All Posts tagged Reduce hot flashes

You’re having an ordinary day when suddenly an overwhelming sensation of heat starts to creep up your neck and into your face. You start to feel a tingling sensation in your fingertips, and as your face starts to flush and beads of sweat form along your brow, you realize that your heart rate has escalated too. Unless you’re playing beach volleyball on a 90 degree day in Miami, you may be experiencing a hot flash. For many women, hot flashes are one of the most uncomfortable symptoms of menopause and perimenopause (the period of time directly preceding the onset of menopause). It is not clear exactly what causes hot flashes but it is believed that the sensations of overwhelming heat are due to hormonal changes that occur in a woman’s body or to changes in circulation. While you may not be able to avoid hot flashes completely during perimenopause and menopause, knowing what triggers them and how to manage your symptoms can help ease the discomfort.

Women may experience hot flashes for only a few months during perimenopause, or for several years. Common triggers for hot flashes vary for each woman, but commonly, momentary hot flashes can be brought on by:

• Alcohol consumption
• Caffeine consumption
• Eating spicy foods
• Being located in a warm room
• Stress or anxiety
• Wearing tight clothing
• Tobacco products or exposure to second hand smoke

Take note of when your hot flashes occur and try to identify the specific triggers that you are most susceptible to so that you can try to avoid them in the future. If you can’t control when your hot flashes occur, know that you can still manage your discomfort when a hot flash begins. Some simple strategies to help manage your symptoms include:

• Dressing in layers
• Sipping ice water when you feel a hot flash coming on
• Applying an ice pack to your neck and chest to help lower your body temperature
• Keeping your bedroom cool at night
• Using fans to circulate the air around you
• Wearing cotton, a breathable fabric, at night, and using cotton bed linens
• Regular exercise
• Eating a well-balanced diet
• Practicing deep, slow, abdominal breathing
• Meditation
• Routine acupuncture treatments

For women who feel a more aggressive treatment is needed to manage their symptoms, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be an option. HRT uses estrogen supplements to help normalize hormone levels and reduce the incidence of severe hot flashes and night sweats. Other prescription treatments for hot flashes include:

• Low-doses of anti-depressants
• Clonidine, a blood pressure medication
• Gabapentin, an anti-seizure medication
• Brisdelle or Duavee, medications created specifically to treat hot flashes

Nonprescription treatments for hot flashes include:

• Vitamin B complex
• Vitamin E
• Ibuprofen

If you are struggling to manage your hot flashes speak with your gynecologist. He or she will help you decide what triggers to avoid and what treatments may best soothe your symptoms to ensure your years of menopause are not spent in discomfort. And if you are looking for a new Ob-Gyn and are in the Buffalo NY area, please give us a call.