Cooling Off During Hot Flashes '“ Just Some Basic Tips

During perimenopause and menopause, most are led to believe that hot flashes and night sweats are the culprit of the ovaries and their declining estrogen production. Thankfully, that is wholly untrue. When estrogen production begins to decrease, it never recovers, so if that were the case, one would have hot flashes and night sweats for the rest of her lives. As any woman who has gone through menopause will tell you, hot flashes and night sweats usually stop not long after menopause takes effect. So, here is a look at what the real cause of these unwelcome symptoms and, more importantly, see if you can figure out how to find relief.

What are the causes of these terrible night sweats and hot flashes?

The body can only maintain their regularity when the hormonal balance is exactly that: balanced. But as we age, our bodies start to ask more of us--demanding more than we can provide. Because of these increasing strains, it gets harder and harder for our bodies to balance hormone levels. Basically, our body gets overwhelmed. Night sweats and hot flashes occur when our bodies lose the ability to maintain a hormonal balance. And, as if that we didn't have enough to deal with, our body's inability to meet these higher demands that create this imbalance tend to reach a peak during perimenopause (the period of years leading up to menopause). So, when you experience hot flashes and night sweats, it is your body asking for help.

These hormonal imbalances are not the only culprit though. Many studies on menopause have concluded that the way we live and psychological traumas we experience daily, can also help to incite the number and severity of hot flashes that a woman experiences. Women with higher-then-average levels of anxiety (who are not clinically depressed) experience near five times the number of hot flashes then those women with low anxiety. Those of us who smoke also experience twice the amount then non-smoking women. And women who are have weight and obesity problems may find themselves at a higher risk of having these annoying hot flashes.

The best thing that you can do is to listen to your body, then make the necessary changes. The good news is, hot flashes, and employing any number of organic solutions can reduce the myriad of causes.

How can you control your hot flashes and night sweats?

Thankfully, there are hundreds of natural remedies available to women that will help decrease the frequency of hot flashes and night sweats. The first and most basic step you should take is to bolster the support you give your body. This must be done gradually. You should get into the habit of putting less physical and dietary strains on your body. Also, many of the hot flash therapies available will help you relieve other menopausal symptoms as well. So you'll be killing two birds with one stone.

When perimenopause, and eventually menopause takes hole, you may find that you have trouble sleeping, get dizzy often, have heart palpitations, mood swings, depression and headaches. You may also feel like you are losing control and that those daily tasks that were once easy have become arduous and troublesome. You may have the desire to treat and control these unwanted symptoms by using drugs may. You may feel that what you are experiencing could be defined as an illness, and therefore, you should seek a cure. But always keep in mind--these are natural changes that your body is going through. The safest and most effective way to treat these symptoms is to learn about herbal alternatives. When considering these methods, side effects should be considered carefully.

A simple solution to fend off night sweats is to keep a glass of water and a bottle of motherwort near your bed. If you have a night sweat, take 10-15 drops of motherwort then drink some water.

You may find the exercise is the most beneficial remedy. Exercise stops hot flashes by decreasing the amount of circulating LH and FSH. It also nourishes and tones the hypothalamus, and raises endorphin levels (endorphin levels plummet when you have a hot flashes). If you do at minimum 20 minutes of exercise three times a week, you will significantly reduce the incidence of hot flashes.