Menopause:
Hot Flashes, Flushes, and Night Sweats
Night Sweats and Hot Flashes are one of the most common complaints in women’s life experience.
Hot flashes — also called hot flushes, vasomotor symptoms, and night sweats, when they happen at night — may wake you up during the night. You may feel a sudden wave of heat and excessive sweating, or simply wake up drenched in sweat.
… affecting 12.5% of perimenopausal women, 79% of menopausal, and 39.3% of postmenopausal women.
During perimenopause and menopause, the body must adjust to the changes that result from lower estrogen levels. Lower estrogen levels are thought to trick the part of the brain that regulates body temperature into reacting as though the surrounding environment is very hot.
Reacting to the feeling of heat, the body attempts to cool itself off by dilating blood vessels in the skin, causing flushing and sweating.
When this happens, some women also report an increase in heart rate and chills during a hot flash.
Symptoms
During a hot flash, you might have:
- A sudden feeling of warmth spreading through your chest, neck and face
- A flushed appearance with red, blotchy skin
- Rapid heartbeat
- Perspiration, mostly on your upper body
- A chilled feeling as the hot flash lets up
- Feelings of anxiety
Hot flashes may be mild or so intense that they disrupt daily activities.
They can happen at any time of day or night.
When a hot flash occurs while you’re sleeping, you may experience night sweats. Night sweats are not dangerous or unhealthy, but they can be uncomfortable and cause difficulty sleeping. Hot flashes and night sweats may be severe enough to interfere with the quality of life.
The frequency and intensity of hot flashes vary among women.
A single episode may last a minute or two — or as long as 5 minutes.
On average, hot flash symptoms persist for more than seven years. Some women have them for more than 10 years.
There is no estimated length of time that perimenopausal and menopausal women will have to endure hot flashes and night sweats. Some women will experience only a handful of them at the onset of menopause, while others will have them for life. The good news is that generally hot flashes tend to decrease in severity over time.
Risk factors
Not all women who go through menopause have hot flashes, and it’s not clear why some women do have them. Factors that may increase your risk include:
- Smoking. Women who smoke are more likely to get hot flashes.
- Obesity. A high body mass index (BMI) is associated with a higher frequency of hot flashes.
- Race. More black women report having hot flashes during menopause than do women of other races. Hot flashes are reported least frequently in Asian women.
Lifestyle and home remedies to improve hot flashes
If your hot flashes are mild, try managing them with these lifestyle changes:
- Keep cool. Slight increases in your body’s core temperature can trigger hot flashes. Dress in layers so that you can remove clothing when you feel warm. Open windows or use a fan or air conditioner. Lower the room temperature, if you can. If you feel a hot flash coming on, sip a cold drink.
- Watch what you eat and drink. Hot and spicy foods, caffeinated beverages and alcohol can trigger hot flashes. Learn to recognize your triggers and avoid them.
- Practice mind-body therapies. Although evidence is inconclusive, some women find relief from mild hot flashes through mind-body therapies. Examples include meditation, slow, deep breathing, stress management techniques, and guided imagery. Even if these approaches don’t help your hot flashes, they might provide other benefits, such as easing sleep disturbances that tend to occur with menopause.
- Don’t smoke. Smoking is linked to increased hot flashes. By not smoking, you might reduce hot flashes, as well as your risk of many serious health conditions, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer.
- Lose weight. If you’re overweight or obese, losing weight might help ease your hot flashes
Dietary supplements
People often assume that “natural” products cause no harm. However, all supplements may have potentially harmful side effects, and supplements can also interact with medications you’re taking for other medical conditions. Always review what you’re taking with your doctor or pharmacist.
Dietary supplements commonly considered for menopause symptoms include:
- Plant estrogens. Asian women, who consume soy regularly, are less likely to report hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms than are women in other parts of the world. One reason might be related to the estrogen-like compounds in soy. However, studies have generally found little or no benefit with plant estrogens, although research is ongoing to determine whether specific components of soy, such as genistein, help hot flashes.
- Black cohosh. Black cohosh has been popular among many women with menopausal symptoms. Studies of black cohosh’s effectiveness have had mixed results, and the supplement might be harmful to the liver in rare circumstances.
- Ginseng. While ginseng may help with mood symptoms and insomnia, it doesn’t appear to reduce hot flashes.
- Dong quai. Study results indicate that dong quai isn’t effective for hot flashes. The supplement can increase the effectiveness of blood-thinning medications, which can cause bleeding problems.
- Vitamin E. Taking a vitamin E supplement might offer some relief from mild hot flashes. In high doses, it can increase your risk of bleeding.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone therapy steadies the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the body. It is a very effective treatment for hot flashes in women who are able to use it.
Treatments can be tailored to each individual woman depending on the nature and severity of your symptoms, age, and overall health.
For more information on the symptoms and treatment options call the office of County Obstetrics & Gynecology to schedule a consultation.