Hot Flashes/Night Sweats -What they are and how to cope

It’s not a hot flash, it’s a temperature tantrum.

The most talked about symptom of menopause seems to be when a woman suffers from hot flashes. Hot flashes may be mild or so intense that they disrupt daily activities. Nighttime hot flashes (night sweats) may wake you from your sleep and can cause chronic, long-term sleep disruptions. They can happen at any time of day or night, which makes it extremely difficult if not nearly impossible to predict an episode, causing an extreme physical and emotional toll on one’s life. Medically they fall within VMS, or vasomotor symptoms, hot flashes are sudden and intense sensations of heat in your face, neck, and chest, often accompanied by excessive sweating, reddening of the skin, chills, and a rapid heartbeat, as well as feelings of anxiety. The frequency and intensity of hot flashes can vary among women.  A single episode may last a minute or two or as long as five minutes. In its more severe manifestation, a woman can have well over 20 hot flashes in a period of 24 hours.

Changes in hormone levels during perimenopause and menopause are cited as the most common cause of hot flashes.  Although, why these hormonal changes are the root cause is not exactly clear, most research suggests that decreased estrogen levels result in the “body’s thermostat” (or the scientific term hypothalamus) becoming more sensitive to slight changes in body temperature.  For example, if the hypothalamus senses that your body is too warm, it will trigger a hot flash to cool your body down. The best way to measure topical temperature change in women during hot flashes is on their feet.

Hot flash symptoms can persist for more than seven years. Some women have them for more than ten years.  Although not all menopausal woman are afflicted with hot flashes, risk factors may include:  smoking, obesity (a high body mass index), and race (specifically, African-American and Hispanic women are disproportionately affected).

The most common suggestions and an ever growing market of products that promise women greater relief and comfort while enduring hot flashes have included: 

• Air conditioning, fans, open windows

• Cooling sheets

• Ice water 

• Cold showers

• Lightweight and breathable garments (i.e. pajamas)

• Layered daytime clothing  

• Meditation and exercise

Let’s dive deeper into addressing some related causes and recommendations that can give you agency over life situations back, that have been derailed by hot flashes.

5 ways to reduce the possibility and severity of hot flashes:

1. Using ice water. But not like you think… Of course you can drink ice water to keep you hydrated and cooler on the regular, but also consider plunging your hands or feet in it. Our hands and feet expel heat and energy the fastest, which is why we wear gloves and beanies. Plunging your hands (or feet, see above) in ice water, could shorten the duration of a hot flash. In addition, regular cold immersion, like cold showers or ice baths, have a positive effect on your central nervous system and have been reported, to help, too.

2. Sweat at the right time. Weight training should become every woman’s weekly routine to improve core strength, posture and keep bones healthy. Working with weights and breaking a sweat is great physically and mentally, however too late in the day it could contribute to the body’s inability to cool you down enough or in time to sleep comfortably. Also, always make sure to wind down with a good old fashioned cool-down stretch or foam rolling.

3. Calm your body down by calming down your mind. There is a two-fold approach. One, to handle a hot flash when it inevitably comes on and remaining as calm as possible through techniques like box breathing which can curb anxiety in the moment. The other, to regularly practice breathing techniques like the sitali breath which we break down on the app and

4. Work with Traditional Chinese Medicine and add snacks like goji berries to balance yin and yang. Eat a handful of goji berries daily to improve your symptoms.

5. Reduce sugar and increase good minerals and electrolytes. Simple sugars, processed sugars affect inflammation levels. Elevated blood glucose levels have been linked to hot flashes. Most adults are also deficient in magnesium and thus don’t sleep as well. Poor sleep quality increases anxiety and can wreak havoc on your mental health. We will share a way to easily keep your diet low sugar, in our video library soon.