Hot Flashes, Sweats and Chills

hot flashes sweats Hot flashes, sweats and chills often go hand-in-hand. Upsetting and annoying, such menopause symptoms can become a real burden to menopausal women. A frequent symptom of menopause, hot flashes, sweats and chills can stop a woman in her tracks and greatly impact on her day-to-day life. Thus it is important for women to know how best to manage hot flashes, sweats and chills in order to make the menopausal transition as easy as possible.

Read on to learn more about the causes of hot flashes, sweats and chills and how to treat these symptoms accordingly.

What are hot flashes, sweats and chills?

A common complaint during menopause, hot flashes, sweats and chills are feelings of intense heat in the upper part of the body, accompanied by a quickened heartbeat and a reddening of the chest, neck, and face, followed by feelings of being cool. Hot flashes, sweats and chills vary in length and intensity but most women report episodes of hot flashes, sweats and chills lasting between thirty seconds and five minutes. In the three years leading up to menopause, half of women will experience hot flashes, sweats and chills and around 75% of women will suffer from hot flashes, sweats and chills during the menopausal transition.

Women suffering from hot flashes, sweats and chills usually develop a pattern of symptoms; some women experience mild symptoms of hot flashes, sweats and chills infrequently, while others have more severe symptoms more than once per day. Hot flashes, sweats and chills are a vasomotor symptom of menopause which means that they can disrupt the usual functioning of the vascular and motor systems of the body, causing intense heat, perspiration, and other symptoms ranging from mild to severe.

Hot flashes, sweats and chills can occur at any time of the day or night and are also known as night sweats when they happen during sleep.

What causes hot flashes, sweats and chills?

hot flashes estrogenic The main trigger of hot flashes, sweats and chills is not understood but it is generally thought that decreasing estrogen levels causing hormonal and biochemical fluctuations are responsible. More specifically, hot flashes, sweats and chills are the result of the hypothalamus´ (the heat regulatory area of the brain) overproduction of heat. During menopause, declining estrogen levels cause the hypothalamus to discharge chemicals that cause skin blood vessels to expand so that heat can be released, which results in hot flashes, sweats and chills.

Hot flashes, sweats and chills and other vasomotor symptoms such as heart palpitations and dizziness are less intense and regular following menopause and the majority of women will stop having hot flashes, sweats and chills after five years. Unfortunately, for some women, hot flashes, sweats and chills can persist for up to 10 years if not longer.

In addition to identifying the triggers, alternative medicines can provide a more precise solution to the problem of hormonal imbalance. Often a combination of alternative medicines and healthy lifestyle is the most effective method of dealing with hot flashes. Click the following link in order to find the best treatments for hot flashes, sweats and chills currently available.