This is a quick way to learn about the key issues and complaints associated with perimenopause and menopause, and also some of the best ways to insure that your transition into menopause is an easy one.
Menopause sweats and hot flashes are one of the first signs that you are approaching menopause.
You know you are beginning to approach menopause when you begin to experience several key symptoms. These symptoms are your best evidence that you are beginning the transition out of your reproductive years and that you have entered perimenopause. These symptoms mean that you are now approaching menopause, the cessation of your menstrual periods.
Transitioning into menopause is a unique experience for each woman. However similarities among women’s experiences allow the symptoms of this transition to be categorized into 11 broad categories. These categories are used by researchers to study menopausal symptoms. They are incorporated into an assessment questionnaire called the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS).
The 11 categories of perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms are: 1) hot flashes (HF) and sweating, 2) heart complaints, 3) sleep disturbances, 4) depressive mood, 5) irritability, 6) anxiety, 7) physical and mental exhaustion, -8) sexual problems, 9) urinary tract complaints 10) vaginal dryness and 11) joint and muscle complaints. (This article discusses only hot flashes and night sweats – please see the follow up article for more information on the other 10 symptoms).
Menopause sweats and other symptoms begin during perimenopause.
Menopausal symptoms begin with perimenopause which usually starts after age 40, but can start as early as age 35. Perimenopause is the time period approaching menopause. At menopause (when your menstrual periods stop) your ovaries stop releasing eggs.
The time from when you start having menopausal symptoms until your periods stop can last as little as one to two years, but for most women it lasts an average of five years.
The symptoms of menopause often intensify during the two years immediately before menopause. This is when the drop in ovarian hormone secretion speeds up.
Your first clues that you are entering perimenopause:
Hot flashes (HF)
Hot flashes and sweats are the most common and bothersome complaint of women approaching menopause. They frequently begin up to five years before periods stop and can last for another five years after.
Nearly 80% of women suffer hot flashes (HF) to some degree during the transition into menopause. 30% of women report HF to be severe enough to significantly disrupt their quality of life. In 10% of women HF are experienced up to ten years after their menstrual periods stop. HF affect 75% of women over age 50.
At the onset, hot flashes often occur just before or during menstrual periods. They can range from mild, to severe and debilitating. They are often described as a sudden wave of heat moving through the body, from the chest to the neck, face and scalp. The skin of the neck and face can flush red. HF can also be experienced across the breasts, below the breasts, or as a surge of heat over the entire body.
The wave of heat is generally followed sweating. This sweating can range from light perspiration to heavy sweating and chills. Intense hot flashes may also be associated with a racing heart, tingling in the hands, and nausea.
Night Sweats
Night sweats are an extension of hot flashes (HF), experienced at night while trying to sleep. At the culmination of a HF one begins to perspire. At night time this is experienced as sweating which can be so severe that one wakes up drenched in perspiration.
These night time HF tend to disrupt sleep. Problems with sleeping is another symptom of perimenopause and menopause, that may be a direct result of night sweats, sleep problems, fatigue and problems with memory.
All of these complaints are thought to be associated with declines in the ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone. The severity of these complaints seems to be in direct proportion to the severity and frequency of hot flashes.
Natural remedies for menopause sweats and hot flashes
Our current understanding is that menopause sweats and hot flashes are caused by dropping levels of estrogen. Unfortunately hormone replacement therapy–replacing the estrogen that the ovaries are not making–has potentially severe side effects. The two most dangerous are breast cancer and heart disease.
Molecules resembling estrogen in structure and function are also found in nature. These are called phytoestrogens (phyto=plant). That is to say these molecules are found in plants.
The phytoestrogens found in plants are not all the same. The type and amount varies from one species of plant to another. Some of these are soy (soy beans, soy products such as tofu), red clover, kudzu, fennel and anise. (Black cohosh does not contain phytoestrogens).
One phytoestrogen source that has been used to relieve menopause sweats and hot flashes in Europe since 1993 is newly available in the United States. Several research studies on Siberian rhubarb root extract have shown it to be as effective as hormone replacement therapy in relieving sweats and hot flashes.
This remedy for menopause sweats and hot flashes is available through Nutraceutical Research, Inc. under the brand name Rhuvera.
Hot Flash Remedies – Hormonal Versus Herbal
The traditional medicine approach to hot flash remedies was a one fits all approach of hormone replacement therapy or HRT. That is, until recent research has shown that HRT increases the risk of breast cancer and heart disease, plus a number of other health problems. HRT is no longer recommended for menopausal relief because of these risks. But there are natural alternatives.Hot flash remedies that are clinically proven and safe
Recent research has discovered heretofore unsuspected dangers inherent in hormone replacement therapy (HRT). HRT has been shown to significantly increase the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and a number of other health problems. Since HRT is no longer an option for most women, we are left with the task of finding a safe remedy that can reliably relieve the symptoms of menopause.Signs of Menopause – What Are the Signs That You Are Approaching Menopause?
The signs of menopause include a variety of complaints affecting many body systems. The following symptoms are all associated with the transition from child bearing to post child bearing years. Their order has no particular meaning except for hot flashes and night sweats, which is the most common complaint women voice with regard to menopause.