What Causes Hot Flashes And When Will They Be Over?
July 6, 2009 by Helpful Menopause Tips
Filed under About Menopause
Every woman who is in perimenopause or menopause itself will be able to identify the symptoms of a hot flash, such as the sweating, the rush of intense heat over the upper body and face, and the rapid heartbeat associated with hot flashes. Not as many women however can tell you what causes a hot flash.
According to some sources, the causes of hot flashes vary depending on if you are perimenopausal - which is the transition into menopause - or menopausal. Although causes of hot flashes have been studied for many years not everyone has come to the same conclusion. The one facet of hot flashes that everyone does agree with is that it is a hormonal imbalance. Basically that means that during certain times of your life, specifically menopause, your body feels that too many demands are made of it, and the balance of hormones is overwhelmed. This causes your nervous system to try to compensate for the changes in your hormonal balance by changing the temperature of your skin.
Another hot flash cause could be lack of estrogen. There is a part of your brain, called the hypothalamus, which gets “confused,” so to speak, with the sudden drop in estrogen. Since the hypothalamus is sometimes called the “body’s thermometer”, it will suddenly read that it is too hot. The brain responds by alerting your nervous system to do everything it can to rid your body of the heat.
The message is delivered instantly by making your heart beat faster, and dilating the blood vessels in your skin to circulate more blood in order to produce sweat to cool you off. This is what happens when you overheat during the summer or heavy exercise, and during menopause. Your brain confuses this and thinks that your body is overheating, causing a hot flash. Since your body is cooling down when it shouldn’t be, you find yourself perspiring and overheating at the oddest times.
Again, no one can tell you exactly what causes hot flashes, but there are solutions, both natural and medical, that can help you through them. Hot flashes last an average of 2 to 3 minutes but can be longer depending on certain triggers such as anxiety, spicy foods, tobacco, hot weather, and hot showers. Although there is no specific average most people agree that hot flashes occur approximately every 2 to 4 hours and can last 2 to 5 years, mostly during the perimenopausal period. For women in mid-life, this is a natural process that will improve with time.
Thanks to Linda Bruton for contributing this article to our Menopause blog:
According to some sources, the causes of hot flashes vary depending on if you are perimenopausal - which is the transition into menopause - or menopausal. Although causes of hot flashes have been studied for many years not everyone has come to the same conclusion. The one facet of hot flashes that everyone does agree with is that it is a hormonal imbalance. Basically that means that during certain times of your life, specifically menopause, your body feels that too many demands are made of it, and the balance of hormones is overwhelmed. This causes your nervous system to try to compensate for the changes in your hormonal balance by changing the temperature of your skin.
Another hot flash cause could be lack of estrogen. There is a part of your brain, called the hypothalamus, which gets “confused,” so to speak, with the sudden drop in estrogen. Since the hypothalamus is sometimes called the “body’s thermometer”, it will suddenly read that it is too hot. The brain responds by alerting your nervous system to do everything it can to rid your body of the heat.
The message is delivered instantly by making your heart beat faster, and dilating the blood vessels in your skin to circulate more blood in order to produce sweat to cool you off. This is what happens when you overheat during the summer or heavy exercise, and during menopause. Your brain confuses this and thinks that your body is overheating, causing a hot flash. Since your body is cooling down when it shouldn’t be, you find yourself perspiring and overheating at the oddest times.
Again, no one can tell you exactly what causes hot flashes, but there are solutions, both natural and medical, that can help you through them. Hot flashes last an average of 2 to 3 minutes but can be longer depending on certain triggers such as anxiety, spicy foods, tobacco, hot weather, and hot showers. Although there is no specific average most people agree that hot flashes occur approximately every 2 to 4 hours and can last 2 to 5 years, mostly during the perimenopausal period. For women in mid-life, this is a natural process that will improve with time.
Thanks to Linda Bruton for contributing this article to our Menopause blog:
Discover how YOU can relieve hot flashes and menopausal symptoms without HRT. Pick up your free special report “Coping with Hot Flashes the Natural Way” by clicking here: http://www.survivemenopause.com
Learning How to Deal With Menopause
July 3, 2009 by Helpful Menopause Tips
Filed under About Menopause
Learning how to deal with menopause
A woman’s life is often marked by drastic changes. From adolescence to her menopausal years, women strive to cope up with the remarkable changes that come their way.
According to medical experts, menopause is a very significant time in any woman’s life because this is the time her body goes through a lot of changes. These changesmostly physicalgreatly affect her social, emotional, and intellectual stability. Studies show that when a woman goes through her menopausal years, her feelings about herself and her attitude towards work and life in general changes considerably.
