You might also try switching to decaf to see if caffeine, rather than temperature, is triggering your hot flashes. (Which means, ironically, it also may respond to a drop in temperature below that range with a hot flash.) Studies have also linked caffeine with hot flashes.Ĭope with it: If your coffee or tea break is more about the ritual than the beverage, find a cooler go-to - iced coffee or tea, or flavored water or seltzer fancied up with cucumber slices or mint leaves. Why hot beverages? Again, it’s thought hot flashes may occur in part because the body’s thermoregulatory mechanism has a narrower range of tolerance. Your morning cup of joe (or your afternoon mug of Earl Grey) may perk you up, but it leaves you hot and sweaty, too. And wherever you are, dress in layers that you can take off as the day warms up. Any change outside that comfort zone can then lead to a hot flash.Ĭope with it: When you’re indoors, set the thermostat at a consistent 65 degrees F, says Hirsch. That’s because in menopause, the body has a narrower range of temperature that it perceives as comfortable, she says. That said, any shift in temperature - such as going from an air-conditioned office to the sunny outdoors, or from a heated living room to cold, outdoor weather - can trigger a hot flash, too, says Dr. Why hot weather? When the weather heats up, so does your skin, which some people in menopause associate with hot flashes. Now just sitting outside on a sunny day leaves you dripping in no time. You once breezed through the transition to summer without breaking a sweat. You might keep a cooling facial spray within reach as well. Even a slight breeze can help your skin stay cooler during your workout. Why exercise? Physical activity boosts your heart rate - which is great for your health, of course - but it also increases body temperature, which can set off a hot flash that leaves you sweatier than usual.Ĭope with it: Position yourself in front of a fan wherever you work out, even if that means bringing a small battery-operated one with you to Pilates class. You’re used to sweating when you work out, but the whole my-head-feels-like-I-just-got-out-of-the-shower thing has you running out of towels. Experiment with similar but less incendiary ingredients in your own kitchen. Plus, they all contain the heat-producing compound capsaicin.Ĭope with it: Skip the three-alarm dishes on the menu, or if you really love the flavor chili peppers and other spices lend to food, ask if the chef would be able to take the heat down a notch or two. This may be especially true of cayenne, chili powders, and hot peppers, such as jalapeños, serranos, and habaneros. Why spicy foods? It’s thought many spices and ingredients that give food their heat can also act as vasodilators, says Samantha Dunham, MD, co-director of the Center for Midlife Health and Menopause at NYU Langone Health in New York City. You love spicy Thai food on date night, but it makes you look hot in all the wrong ways. You could also water down your wine with juice, fresh fruit, and ice cubes, for a cooling, less potent sangria. If red seems to set your skin on fire, try white, suggests Hirsch. Hirsch.Ĭope with it: You could always switch from wine to a nonalcoholic alternative, but you may not have to abstain altogether. Whether that’s the case or not, many people report red wine in particular seems to trigger hot flashes, according to Dr. Why red wine ? Drinking alcohol may cause blood vessels to dilate. That red wine you’re enjoying with friends may be what’s turning you the color of cabernet. Here’s what might be burning you up: Hot Flash Trigger No. At the same time, there are other potential triggers that come up time and time again. What sends one person cranking up the AC may not phase another. As a result of this glitch in thermoregulation, research theorizes, blood vessels near the surface of the skin dilate (widen) - a reaction called vasodilation - in order to get rid of the perceived heat, which it does through sweat.Įqually mysterious is what sets off hot flashes in the first place. One prevailing theory is hormonal changes affect the temperature-regulating region of the brain (the hypothalamus), narrowing the range of temperatures it regards as tolerable and causing it to overreact to even minor increases (or decreases) in temperature, explains Heather Hirsch, MD, clinical program director of the Menopause and Midlife Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.Ĭertain brain chemicals, namely the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine, may also factor in. Ever had a hot flash? If so, you know what this notorious symptom of menopause is like - the rapid-onset creep of heat across your face, neck, and chest, the beads of sweat along your hairline, the urgent need to turn anything you can get your hands on into a fan.Įxperts aren’t certain what causes hot flashes during menopause.
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