Hot Flashes and Sweats - What Are They Like and What Causes Them?
Trying to describe hot flashes and sweats is difficult because the experience varies so broadly from woman to woman.
They vary tremendously in severity and duration.
Mild HF's can be no more than a slight inconvenience lasting a minute or two.
Severe HF's can be so intense as to be disabling, lasting thirty minutes and longer.
Let's look at the range of HF experiences, from mild to severe.
A mild hot flush is described as a feeling of warmth that often arises in the chest area and moves like a wave into the neck, face and scalp.
It can be accompanied by flushing or reddening of the skin, and followed by light perspiration.
Afterwards the skin can feel clammy, and cold to the touch.
Severe hot flushes are often described as surges of heat arising in the chest or entire body all at once.
The heat often moves like a wave that culminates in the neck, face and scalp.
There frequently is an intense flushing or reddening of the skin of the chest, neck and face, followed by profuse sweating and chills all over.
Shivering can occur throughout the body along with the chills, lasting several minutes.
But there's more to a hot flush than just the heat followed by reddening of the skin and then by perspiration and sweating.
Hot flashes often begin with a feeling of uneasiness.
These uncomfortable feelings before the flash of heat are referred to as the aura.
Many women describe feelings of dizziness, heart palpitations and even headaches before the onset of a hot flash.
With a severe hot flash, one might also experience tingling in the hands, anxiety and nausea.
In a severe hot flash, the wave of heat, reddening of the skin and the sweating may only last five minutes.
But recovering, feeling normal and back to one's self again, may take another 30 minutes.
When a woman is having five, ten or even more severe hot flush experiences daily, this can easily total many hours a day.
What causes hot flashes? A hot flush is an attempt by your body to cool you down.
They are a "vasomotor" event, which means involving the opening of the blood vessels (in the skin), which allows more blood to flow through them.
The heat and flushing of the skin is experienced when blood vessels in the skin dilate, bringing more blood (and heat) to the surface of the body.
This is strategy your body uses to dissipate heat (by radiating it into the environment).
Sweating is an additional strategy used to cool down the skin since the evaporating sweat does result in cooling.
Normally, your brain allows your body's core temperature to go up and down within a certain range.
This is called the "thermoneutral zone".
Your brain monitors your temperature carefully.
For instance if you are outside in the winter time when its below freezing and get too cold, your body begins to shiver.
Shivering is small contractions of muscles, and this activity helps you to generate heat.
Normally (before perimenopause) your body's core temperature remains within a set temperature range called the "thermoneutral zone".
This is the temperature range that your brain defines as safe.
When your temperature is within this zone your body makes no dramatic attempts to heat you up or cool you down.
During perimenopause and continuing into menopause your ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
As the ovaries decrease their production of estrogen and progesterone (as you approach menopause), the drop in hormone levels is picked up by the hypothalamus--a part of the brain which is involved in body temperature regulation.
The drop in estrogen secretion causes the hypothalamus (brain) to instruct the pituitary gland to release more FSH (follicle stimulating hormone).
The higher levels of FSH that occurs when estrogen secretion drops is thought to be behind the narrowing of the "thermoneutral zone" and the onset of hot flashes.
In plain English, when your ovaries stop functioning your brain reacts and tries to keep your body's core temperature in a narrower range.
When your core temperature goes out of this range, particularly when you heat up, your brain considers it to be an emergency and employs strong measures (hot flashes) to cool down immediately.
How does having a narrower "thermoneutral zone" translate into everyday experience? You often feel too hot or too cold.
You feel uncomfortable with the slightest temperature change.
The slightest activity can increase your core temperature and trigger a hot flash.
Getting relief from hot flashes and night sweats.
There are many natural remedies for hot flashes.
Some work better than others.
Avoiding hot flash triggers like hot drinks, warm clothes, warm environments and exercise (which heats you up) will help to prevent them.
Eating foods that are high in natural phytoestrogens has also been shown to help reduce hot flashes.
For instance Japanese women report far fewer hot flashes than women in other Western countries.
