Menopausal hot flashes and night sweats, also known as vasomotor symptoms of menopause, can seriously impact your quality of life. While prescription hormone replacement therapy is effective for hot flash relief, many women still prefer to know other ways to stop hot flashes fast, naturally.
In this video, Bonafide Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Alyssa Dweck, discusses what causes these symptoms and provides a few natural remedies for hot flashes and night sweats.
Dr. Alyssa Dweck here. Today I thought I would discuss something that I see in my office on a day-to-day basis. It goes something like this: “Dr. Dweck, I’m having horrible hot flashes and night sweats. I can’t take hormone therapy. What can I do to manage this? Are there any ways to stop hot flashes fast, naturally?”
Well first, let me reassure you, you’re not alone. This is an incredibly common complaint, and I would say probably upwards of 70% of women suffer with vasomotor symptoms (i.e. hot flashes and hot flashes at night, or night sweats) of menopause, many of whom go untreated and suffer needlessly.
What Are Some Hot Flash Causes?
So, let’s talk about hot flash causes in menopause. It seems that nobody exactly knows what causes hot flashes and night sweats during menopause. But it likely has something to do with an area of the brain called the thermoregulatory zone, which is quite responsive to the hormone estrogen. As estrogen levels plummet during menopause, this area of the brain is affected, and women get a sensation of overwhelming heat and difficulty managing temperature fluctuations.
What Do Hot Flashes Feel Like in Menopause?
The symptoms of menopausal hot flashes and night sweats are all too common: it starts with a flushing from the chest up. Women turn beet red. They feel super-hot. And then all the sudden, water works of sweating occurs. And it really can be quite uncomfortable and very disruptive to day-to-day life.
Natural Remedies for Hot Flashes Relief
So, what can we do about these vasomotor symptoms of menopause, that doesn’t involve taking hormone therapy? And are there any natural remedies for hot flashes? First, I recommend making multiple lifestyle changes as a way to stop hot flashes, fast. I recommend avoiding certain triggers that you can identify as a cause of hot flashes. Common triggers include caffeine intake, alcohol, stress and large meals.
In addition, I recommend altering your diet. My favorite diet is the Mediterranean diet, but intermittent fasting may also be helpful. The Mediterranean diet may serve as a natural remedy for hot flashes specifically because it is low glycemic, limited in salt and sugar, and is heart healthy. In addition, exercise is very helpful: not only for stress reduction, but for general overall health.
Other Hormone-free Treatments for Hot Flash Relief
In regard to dietary supplements that can be used to aid in hot flash relief, I’m a fan of Relizen®. Relizen, made from a proprietary blend of Swedish flower pollen, has actually been shown in clinical studies to help with achieving hot flash relief.
Some women rely on increasing the soy in their diet, or taking a supplement containing a phytoestrogen as natural remedies for hot flashes and night sweats during menopause. This of course is not appropriate for women who are trying to avoid hormones altogether, as phytoestrogens can impact hormone levels in the body.
In addition to the natural remedies for hot flashes and night sweats mentioned earlier, there are also prescription medications that are available and indicated for hot flash relief, including certain antidepressants and even one neurology medication that we use, and have borrowed from the neurology world, called gabapentin. It’s always best to check with your healthcare provider first when exploring new treatments so that you can find the option that best suits your needs.
So, you can try any one of these methods, or combine them in an effort to achieve some hot flash relief. The good news is that menopausal hot flashes and night sweats likely won’t last forever, and you can do things to achieve symptom relief.
Comments
Post commentI will have to agree, taking the first 3 month supply of Relizen I have noticed the less hot flashes and seems to be manageable,(Thank You) . I found out financially expensive and not covered under my insurance. I plan to order maybe at the end of the month money is very tight in the home.
I have been taking relizen for more than 2 years. At first I did not think it would work. But after about the 5th month of sticking with it, I did realize that while not completely free of the flashes and sweats, the frequency and number of them per day had dropped significantly. I am finally at a point where I can go without hot flashes or night sweats for weeks at a time. I wish I couple say I never experience them, but I would not be speaking honestly. Why I get them over some nights and not others, well I wasn’t really questioning it until now. After all, I went from a chronic, could not avoid the flashes or night sweats to save my life to the point where they slowly started occurring less and less often. I switched from ordering on a monthly basis, to ordering a 3 months supply every time I need more. Because of that, I think the “customer tracking system” that the company uses sent me a letter congratulating me on finishing my first 3 months of taking the Relizen. It was at that point that I thought, hey wait a minute, I’ve been at this since before the pandemic. So I will have to get in touch with customer support and mention it. But it still doesn’t negate the fact that it is working. So for this of your who may be on the fence, thinking it is too good to be true, you can relax. I don’t usually write reviews (heck i didn’t write one for the last 2 years about Relizen), but when a product works and it is something that maybe I doubted or maybe I just recognize that people.need to hear from other “real” people about whether a product works. I say it’s worth trying. It may work better for you than it did for me. I think I am going to keel
Track of what I eat and drink each day and at what times. Then I will also track when the night sweats may occur. I hope I will figure out what it is that is triggering them and be able to completely stop them once and for all. Good luck!!
i have been experiencing hot flashes for over 10 years now, It feels like forever,
Appreciate the information.