Goldilocks and her HOT FLUSHES!

'NOT TOO HOT, NOT TOO COLD, JUST RIGHT'

I love the name Americans give to hot flushes, they call them ‘hot flashes’ because they can come on you like a flash, with no warning at all! One minute you can be sitting very peacefully at home or in the office and the next minute you can feel a huge wave of heat come across your body. A bit like a tsunami, it spreads quickly. It is usually most intense around your upper chest, neck and face.

When your body senses a hot flush coming on it goes into ‘fight mode’. It feels the heat warming up and gets ready for action. Your heart begins to beat faster and your blood vessels dilate to help you fight off the heat. You might begin to sweat to release more heat as your body tries to cool itself back down. While all this is happening, your skin can get flushed and go red and blotchy. This can make many women feel embarrassed and anxious. They think everyone is staring at them, which can make them feel even more uncomfortable.

On average hot flashes last about 3 to 4 minutes. Some women may experience multiple episodes in an hour while other women may only get a few episodes a week or a month. Some women will not experience them at all. Hot flushes can also happen during the night. These are commonly referred to as night sweats, but they are the same thing, though you might sweat more as you are under bedcovers. Symptoms can last a couple of years, but for a small number of women they can last over a decade.

Hot flushes and night sweats are more common than you might think given the limited amount of air time they get. A recent study in 2016 conducted by the British Menopause Society found that 79% of women reported having experienced hot flushes and 70% having experienced night sweats. Hot flushes are a very real problem for women and can affect their work lives, social lives and sex lives.

WHY DO HOT FLUSHES HAPPEN?

Scientists believe that hot flushes happen as a result of lowering oestrogen levels that happen during menopause. This can cause a change in your hypothalamus – your body’s thermostat. There is a natural temperature range that your body wants to stay between. If it goes too high, you will sweat and if it goes to low you will shiver. Like Goldilocks you want our temperature to be ‘just right. You want to keep it within its normal range. But as a woman transition through the menopause it is thought that that the range can narrow and become more sensitive to changes in temperature.

Scientists don’t yet know why the range becomes narrower, but they are looking into it.

Given the impact that hot flushes can have on a woman’s work, social and sex lives and the fact that insomnia and difficulty sleeping are common problems associated with the menopause, it’s about time too. Even Goldilocks worked out how to eat her porridge and get a good night’s sleep years ago!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP RELIEVE YOUR HOT FLUSHES

A good way to try to prevent or reduce the frequency of your hot flushes is to figure out if they have any obvious triggers that you can avoid. You can also try some of the commonly used herbal remedies and supplements that can help manage and reduce hot flush episodes. But don’t just suddenly wade in here, full guns firing, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the problem. Tackle the problem in a systematic way. What I tell my clients to do is to use my Symptom Tracker. This will help you track which triggers you might have and work out which supplements or lifestyle changes are really helping you or not.

COMMON TRIGGERS FOR HOT FLUSHES

Although we don’t know the exact reason why hot flushes happen we do know the common triggers that can bring them on. Things that can make your body’s temperature suddenly rise and can be triggers are:

· Eating spicy foods

· Drinking warm liquids, caffeine and alcohol

· Smoking

· Being in a warm environment

· Wearing thick clothing

· Feeling stressed or anxious

· Certain cancer treatments and other medications

· Some health conditions (hyperthyroidism, diabetes and tuberculosis)

HERBS THAT CAN HELP

For generations women have been using herbal medicines to help manage and relieve their hot flushes. There is more research to back up some than others, however, it is very individual so trial and tracking can be helpful here. Four of the most commonly used supplements are:

ST. JOHN’S WORT: a flowering plant that grows in the wild and has been used for centuries as a remedy that can help some women reduce hot flushes and night sweats.

BLACK COHOSH: a herb that is a member of the buttercup family. It has been used since the mid-50s to threat menopause symptoms, including hot flushes.

RED CLOVER: a dark pink flowering plant that belongs to the same family as peas and beans. It is thought of by many as a ‘natural’ oestrogen because of the high levels of isoflavones that it contains.

VITEX (AGNUS CASTUS): a shrub native to Mediterranean Europe and Central Asia that is also known as chasteberry or Monk’s pepper. It is commonly used for treating menopause symptoms and PMS.

STAY COOL

As simple as it sounds, wearing less layers or lighter clothes and making sure your duvet and sheets are not too heavy and thick can help you stay cool and help avoid hot flush episodes from starting. So try swapping a jumper for a cotton shirt and using a summer tog duvet, even in the winter, if you suffer from regular night sweats.

IMPORTANT:

Please check with your GP before you take any of these products. Some herbs can have serious interactions with certain medications and should not be used if you have certain medical conditions.

Click here to get a copy of The Nutri Yogi’s WISE WOMEN'S Symptom Tracker:

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