It’s believed that the hypothalamus, one of the glands affected by estradiol withdrawal, somehow releases a trigger substance that results in thermoregulatory instability. The body’s signals get mixed, triggering a warming and sweating sequence, in an effort to stabilize what it perceives as a change in body temperature.

This is what people call hot flashes, the most common and irritable symptom of menopause.

Whatever the cause of the hot flash, it can be mild, moderate, or severe. Estimates of how many women have hot flashes vary, from 70 percent in some studies to as high as 86 percent in others. Somewhere within the two-year time frame around their last period, at least 40 to 50 percent of women will experience hot flashes. Between one-quarter and one-half of these women may have flashes for longer than 5 years.

The average hot flash lasts 3.3 minutes, with some as short as half a minute and some as long as one hour. Although they don’t know how hot flashes happen, researchers can measure changes in skin and core temperature, as well as resistance by the moisture in the skin.

Here are the symptoms of hot flashes you might feel:

• Warmth and/or redness on the skin of your face, neck, shoulders, and upper chest

• May be accompanied or followed by…

• pounding heartbeat

• nausea

• dizziness

• anxiety

• headache

• weakness or a feeling of suffocation

• sweating

• A chill can lead off the episode or be the final symptom

Then, what should you do if you experience hot flashing?

Here are some tips you can try to cope with it:

1. Dress in layered clothing, preferably cotton, since natural fibers allow your skin to breathe. Then when you feel a flash coming on, you can simply shed layers to cool off. Since some flashes are followed by chills, it can be helpful to have a sweater to put back on.

2. Limit or eliminate altogether substances that may act as triggers: caffeine; alcohol; hot, spicy foods; diet pills; hot tubs; stress.

3. Drink plenty of water. Keeping well hydrated can help modulate your body temperature.

4. Keep a supply of ice water nearby - even at night beside your bed.

5. Use lighter blankets or a fan near your bed to deal with hot flashes at night.

6. Limit your intake of red wine, chocolate, and aged cheeses, which contain a chemical that can affect your body’s thermostat and trigger a hot flash.

7. Make use of other coping behaviors. Psychological or behavioral coping techniques are getting more attention from the scientific community. For example, a small study conducted by a professor of psychiatry, Robert R. Freedman, Ph.D., at the Lafayette Clinic and Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit found that regular, practiced breathing reduced hot flashes by 50 percent in the study’s 33 participants.

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Before the Change : Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause by Ann Louise Gittleman (Sales Rank: 48091, as of 9/2/2006 1:12:19 AM)

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