The difference is thought to be their high consumption of soy products.
They vary tremendously in severity and duration.
Mild HF's can be no more than a slight inconvenience lasting a minute or two.
Severe HF's can be so intense as to be disabling, lasting thirty minutes and longer.
Let's look at the range of HF experiences, from mild to severe.
A mild hot flush is described as a feeling of warmth that often arises in the chest area and moves like a wave into the neck, face and scalp.
It can be accompanied by flushing or reddening of the skin, and followed by light perspiration.
Afterwards the skin can feel clammy, and cold to the touch.
Severe hot flushes are often described as surges of heat arising in the chest or entire body all at once.
The heat often moves like a wave that culminates in the neck, face and scalp.
There frequently is an intense flushing or reddening of the skin of the chest, neck and face, followed by profuse sweating and chills all over.
Shivering can occur throughout the body along with the chills, lasting several minutes.
But there's more to a hot flush than just the heat followed by reddening of the skin and then by perspiration and sweating.
Hot flashes often begin with a feeling of uneasiness.
These uncomfortable feelings before the flash of heat are referred to as the aura.
Many women describe feelings of dizziness, heart palpitations and even headaches before the onset of a hot flash.
With a severe hot flash, one might also experience tingling in the hands, anxiety and nausea.
In a severe hot flash, the wave of heat, reddening of the skin and the sweating may only last five minutes.
But recovering, feeling normal and back to one's self again, may take another 30 minutes.
When a woman is having five, ten or even more severe hot flush experiences daily, this can easily total many hours a day.
What causes hot flashes? A hot flush is an attempt by your body to cool you down.
They are a "vasomotor" event, which means involving the opening of the blood vessels (in the skin), which allows more blood to flow through them.
The heat and flushing of the skin is experienced when blood vessels in the skin dilate, bringing more blood (and heat) to the surface of the body.
This is strategy your body uses to dissipate heat (by radiating it into the environment).
Sweating is an additional strategy used to cool down the skin since the evaporating sweat does result in cooling.
Normally, your brain allows your body's core temperature to go up and down within a certain range.
This is called the "thermoneutral zone".
Your brain monitors your temperature carefully.
For instance if you are outside in the winter time when its below freezing and get too cold, your body begins to shiver.
Shivering is small contractions of muscles, and this activity helps you to generate heat.
Normally (before perimenopause) your body's core temperature remains within a set temperature range called the "thermoneutral zone".
This is the temperature range that your brain defines as safe.
When your temperature is within this zone your body makes no dramatic attempts to heat you up or cool you down.
During perimenopause and continuing into menopause your ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
As the ovaries decrease their production of estrogen and progesterone (as you approach menopause), the drop in hormone levels is picked up by the hypothalamus--a part of the brain which is involved in body temperature regulation.
The drop in estrogen secretion causes the hypothalamus (brain) to instruct the pituitary gland to release more FSH (follicle stimulating hormone).
The higher levels of FSH that occurs when estrogen secretion drops is thought to be behind the narrowing of the "thermoneutral zone" and the onset of hot flashes.
In plain English, when your ovaries stop functioning your brain reacts and tries to keep your body's core temperature in a narrower range.
When your core temperature goes out of this range, particularly when you heat up, your brain considers it to be an emergency and employs strong measures (hot flashes) to cool down immediately.
How does having a narrower "thermoneutral zone" translate into everyday experience? You often feel too hot or too cold.
You feel uncomfortable with the slightest temperature change.
The slightest activity can increase your core temperature and trigger a hot flash.
Getting relief from hot flashes and night sweats.
There are many natural remedies for hot flashes.
Some work better than others.
Avoiding hot flash triggers like hot drinks, warm clothes, warm environments and exercise (which heats you up) will help to prevent them.
Eating foods that are high in natural phytoestrogens has also been shown to help reduce hot flashes.
For instance Japanese women report far fewer hot flashes than women in other Western countries.
The difference is thought to be their high consumption of soy products.
