In this week’s blog we get ‘hot, hot, hot’ and no we are talking about that classic Caribbean song (apologies if that song is now stuck in your head!), but we are delving into one of the most common signs on the Menopause journey – hot flushes and night sweats.
Hot flushes and night sweats are part of the vasomotor signs of Peri-Menopause and Menopause and are amongst the most common signs experienced on the Menopause journey and are ones women most often seek help for. Hot flushes and nights sweats are a result of the changing levels of Oestrogen having an effect of the thermos regulatory control centre in the brain. It’s like someone has turned our internal thermostat up to 40 degrees in the height of summer. I suffered from hot flushes early in my Menopause journey, but thankfully I didn’t experience too many episodes a day and I didn’t suffer the terrible night sweats like some women suffer; though I still needed a fan and the window open in the midst of Winter. For a lot of women though these two signs can have a major impact on their day to day lives and can be debilitating.
What are their characteristics?
Hot flushes are characterised by a feeling of increasing heat that can come on quite suddenly and spread throughout the body, chest and neck. It is common to also experience flushing of the face, sweating, dizziness and heart palpitations during a hot flush. Some women can experience then occasionally, and some women can experience them numerous times throughout the day. As we are all different the way we experience hot flushes will also be different.
The thing with hot flushes is their sudden onset and often happen when you least expect them or want them (i.e. in the middle of a meeting!) and as well as making us feel very uncomfortable we can often become very self-conscious. I like to think of them as power surges, so if they happen in the company of others, just say excuse me ‘I’m having a power moment’. They are a natural part of the enormous change that our bodies are going through, and we should not feel self-conscious of them.
Night sweats are characterised by waking in the night breaking into a sweat or waking up already drenched in sweat. It’s not uncommon for some women to wake up with their night clothes and bedding soaking wet and on more than one occasion during the night. Night sweats are especially debilitating as they have a knock on effect on our quality of sleep and as we all know what it’s like if we don’t get a good night’s sleep.
Though these signs can be debilitating, there are a number of self-care tips we can use to help make them less severe. Here are my top tips to help you on your journey if these travelling companions are becoming a pain in the backside.
Tip #1
Adapt your clothing by wearing layers of light breathable fabrics. Wearing layers means that you can delayer when you have a power surge and then put them back on after the moment has passed, quite often you can feel chilly afterwards as your body temperature returns to normal.
If you have to wear a uniform for work, then speak to your boss to see if there is alternative clothing available. Under Health & Safety Law, employers have a duty of care to look after the wellbeing of their employees, which includes women going through the Menopause. They should consider how that person’s role and responsibilities could make their Menopause signs harder to deal with, for example a uniform that causes discomfort.
Tip #2
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Tip #7
Remember, how we experience the signs on our Menopause journey will be as unique as we are, but there is help and support available to help us on our journey.
Next time I delve into when the black mist descends on our Menopause journey aka depression.
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