Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I take a look at surprising times you could get hot flushes.
Hot flushes and night sweats are the most common symptoms in menopause, with most women experiencing them at some point. However, occasionally, they come as a big surprise and a lot of women contact me, wondering why they get hot flushes at certain times of the day or after they do certain times.
So today, I thought I would just go through some of the situations which may trigger hot flushes and sweats.
My surprising hot flush moment
For those of you that have been reading my blogs for a long time, you'll probably know this story but, for me, I didn't experience a lot of hot flushes but I did experience them at a surprising time, and it took me a while to figure out why I was getting them at that specific time.
I live in Scotland and I very often had to work in Edinburgh and also, to go and see my family, so I had to travel maybe 70 or 80 miles. And part of the journey was through Glasgow. And for those of you that know the M8 on Glasgow, it's the most horrendous road with lanes coming this way and that way and up the way and down the way.
I found that every single journey, about two or three miles outside of Glasgow, I would always get a hot flush. And I couldn't understand why on Earth it happened at that particular point in the road. And after thinking about it a little while, I realised that going through Glasgow, was so stressful.
I would be sitting with my hands gripped to the steering wheel, holding my breath because I was just so afraid that something would come behind me or in front of me. I realised that tension was causing it. I was under stress and anxiety and not breathing properly, but once I'd got through the city, I relaxed and that was the point where I ended up getting a hot flush.
Why do I get hot flushes when…?
So let's have a look at some of the other situations that hot flushes can happen suddenly or surprisingly.
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1. Why do I get a hot flush when I roll over in bed?
One of the problems with menopause is that you end up in a much shallower sleep so things that normally would be oblivious to you whilst you're asleep become into your consciousness.
So when you start to roll over, you may find that you just become a little bit awake and that movement, as you're slowly coming to, can trigger your nervous system. You get a rush of adrenaline and that will trigger a night flush or a night sweat. Very often, at that point, you may find that you get palpitations as well, so the two of these are very, very closely linked.
What can help?
You could take a nice calming sleep remedy such as our Dormeasan Sleep Valerian & Hops oral drops, 30 minutes before going to bed. Herbs such as valerian can help to keep you in a slightly deeper sleep and a little bit of a longer sleep and that can, very often, can be of benefit. It's also calming for the nervous system.
2. Why do I get hot flashes after I eat?
This is a really common time for getting a hot flush or a sweat. It can be due to several factors. It may be because you've eaten quite a big meal. You might have been rushed so you might have been really busy so you're not chewing your food properly.
Your digestive system is suddenly overwhelmed and it has to kick in really, really quickly. Again, that can trigger adrenaline. Or it could be what you've eaten. And we know that having a cup of tea or coffee during your meal, having some alcohol, having some spicy food, or having high salt or sugar foods, all of these can trigger the nervous system and that results in a flush or a sweat.
3. Why do I get hot flushes when I’m hungry?
A lot of women find that as they're nearing a meal, that's when a hot flush or a sweat kicks in. This is due to low blood sugar levels.
So your blood sugar control can sometimes go all over the place during menopause, and before a meal, you may have gone three or four hours without eating, your blood sugars plummet, and again, that will trigger a flush or a sweat.
What can help?
With this one, make sure that you eat little and often, and you're not leaving hours and hours between having something to eat.
4. Why do I get hot flashes when I stand up?
This could be due to several issues. If you've been sitting for a long time, if you've been focusing on something, if you've been working, then very often, your nervous system is calm and relaxed. Then, if you suddenly jump up, again, that's triggering your nervous system.
The other thing it could be is when you're moving after being still for quite a while, for some women, you may get a sudden dip in blood pressure and that could cause a flush or a sweat, usually accompanied by a little bit of dizziness or light-headedness.
For some women, the minute you start to move and you're heart is pumping again, your blood pressure can suddenly spike. And again, that can cause a flush or a sweat.
5. Why do I get hot flashes when I wake up?
This is another one that's all to do with your nervous system.
When you're asleep, everything is nice and calm. Your nervous system has calmed down because of sleep. When you wake up, because of the flight-or-fight mechanism, your nervous system is primed to jump into action the minute you open your eyes.
Unfortunately, when you're in menopause, that sudden spike of movement can trigger a hot flush or sweat, as well as anxiety. So sometimes, you can get this combination where you get a flush or a sweat, you feel really nervous or agitated, or your stomach starts to turn over, this is all due to the nervous system just kicking in here.
Other ways to help ease your hot flushes
So what can you do in any of these situations to help ease hot flushes and night sweats?
Sage
You can look at the herb sage as this is known to help deal with flushes and sweats. This is something you can take either before you go to bed, or if you're getting symptoms during the day, you could take it with your breakfast.
A.Vogel Menoforce Sage Tablets for Menopausal Hot Flushes and Night Sweats, One-a-Day, 30 tablets
£15.99 (30 tablets) In Stock
Know your triggers
Trying to figure out, like I did with the driving, what is the trigger? Because once you know the trigger, sometimes, it can be sorted really, really quickly.
So the best thing here is to have a diary, so every time you get a strange flush or a sweat is to jot down the time, look at what's been going on the previous few hours.
Have you had something to drink? Have you not had anything to drink? Have you had a cup of coffee? Have you had some kind of stimulating drink, maybe alcohol, even things like fruit juice? Are you really tired? Have you been sitting for a long time?
Very often, when you start to make a diary over a few days, you will find that there'll be some common theme that's happening every time you get a flush or a sweat.
Water
Dehydration is something that occurs in just about every single situation where there's a flush or a sweat. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water during the day.
If you're getting flushes or sweats when you're moving whilst you sleep, or first thing in the morning, remember the little shot glass of warm water just before you go to bed.
Avoid or reduce your intake of certain drinks
Reduce things like caffeine, drinks such as coffee and tea are common hot flush triggers. Fruit juices can be a bit of a problem because they are full of sugar, even if they're natural sugars. And alcohol, if you cut this down and you may find that that makes quite a difference, too.
Stress management
If you calm your nervous system down, then it's not going to react when any of these situations are happening. You could look at our lovely Passiflora Complex Tablets or the Passiflora Spray for on-the-go support, or our licensed anxiety remedy, AvenaCalm.
I hope you found this one interesting. It can take a little bit of time sometimes to figure out what's going on, but as I've said before, once I knew what was happening with myself on my journey, then it was really easy to sort.
I just made sure I was drinking plenty of water whilst I was driving, and whilst I was in a state of anxiety, was just making sure that I was doing plenty of slow, deep breathing.
So have you had any flushes or sweats at odd moments or odd situations? If so, then we would love to hear about them and especially if you managed to find out what was triggering them.
Key points to take away from this blog:
- Menopause can impact your day-to-day life, from making you less sociable and impacting your work life, to making you less motivated to do daily tasks
- It can also affect how you experience and your sex life
- There are lots of simple things which can make a big difference to your quality of life during menopause, including eating and sleeping well
- Remember menopause is a phase in your life, it doesn't last forever!
Until next week, take care.
