Read the full video transcript below
Today's topic
Hello, and welcome to my weekly video blog. And today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I'm going to be doing something slightly different. We know hot flushes are the most common symptom of the menopause. We know that at least 75% of women will experience hot flushes at some point during the menopause, and more women than anything else, ask me about hot flushes on a daily basis.
So what we're going to do is we're going to have a hot flush month. And just because the weather is getting warmer, a lot of women find that their hot flushes tend to get worse at this time of the year. So I'm going to be doing a different topic each week on hot flushes. Now, one of the things I find to help you is for you to learn to identify the triggers that are causing your hot flushes.
4 common hot flush triggers
There are lots of them, and I'm just going to go over a few today. And this is really my kind of recipe, if you like, for hot flush success.
1. Not drinking enough water
So the main triggers are, first of all, water, water, water, water. Do you drink enough water?
It's really important to get plenty of water every single day. You need a litre and a half, at least, of plain water over and above your other drinks to help with hot flushes. We do know that a lot of women are still drinking coffee, and things like tea, fizzy drinks, fruit juices, these can make flushes worse, and they don't count towards your water intake, so I'm really sorry about that one, ladies.
2. Magnesium deficient
Are you low in magnesium? Our body needs such a lot of magnesium during the menopause. We have so many needs for magnesium, and once that starts to dip, it can cause a whole raft of problems including triggering the hot flushes. And if you're drinking a lot of coffee, if you're drinking alcohol, eating lots of sugary foods or processed foods, and even some medications can deplete you of magnesium even further, and that can make your symptoms worse as well.
3. Low blood sugars
Do you get low blood sugar levels? And this can be a huge trigger. Your blood sugar levels tend to get very jumpy during the menopause, and you only need a sudden dip, and that can be enough to stress your nervous system, and that will trigger a hot flush. So we need to look at, are you missing meals?
Are you so busy you forget to eat? Are you not eating well? Are you going on a diet and reducing your food intake? Stress, as well, can all have a big, big effect on your blood sugar levels, and that will make them plummet and make everything worse.
4. Shallow breathing
Are you breathing properly? And this was an interesting one for me, I know some of you have probably heard the story, but for those of you who haven't, I travel a lot between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and I found that I started to get hot flushes at exactly the same point in the road every time I did the journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh, and I thought, "This is really strange, you know. What's going on here?"
And it wasn't until I looked back and discovered that because of the traffic, because of the stress, I was holding on to the steering wheel, I was clenching my teeth, and I was holding my breath, and that was enough to give me that hot flush and the interesting thing was, it was when I got through the town, when I just relaxed, suddenly I got the hot flushes.
So this is a really interesting one to bear in mind, and not a lot of people think about it. The other thing that can happen, too, is that if you are on a desk, if you're doing a lot of computer work, if you're hunching over, you're actually restricting lung movement, and that can be a big trigger in it as well, so just keep an eye on your breathing.
So there are lots of other triggers as well, and I have done video blogs on this before so there will be links if you feel that the ones I've mentioned here don't really occur in your situation.
Flush relieving remedies & tips to help
But what I'm going to do now is give you a nice recipe for success for your hot flushes and how to relieve them.
Sage
So the first thing is sage. We know that the herb, sage, can be really effective for hot flushes. It can work really quickly as well, which is great.
Magnesium
Magnesium, an extra magnesium supplement, something like 200 milligrams to 400 milligrams a day can make a difference.
I love it when so many women come back to me having only taken magnesium for maybe a few days, and they tell me that they feel better, so this is one that's really worth trying.
Water
Remember the water. Drink plenty of water every single day. It can make a huge difference. If you already drink enough, if you're drinking one and a half litres, then add in some more.
Your body is needing over and above what you normally drink. And I heard a lovely story the other day where a lady was drinking two litres of water a day during the menopause, that was her normal amount which was great, but she added an extra litre into her daily amount, and she found that her sleep problems disappeared, and she was sleeping better.
So, this is great. Just add more in if you're already a good water drinker.
Regular meals
Remember to have regular meals. This is so important. You have a good breakfast, have lunch, and have a good meal in the evening as well.
Breathing exercises
Remember your breathing exercises. You can Google, you can go on to YouTube, you can learn some really simple breathing exercises that can be very, very helpful for you, and they can make a difference with anxiety as well, so you're getting a double benefit.
Menopause Support
If you're getting hot flushes and you're also getting other menopause symptoms as well, or a range of minor menopause symptoms, you could try our Menopause Support as well.
A.Vogel Menopause Support | For Perimenopause, Menopause & Postmenopause Symptoms
Healthy snacks
Now, one of the things that I found that's really helped me, I have very sensitive blood sugar levels, and I only need to not eat properly or be late for eating, and I know that my nervous system gets really wound up by it, so I found that having a good healthy snack in between meals was really a saving grace for me on a lot of occasions.
A lovely snack for you
So I'm going to tell you about a really lovely snack. One of the interesting things that's going to help you here to identify what is going to trigger your hot flushes is to have a little hot flush diary. And what you would do is you write down the times that you're getting the hot flushes, you may find you get a clue as well, that maybe you're not eating enough, maybe you've gone too long without food, maybe you haven't been drinking any water.
And once you've identified the times that you're getting the hot flushes, if they're coming on a regular basis every single day, then try one of these little snacks that I'm going to tell you about, maybe about half an hour before you're due to get the flush, and just see if it can help. Now, this is my favorite snack, and I call these Datey Dollops.
They're really simple to make, they're full of magnesium, they've got dates in them, they've got healthy fats in them. And the lovely thing about dates, they're one of the best dried fruits that you can eat, is that they taste lovely and sweet, so they're giving you that nice little comfort hit, but they release their sugars very slowly, so again, they're going to help to keep your blood sugars really nice and level.
And I find that one of these is enough just to keep everything in check until I'm ready for my next meal. So, I hope you enjoy them. The recipe for these is in the back of my new updated menopause e-book, and there'll be a link here if you wish to download it. So enjoy these, and let me know if they helped. Let me know, too, if you've had success with doing the little diary, and figuring out what your main hot flush trigger is.
What I will be talking about next week
Next week, I'm going to be talking about the hot flush myths that you shouldn't believe because believe me, there are a lot of them.
So I'll see you then for another edition of A.Vogel Talks Menopause.
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