MENOPAUSE FACTS
Menopause is perfectly a natural occurrence in any woman’s life. Unlike before when menopause is dreaded like some sort of disease, medical advances today have proven that a wide range of health care choices can be done to help women cope up with their menopausal stage.
Learning what menopause is all about, what causes it and what are the things that can be done to enhance the quality of life during this phase will help women nearing it understand it fully. Knowledge about it can even teach women how to deal with the phase when it comes.
In medical terms, menopausemeno (menstruation) and pause (stops)refers to the last menstrual flow in a woman’s life or the end of a woman’s menstrual periods. Medical experts say that menopause is a natural part of aging and usually occurs when the woman’s ovaries stop making hormones called “estrogens.” When the ovaries stop producing estrogen, the estrogen level will drop and will halt monthly periods. Low estrogen levels are usually linked to many uncomfortable symptoms in most women. Since estrogen plays a big role in shaping a female’s body in preparation for various female functions such as pregnancy, it’s loss during menopausal years can create a big impact on a woman’s overall well being.
The climacteric spans of menopausal years are usually dated from early or mid 40s to late 50s to early 60s. The entire phase includes the pre-menopausal years (before menopause), the menopausal climax years (during menopause), and the post-menopausal years (after menopause) or the “Change of Life.” Aside from aging, menopause can also be triggered by surgical removal of the ovaries for any other reasons like illness.
Medical experts agree that about 75 percent of women across the globe report uncomfortable symptoms during menopause and these vary from the most common to the most complicated ones. Studies show that the most common symptoms of menopause include hot flashes and vaginal atrophy or thinning, drying, shrinking and thinning of the vagina. Other symptoms include hot flashes along with sudden and violent waves of sweating, irregular periods, vaginal or urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence or inability to control the flow of urine, redness or inflammation of the vagina, ultimate discomfort or pain during sexual intercourse, visible changes in skin, digestive tract, and hair.
Emotional changes like mood swings and depression are also distinguished during pre-menopausal, menopausal, and post-menopausal years.
In the long run, more serious health risks are related to menopause or the lack of estrogen supply in a woman’s body. These include osteoporosis, heart diseases and heart attacks that can be traced due to being overweight or obesity, blood pressure that is monitored regularly, cigarette smoking, illness such as diabetes, high levels of “bad” cholesterol in the body and a low level of physical activities.
Menopause is usually determined after a woman has visited her physician. After the health history and physical examination has been diagnosed and conducted by the doctor, the appropriate therapy is then recommended to improve the menopausal discomfort. If you are on the verge of menopausal and you’re worried how to deal with it, make sure that you ask for professional help before anything gets worse.
Thanks to Nathalie Fiset for contributing this article to our Menopause blog:
A woman’s life is often marked by drastic changes. From adolescence to her menopausal years, women strive to cope up with the remarkable changes that come their way.
According to medical experts, menopause is a very significant time in any woman’s life because this is the time her body goes through a lot of changes. These changesmostly physicalgreatly affect her social, emotional, and intellectual stability. Studies show that when a woman goes through her menopausal years, her feelings about herself and her attitude towards work and life in general changes considerably.
MENOPAUSE FACTS
Menopause is perfectly a natural occurrence in any woman’s life. Unlike before when menopause is dreaded like some sort of disease, medical advances today have proven that a wide range of health care choices can be done to help women cope up with their menopausal stage.
Learning what menopause is all about, what causes it and what are the things that can be done to enhance the quality of life during this phase will help women nearing it understand it fully. Knowledge about it can even teach women how to deal with the phase when it comes.
In medical terms, menopausemeno (menstruation) and pause (stops)refers to the last menstrual flow in a woman’s life or the end of a woman’s menstrual periods. Medical experts say that menopause is a natural part of aging and usually occurs when the woman’s ovaries stop making hormones called “estrogens.” When the ovaries stop producing estrogen, the estrogen level will drop and will halt monthly periods. Low estrogen levels are usually linked to many uncomfortable symptoms in most women. Since estrogen plays a big role in shaping a female’s body in preparation for various female functions such as pregnancy, it’s loss during menopausal years can create a big impact on a woman’s overall well being.
The climacteric spans of menopausal years are usually dated from early or mid 40s to late 50s to early 60s. The entire phase includes the pre-menopausal years (before menopause), the menopausal climax years (during menopause), and the post-menopausal years (after menopause) or the “Change of Life.” Aside from aging, menopause can also be triggered by surgical removal of the ovaries for any other reasons like illness.
