Thursday, August 06, 2009 Cool Ways to Cope with Hot Flashes - WellWomen - Thursday, August 06, 2009Cool Ways to Cope with Hot Flashes
“Power surges,” “mini-vacations,” “personal saunas. They are called many names, but most commonly are known as hot flashes.
About 85 percent of women will experience hot flashes during perimenopause. There is not a predictable pattern for hot flashes. They can range from being tolerable to debilitating, and severely affect quality of life. Hot flashes that occur during sleep can cause heavy perspiration and are called night sweats.
The exact cause of hot flashes has yet to be determined. However, it is thought to be related to changes in the functioning of the hypothalamus, which is a structure in the brain that controls body temperature. As the production of estrogen decreases and often fluctuates during perimenopause, this appears to have an effect on the hypothalamus that mistakenly senses that the body is too warm and begins the process of trying to cool the body down. The hot flash can cause flushing around the face and neck and sweating. Sometimes an increased pulse rate and rapid heartbeat can occur during the hot flash ending with a cold chill.
On average, hot flashes may last three to five years and then gradually taper off. There are women who never experience hot flashes and others who may have them for several years after menopause.
One thing is for certain: the better you take care of yourself and maintain a healthy lifestyle, the easier your hot flash symptoms will be to manage. There are many options available to help women cope from lifestyle changes to medical treatments.
The best strategies are highly individual and should be based on the degree the symptoms are affecting quality of life, health history and personal preferences. It is important to note that there can be other causes of hot flashes, such as thyroid disorder, and certain medications including tamoxifen (Nolvadex) and raloxifene (Evista).
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Lifestyle changes
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Avoid hot flash triggers, which can include alcohol, spicy foods, hot drinks and caffeine.
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Keep a cool drink handy and take a drink at the onset of a hot flash.
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Dress in layers.
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Try regular aerobic exercise - 30 minutes of vigorous exercise three or more days per week or 30 minutes of moderate activity five days per week.
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Maintain a constant blood sugar level by eating small meals every four to five hours.
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Reduce stress through meditation, yoga, biofeedback or massage.
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When a hot flash is starting, use slow, deep abdominal breathing.
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Do not smoke.
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Maintain a healthy body weight. Being overweight increases core body temperature, resulting in more hot flashes.
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Non-prescription remedies
Use with caution and always inform your health care provider.
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While isoflavones (weak plant-based estrogens like soy) or herbal dietary supplements, (such as black cohosh), may be helpful, research supporting their effectiveness is weak. Check with your healthcare provider before you use soy if you have had breast cancer.
Prescription remedies
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Estrogen therapy provides the quickest relief and should be used with the lowest dose and shortest term possible.
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Other prescription medications are occasionally used to treat hot flashes but are not FDA-approved for this use. These include antihypertensives such as clonidine (Catapres), antidepressants such as Effexor, or Paxil, and the anti-seizure drug Neurontin.
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How WellSpan Can Help
WellSpan Midlife Services offers consultative services that assess peri-menopausal and menopausal women for common problems related to aging. The assessment combines physician consultation, personal assessment and education and many of a woman’s necessary midlife tests into one or two appointments.
For more information, please call (717) 851-1990 in York or (717) 338-3294 in Gettysburg.
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