Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I take a look at some strange and surprising ways you can feel after a hot flush.
The majority of women (approx. 75%) experience hot flushes or night sweats, but for some, they can also experience strange symptoms of feelings straight after the hot flush or the sweat.
6 surprising ways you can feel after a hot flush
So, what I thought I would do today as we look at some of the six surprising ways you can feel after a flush or a sweat, what causes these feelings and symptoms, and what you can do to help yourself.
1. You can feel chilled or cold after a hot flush
After a hot flush or a sweat, you can suddenly feel very cold, almost to the point where you're shivering. This is a really common response.
When oestrogen starts to fall, it can affect the way in which your body regulates its temperature. So, your body starts to think it's hotter than what it really is, and that will trigger a sudden rush of blood to the skin to cool you down. If you sweat or you get a severe hot flush, the moisture from the skin will start to evaporate and that's what cools you down. But for some women, this can be an exaggerated response and you suddenly find that you get really cold and really shivery.
For this, the only thing you can really do here is to try and minimise the severity of the hot flushes and the sweats, which I will go into a little later in this blog.
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2. You can feel really tired after a hot flush
After a hot flush or sweat, you can end up feeling extremely tired. It's almost like you get hit with a sudden wave of fatigue.
This is very often due to adrenaline. Some of the hot flushes and sweats are not necessarily caused by the hormones themselves, but in the way your nervous system is responding to everything that's going on in your life. So, if your nervous system suddenly goes into panic mode, that can trigger adrenaline, which will then trigger the flush or the sweat, and that sudden rush of adrenaline as it starts to subside can cause fatigue.
3. You can feel very emotional and weepy after a hot flush or a sweat
This is very often due to a sudden dip in your blood sugar levels, which can often go a bit wonky during menopause. Low blood sugar can make you feel quite emotional such as weepy or irritated. When your blood sugar levels dip really quickly, that can result in the nervous system going into panic mode, which can then trigger the flush or the sweat. And very often, you find that you crave something really sweet just to help you to feel that little bit better.
4. You can experience palpitations
Some women can experience heart palpitations either just before, during, or straight after a hot flush. It can feel as if your heart's racing. Again, this strange feeling tends to be due to an adrenaline rush, as I explained above.
5. You can feel nauseous during and after a hot flush
Some women find that they can start to feel sick during or after a hot flush or sweat. Two things can cause you to feel nauseous here - It can be due to a sudden dip in your blood sugar level or it could also be an after-effect of a rush of adrenaline.
6. You can crave sugar after a hot flush
Again, this can be very much due to your blood sugar levels suddenly dipping. It can also be due to flight-or-fight. So, if you're in a panicky mode, if you're suffering from a lot of anxiety or stress, that in itself can trigger a hot flush or a sweat and that can also lead to craving sugar and sweet things, such as biscuits, cakes, and chocolate.
What can help ease hot flushes?
To ease these strange feelings, you need to minimise the hot flushes and sweats. There are lots of simple things that can help. Here are a few things I recommend:
Know your triggers!
I have talked about this before, but understanding your triggers is a good place to start. I recommend keeping a hot flush/sweat diary, to help identify possible triggers.
This can be really helpful because if you are getting low blood sugar, then it can be due to the fact that you haven't eaten for a while. It could be due to the fact that you've had a cup of coffee, or you've already eaten something really sweet. All these things can raise your blood sugar levels up really quickly and you will suddenly get a big dip afterward, and it's that that can cause the sweat or the hot flush.
Manage your stress and support your nervous system
It is important to take steps to ease stress, to reduce this hot flush trigger. To help, you could look at our lovely Passiflora Complex range, which includes a tincture, tablets, and a handy spray for on-the-go support and relaxation. If you find that you tend to get stressed and emotional on the go, then this is something you can just spray straight onto your tongue.
The herb Sage
You can look at the herb sage, which you can take as either a tablet or tincture. This is known to help to decrease the amount and also the severity of hot flushes and sweats.
A.Vogel Menoforce Sage Tablets for Menopausal Hot Flushes and Night Sweats, One-a-Day, 30 tablets
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Stay well hydrated
Remember to drink plenty of water every day because dehydration will affect your blood sugar levels very quickly. Dehydration will also affect your nervous system too. So, keeping your water and your hydration up can help with the hot flushes and all of these symptoms and strange feelings that may come afterward.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. If any of you have experienced anything else, then please share. I would love to hear about it, and also, how you managed to help yourself out.
Until next week, take care.
