Menopause – Conquering Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

Get immediate relief for Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

Web www.911menopause.com

If you're in your late 30's or early 40's your hormones will soon begin changing and you may start menopause.  While menopause should be a reason to celebrate (no more monthly cycles), many people experience irritating side effects when there is less of the hormone estrogen in the system.  The most common side effect is hot flashes (or hot flushes, as some call them when they cause flushing or redness of the skin).

Hot flashes occur in 85% of women and last anywhere between five and fifteen minutes at a time.  Medical professionals have not determined how to tell how long (in months) they will continue.  Basically, the body is trying to compensate to the lower estrogen, and as soon as it figures out the proper adjustment, the hot flashes stop. 

One way medical science has decided to compensate is with Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), which calls for a prescription of Estrogen pills, or a skin patch, to help estrogen levels go back to where they once were.  Unfortunately, once you stop taking the pills, your body has to try to compensate again, and the hot flashes will reoccur. It is sometimes possible to decrease the dose of estrogen gradually, allowing the body to adjust more slowly.

But there are there natural alternatives for chemical HRT? And it's sad that less than two percent of doctors even mention alternative therapies (maybe because the pharmaceuticals make more money on the Estrogen Replacement Therapy). Thousands of women have tested the natural therapy and agree that it works!  Here are a few natural things you might want to try if you're not ready to put another chemical into your body. 

Self Care for Hot Flashes or Night Sweats

When hot flashes occur at night, you will experience night sweats, and in the worse cases, sweating can get excessive and soak bedding and nightgowns, although most people do not experience this amount of sweating.  Here are a few things that you can do stay as comfortable as possible.

1. Study your diet and exercise routine -- Regular exercise and healthy eating habits have proven to reduce hot flashes in some women
2. During the day, dress in layers so you can remove items, and put them back on when the hot flash is finished.
3. Keep ice water or a fan nearby fo rquick relief. Of hot flashes.
4. At night, wear cotton underwear and gowns that will absorb perspiration.  These keep you cooler than synthetic garments.
5. Most importantly, start keeping a record of your daily routine and try to determine when you are most likely to get a hot flash.  Certain foods or drinks can cause an increase in the amount and severity of the hot flash.  Watch out for alcohol (especially red wine), caffeine, sugar, fatty dairy products, salt, spicy foods, saturated oils and monosodium glutamate (added to prepared foods to enhance flavor.  Also write down what time of day the hot flash occurs, so you can be ready for them.
6. Try adjusting your diet to include vegetables and fish that are high in Omega-3 as they contain nutrients that can help your body deal with menopause naturally. Conversely, there are foods that can make your menopausal symptoms worse. Caffeine, sugar, fatty dairy products, salt, alcohol and saturated oils can aggravate the symptoms.
7. Get control of your stress level.  Try using deep breathing techniques, meditation or some other methods of relaxation that works for you and practice the technique for 10 to 20 minutes per day. You will be left feeling calmer, more able to cope and more in control.
8. Try of the herbs that contain healthy compounds that have proven to be affective.  One of the main ones is Black Cohosh, which  is one of the more thoroughly researched herbs containing phytoestrogens; it is approved by the German 'Kommission E" - a body similar to the FDA.: I am not entirely certain where you would buy Black Cohosh, but you can find it in a natural remedy called MellowPause.  For severe menopausal symptoms, Dong Quai should be taken along with the MellowPause.
    

Menopause ends for most women by the age of 51; hot flashes can end as quickly as they started. And then it's time to celebrate!