Again, know these blogs are just me being a girl, standing in front of other girls who are all going through our new and exciting journey of womanhood. And as I was researching all of this for myself (my OB did not give me much guidance, and colleagues were all over the place in their recommendations), I decided I would share what I found with you, to hopefully save you from some of the struggle. I totally believe in the collective experience and solidarity of women. I don’t get why talking about menopause and all these changes is so secret.
When you suddenly feel hot (and not in that I’m-20-and-look-awesome kind of hot way), it is terrible. I remember I had a plastic surgery scrub tech going through menopause who would sweat so much she had to scrub out of surgery. I didn’t understand it like I do now.
What is it?
- A wave of heat in the upper body
- Sweating, redness, anxiety, and HEAT. You sweat and your blood vessels dilate (which makes you flush) to get rid of the heat.
- It has to do with estrogen being in the brain, and then it is taken away. The faster the removal/bigger the change, the more symptomatic you are.
- They last 2-4 minutes.
- They disrupt sleep.
- They can be followed with chills and shivering
- Some women get these 20-30 times a day and it on average lasts 7 YEARS.
- There may be an association with cardiac disease/stroke in those with severe hot flashes
How long?
There are 4 equally occurring patterns:
- start early in menopause transition and stop after the final period,
- later onset with most symptoms around the last period and slowly declining for 4 years,
- few or none, or
- “super flashers” (sounds naughty, but is really just tragic) for those who go from the transition up to 10 years out.
Risk factors:
- GENETICS. Longest are seen in African American woman (11 yrs), Asian women (5-6 yrs), Hispanic and Caucasian in between
- SOCIO: lower education, poverty, and stressful childhood
- SMOKING. (yup. smoking doesn’t do anything good for your body)
- Stress/depression
- CAFFEINE
- ANXIETY
- HEAVY DRINKING
- AFTERNOONS
- HOT WEATHER/HUMIDITY can trigger
Treatment
- Wear layered clothing and stay cooler so you don’t trigger a hot flash
- Unclear if any “cooling” clothing works, though it is good to have vents to aerate
- Behavior therapy. meditate. think “this is only going to last a few minutes.” Breathe. Slow your heart rate.
- Hormone replacement, with the lowest dose that fixes the symptoms. It takes 6 weeks to see the effect.
- Antidepressants (Paxil 10 mg, Celexa 10 mg, Lexapro1 10 mg, Effexor 75 mg) Takes 6-12 weeks to see effect
- Antiepilepsy medications like gabapentin (300 mg at night) or lyrica
- NEW one? fezolinetant, which causes the nerves to stop overreacting. No estrogen given.
What doesn’t work: phytoestrogens, magnets, exercise, acupuncture. (*this was stated as not effective by the book I am reading which cites the research)
And what is not proven? Herbals. **NOTE All herbals are not monitored as true medications are. Please read my blogs on herbals HERE. Think Black cohosh, evening primrose oil, and phytoestrogens
The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider for any questions regarding your health or medical condition.