The bane of every woman's existence after menopause, hot flashes are commoner than most people realize. Hot flashes can be extremely annoying, even to the point of disrupting a normal lifestyle. They may last for a few days or as long as 10 years or even more. Those women who are awakened repeatedly by night sweats are especially disturbed because of hot flashes leaving them unable to get peaceful sleep. But there are millions of women who cannot or will not take estrogen.
Hot flashes occur because the brain perceives that the body has become overheated.
This sends out signals that dilate peripheral blood vessels inducing sweating resulting in heat loss. The susceptibility to hot flashes is unrelated to emotional factors or well-being although these factors might aggravate the problem. Experiencing of intense heat for a minute or more or in severe cases the patient may become very flushed or dripping wet. Heartbeat may become faster, palpitations may be felt and in rare cases the patient might faint. Menopausal women without hot flashes as well as younger women have a range of body temperatures within which they neither sweat nor shiver.