Medical experts agree that about 75 percent of women across the globe report uncomfortable symptoms during menopause and these vary from the most common to the most complicated ones. Studies show that the most common symptoms of menopause include hot flashes and vaginal atrophy or thinning, drying, shrinking and thinning of the vagina. Other symptoms include hot flashes along with sudden and violent waves of sweating, irregular periods, vaginal or urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence or inability to control the flow of urine, redness or inflammation of the vagina, ultimate discomfort or pain during sexual intercourse, visible changes in skin, digestive tract, and hair.
Emotional changes like mood swings and depression are also distinguished during pre-menopausal, menopausal, and post-menopausal years.
In the long run, more serious health risks are related to menopause or the lack of estrogen supply in a woman’s body. These include osteoporosis, heart diseases and heart attacks that can be traced due to being overweight or obesity, blood pressure that is monitored regularly, cigarette smoking, illness such as diabetes, high levels of “bad” cholesterol in the body and a low level of physical activities.
Menopause is usually determined after a woman has visited her physician. After the health history and physical examination has been diagnosed and conducted by the doctor, the appropriate therapy is then recommended to improve the menopausal discomfort. If you are on the verge of menopausal and you’re worried how to deal with it, make sure that you ask for professional help before anything gets worse.
Thanks to Nathalie Fiset for contributing this article to our Menopause blog:
Dr Nathalie Fiset is a family doctor and a certified hypnotherapist. For more information go to: http://www.bestmenopause.com/depression.html
www.aperfectharmony.com or www.myalpha-power.com
What is the difference between estrogen and progesterone?
June 25, 2009 by Helpful Menopause Tips
Filed under Hormones, Estrogen & Hysterectomy
Can you answer Cutie_McPie’s question about Menopause?:
What side effects do each of these hormones cause? I know a BIT about estrogen, but not progesterone.
Supplements For Menopause
What side effects do each of these hormones cause? I know a BIT about estrogen, but not progesterone.
Supplements For Menopause
What are the effects of a total hysterectomy with the ovaries left behind?
June 20, 2009 by Helpful Menopause Tips
Filed under Hormones, Estrogen & Hysterectomy
Can you answer Ajane’s question about Menopause?:
I am 23 years old and mother of 2. I am going through issues with severe dysplasia that is getting worse. It is a genetic thing. With the birth of my last child, my uterus ruptured so it is now really weak on one side and pregnancy is pretty much out of the question. I am seriously considering a total hysterectomy with the ovaries left behind for hormone production. My family is really against the procedure because they are scared it will mess with my hormones and make me crazy. I really need all the information I can get before I willingly decide to go through with the surgery.
Menopause And Bleeding
I am 23 years old and mother of 2. I am going through issues with severe dysplasia that is getting worse. It is a genetic thing. With the birth of my last child, my uterus ruptured so it is now really weak on one side and pregnancy is pretty much out of the question. I am seriously considering a total hysterectomy with the ovaries left behind for hormone production. My family is really against the procedure because they are scared it will mess with my hormones and make me crazy. I really need all the information I can get before I willingly decide to go through with the surgery.
Menopause And Bleeding
What is the best way to increase estrogen levels in my body without taking birth control?
June 20, 2009 by Helpful Menopause Tips
Filed under More Menopause Answers
Can you answer College girl’s question about Menopause?:
I am a college student who loves to run. I usually run 4-6 miles 6 days a week, and am 5′5 at 112 lbs. I also dont eat a lot of meat. I haven’t gotten my period for almost 2 years and realize that I must do so to reduce my risk for developing osteoperosis in the future. My doctor recommended birth control, but I really do not want to take it for several reasons, one being the side affects that result from pumping my body full of hormones. Is there another way to increase my estrogen levels and start menstruating again? I think if I try to gain about 5 lbs that should start things flowing again, but that’s easier said than done considering I eat a lot now (I have to walk a lot plus the running). Are there any other suggestions for me, or any tips to help me “thicken” up without “jelling up”? Thanks!
Memory Loss Perimenopause
I am a college student who loves to run. I usually run 4-6 miles 6 days a week, and am 5′5 at 112 lbs. I also dont eat a lot of meat. I haven’t gotten my period for almost 2 years and realize that I must do so to reduce my risk for developing osteoperosis in the future. My doctor recommended birth control, but I really do not want to take it for several reasons, one being the side affects that result from pumping my body full of hormones. Is there another way to increase my estrogen levels and start menstruating again? I think if I try to gain about 5 lbs that should start things flowing again, but that’s easier said than done considering I eat a lot now (I have to walk a lot plus the running). Are there any other suggestions for me, or any tips to help me “thicken” up without “jelling up”? Thanks!
Memory Loss Perimenopause
