Your best friend does NOT have to be a working fan, you don’t have to carry around a Yeti tumbler full of ice year-round or require your partner to wear a Parka to bed while you’re barely clothed.  Did you know that hot flashes (flushes of heat felt in the forehead, face, neck chest and perhaps other areas accompanied by excessive sweating) happen in about 85% of women, can intensely affect the quality of life and can last up to 10 years? In the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) researchers note that ethnicity plays a role.  African American women experienced hot flashes the longest (averaging more than 11 years) while Chinese and Japanese women experienced them about half that time.  Although the signs are visible, medical experts believe hot flashes originate in the brain.  It’s your brain’s way of letting you know that there is an imbalance in the system.

Imbalance can be caused by the following: decreased levels of estrogen, progesterone or both as well as blood sugar imbalance and inflammation, poor diet, caffeine, drinking alcohol, stress/emotional situations, external heat, and even confined spaces. Okay, so we talked about what happens and why.Now let’s talk about some real solutions.  Every woman is different so try to figure out what triggers YOU.
Keep a journal .

Write down how you slept, what you ate/drank and how you were feeling.  This will help establish a pattern and you can narrow down what the culprit(s) might be.
Eat Clean. A low inflammatory diet that includes blood sugar stabilization can be very helpful.  Try Paleo or a Keto-based diet.




Supplementation. Popular supplements among menopausal women are: Black Cohosh, Dong Quai, Evening Primrose Oil and Vitamins B and E.  Essential oils like lavender, clary sage and chamomile can have a relaxing effect and help with stress. FemmGuard + Balance combines black cohosh some of the vitamins B6 and B12, magnesium and calcium.FemmGuard + Balance may be easier and more effective than using single herbs by themselves. Maca by Femmenessence has the highest success rate in published clinical trials of any perimenopausal herbal supplement in the world and is the only one to demonstrate statistically significant effects on hormones.   Maca by Femmenessence stimulates the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal and ovarian glands to balance hormone levels. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 168 women in early postmenopause found that taking two 500 mg capsules twice a day significantly reduced both the frequency and severity of hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, depression, and nervousness.
Bioidentical Hormone Therapy.  Bioidentical hormones are similar in composition to hormones produced by your own body and are quickly and readily picked up by hormone receptors in the body.Estradiol and Estriol can quickly bring hot flashes under control. Bioidentical estrogens are safe when taken with progesterone to balance the effect of estrogen in the body.
Progesterone also has a calming effect and promotes better sleep.  Just what the menopausal woman needs!
Alternative Therapies.  Acupuncture may be helpful.  Astudy published in 2011 found that women who had acupuncture has significantly fewer hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.

It’s important that women explore a full range of options to treat the “heat”. No two women are the same and the ways their bodies will respond will be different as well. Be open to different therapies.  If one method doesn’t work, try another.  Be patient and show yourself some grace.  In time, you will find the path to end your “private vacation to the tropics.”