Some women start getting hot flashes several years before their periods stop. It may begin with a sudden tingling in the fingers, toes, cheeks, or ears. Sometimes only certain parts of your body get red or flushed. The most common parts of the body to get fully flushed are the face and the neck. Each hot flash can last from 30 seconds to five minutes.
Some women go from feeling hot to feeling cold.
You may also get very warm and sweaty as you sleep. Hot flashes happen because your body is making less estrogen, a female hormone. About 85 out of every 100 women approaching or going through menopause have hot flashes. About one out of 10 women still have hot flashes 10 years after their last period. Overweight women are less likely to have hot flashes than thin women because their bodies continue to produce more estrogen from stored fat.