Argh the dreaded hot flushes! It’s the one symptom that lets you know that you’re going through menopause!
If you suffer like I did, it can be extremely tough to handle. They can come at the most inappropriate times of the day and night, feel intense, with sweating and rapid heartbeat, spreading through your chest, neck, face and body and can last between 2 minutes to 30 minutes +.
The drop in oestrogen can trigger an imbalance in noradrenaline in the body and it’s the noradrenaline that helps the body to regulate temperature. So that’s why hot flushes (and cold flushes) can carry on after peri menopause, menopause and into post menopause as the noradrenaline is affected by the lack of oestrogen that balances our body’s thermostat!
5 Tips to help mend your broken thermostat …
Here are 5 healthier lifestyle habits that you can try to help ease them naturally:
- Hot Flushes can be triggered by what we eat and drink. If you want to reduce hot flushes at night try and avoid spicy foods, caffeine, hot drinks and alcohol. Even if you trial this for 5 days you will start to see a reduction in the number of hot flushes you get, the intensity of hot flush and the length of time they last.
- Stress can add to the insomnia and night time hot flushes. Stress causes cortisol to be released into the body and this causes you to feel anxiety and heightened emotion. Try and find ways of self-care to ease what is stressing you. This can be journaling, walking, talking things through with friends and family & deep breathing. Creating new habits to de-stress throughout your day will help to lower your cortisol levels so you don’t wake up with that feeling of dread and starting your day off on the wrong foot.
- Sadly sugar can exacerbate your flushes as your body tries to balance hormones. Sugar causes your insulin hormone to spike and can result in triggering a hot flush. Think about testing reducing wine, chocolate and sugary treats to see if the intensity of your flushes lessens and the frequency.
- Lack of exercise can also mean you are not balancing your hormones with the positive endorphins, serotonin and dopamine that get released whilst exercising. Going for walks, increasing movement which includes weight bearing exercise at least 3 times a week, helps your body maintain balance.
- Oestrogen depletion as you go through menopause is the main cause of hot flushes. Taking HRT can reduce and eliminate hot flushes as it maintains the oestrogen levels in your body. Seek advice from your GP on HRT. We will cover HRT in more depth in another blog very soon.
Check Out Don’t Sweat It! Manage Your Menopause in 21 Days for more tips and easy to follow advice
I also run successful 21 Day Menopause Programs to help ease menopause symptoms – check out when our next one is running HERE ...
Get to know yourself better and try some of the above tips, to see if you can take a little control back over those hot flushes.