot flashes?
One study of peri- and post-menopausal women found calcium and vitamin D rich foods—such as yogurt—reduced early menopause risk by 17 percent and helped reduce some symptoms of menopause. Plus, the probiotics in yogurt provide a nice gut health boost for better digestion, immunity, and skin
Can drinking water help with hot flashes?
Drinking more water will definitely effect how many times you pee a day. Oh, and if you suffer from night sweats and hot flashes, you need even more water to make up for the additional loss. Staying hydrated will also help you lower your other symptoms like fatigue and dizziness in menopause.
Did You Know these things about Hot Flashes?
- For 10 to 15 percent of women, hot flashes are so severe that they disrupt normal functions, such as leading a meeting or sticking to a schedule. (hopkinsmedicine.org)
- In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, hot flashes were reduced by almost half for 50 percent of women over eight weeks of acupuncture treatment. (hopkinsmedicine.org)
- About 70% of women will experience hot flashes at some point in the menopausal transition. (medicinenet.com)
- About 40% to 85% of women experience hot flashes at some point in the menopausal transition. (medicinenet.com)
- At completion of the intervention, bother in the MBSR arm decreased on average by 14.77% versus 6.79% for WLC. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- At 20 weeks, total reduction in bother for MBSR was 21.62% and 10.50% for WLC. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Mean percent change since baseline (± standard error) in hot flash bother, and… Figure 2 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Mean percent change since baseline (± standard error) in hot flash bother, and hot flash intensity, adjusted for baseline values, by treatment arm, weekly during the intervention (weeks 1–9) and at 12-, 16-, and 20-week follow-up. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Hot flashes are among the most common types of menopausal vasomotor symptoms (VMS), affecting up to 74% of perimenopausal women. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Sixty-five percent of women complain of hot flashes for more than two years, and 36% for more than five years. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)