What is happening to my body?

Hot flashes can feel like a sudden, intense warmth throughout your upper body — especially in your face, neck, and chest area. Some women might also experience: 

• an elevated heart rate
• feelings of anxiety 
• perspiration 
• chills as the hot flash passes 
• flushed, red skin
• tingling in your fingers
• difficulties falling back asleep if this occurs at night

It’s not exactly clear what hormonal changes trigger hot flashes, but some studies suggest that it might be due to your hypothalamus (or your body’s thermostat) becoming more sensitive to changes in body temperature. This tends to occur as your body matures and your oestrogen levels decrease during your transition to menopause. Because of these factors, your hypothalamus might trigger a hot flash to cool you down.

Some other causes of hot flashes include: 

• Stress and anxiety 
• Medication side effects, including some types of birth control
• Thyroid problems
• Certain cancers or the side effects of specific cancer treatments
• Being above a healthy weight range for your height
• Medical conditions like diabetes and metabolic syndrome
• Eating disorders
• Certain surgeries, like oophorectomies or when your ovaries are surgically removed — you might experience hot flashes after your operation and typically for longer than other women.

Haven't experienced a hot flash yet and wondered how (peri)menopausal women generally experience them? Well, the findings vary quite a bit. Let’s dive into what it means for your day-to-day health and long-term.

What do they mean for me?

Probably the most common of all perimenopause symptoms, hot flashes affect nearly 75% of women in the US who are experiencing perimenopause. 

• Duration: Normally, the experience of hot flashes as menopause symptoms might last an average of 3–5 years. In some cases, they might even last ten years or more. When you're experiencing them, they might last around four minutes but might even go on for more than ten minutes.
• Intensity: Hot flashes usually come on suddenly, and the experience differs from woman to woman — some might consider them merely annoying, and others might find them more severe, disrupting their daily schedule.
• Frequency: Women approaching menopause or experiencing it may also experience hot flashes as often as several times a day, but not always, since it might depend on what stage of perimenopause you’ve reached. 

When hot flashes occur at night during sleep, they’re referred to as night sweats — these might disrupt your sleep, affecting your energy levels throughout the day and worsening your fatigue. With time, you might experience feelings of depression and anxiety as your hot flashes intersect with other menopause symptoms, like low libido and memory difficulties.

But here’s the good news: typically, menopause symptoms reduce over time. As you reach post-menopause, symptoms tend to grow milder with time, if not disappear completely, for most women. You may experience more hot flashes during perimenopause, peaking during the first two months of post-menopause and then gradually decreasing as time passes. 

Now that we’ve covered what might cause hot flashes and how they might affect you in the long term, let’s explore how you can manage them.

The bottom line

Hot flashes are rarely a comfortable experience — it’s completely understandable if you’re feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, especially if they’re disrupting your day-to-day life. But learning what to watch out for can help you manage your symptoms confidently. 

(Peri)menopause symptoms might be difficult to manage, but never impossible — and we’re here to support you every step of the way. With our content, we hope we can help you to feel a bit more reassured about what steps you can take.