Perimenopause Hot Flashes - Can You Stop Menopausal Hot Flashes?

Perimenopause hot flashes - can you stop hot flashes from happening?

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Perimenopause is the phase, often lasting several years, leading up to your last menstrual period or menopause. This is the time when you'll likely experience perimenopause symptoms, one of the most common being hot flushes.

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You'll know without a doubt if you're having a hot flash because you'll feel a sudden intense heat spreading through your body. Your face might flush scarlet or break out in a sweat and you might feel shivery at the same time as you're overheating.

A hot flush can last for a few seconds or go on for some minutes. Sometimes hot flashes are mild, and although you're aware of them, they don't affect you seriously in any way. Stronger ones can be all-engulfing, and make you feel as if everyone around you knows that there's a menopausal woman in the room!

What causes perimenopause hot flashes?

These sudden waves of heat are caused by hormonal imbalances. During perimenopause, your body goes through vast hormonal changes and the resulting upheaval can confuse and affect its built-in heat regulation system, leading to unpredictable and unwanted surges in body heat.

Night-time hot flashes are know as night sweats and can stop you sleeping, which is why insomnia in menopause is so common.

Who gets perimenopause hot flashes?

Not every woman going through perimenopause will experience hot flashes - in fact, some lucky women pass through the entire menopause symptom-free. You can help yourself reduce or rule out hot flashes by wising up on the things that can set them off.

What triggers perimenopause hot flashes?

These tips can help you avoid triggering hot flushes:

• Avoid caffeine as much as possible and substitute water or herbal teas for tea, coffee and cola which all contain caffeine.
• Avoid alcohol, or limit your intake.
• Keep your bedroom cool, using a fan in hot weather if necessary.
• Reduce the amount of stress in your life as much as you can.
• Steer clear of spicy foods.
• Exercise is crucial during menopause. As well as possibly helping control hot flashes and other signs of perimenopause, it can help you lose weight, improve your overall health, reduce the risk of many dangerous illnesses and lift menopausal depressiondepression.
• Wear loose fitting, 'breathable' clothing and switch to cool cotton bedding.
• Cut out junk foods, especially sweet stuff, as too much sugar can prompt more hot flashes.

What are the remedies for hot flashes?

Simple changes to your lifestyle can help. Getting a good healthy diet in menopause is important. De-stressing, getting more exercise and avoiding the triggers listed above can all help to make a difference to the number of hot flashes you get.

If this isn't enough to give you relief there are also several drug-based hot flash remedies which you can consider.

Although Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) was once widely used for dealing with hot flashes, the risk of breast cancer is now proven as a side effect means so it's very rarely used for treating hot flashes.

Some women swear by natural therapies including herbal remedies for menopause and treatments like massage and acupuncture. There's no hard evidence to prove that any of these can help with perimenopause hot flashes, but they're worth trying to see if they have any effect for you..

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