Distinguishing Characteristics Of Hot Flashes Symptoms

Hot flashes symptoms vary from one woman to another. Furthermore, not every women going through the menopause transition will experience these symptoms.

I will present in this article the characteristics of menopause hot flashes which will enable you to confidently affirm if your symptoms are likely due to menopause or not.

It is important to know these characteristics because not all hot flashes are due to menopause in women, though the non-menopausal causes are somewhat less common than menopause. For other causes, please read menopause hot flashes

How Long Will I Have Hot Flashes?

This is a common question often asked by women experiencing these symptoms for obvious reasons.These flashes can really be bothersome for some women.

The duration of these flashes vary from woman to woman and it may be difficult to predict how long it will last for any particular woman. Only the passage of time will tell. It actually runs the entire spectrum of being so brief in some women to lasting almost throughout the rest of some women’s lives in some rare cases. The majority of women may be between these extremes, lasting for about 3 to 5 years.

The same is true about their onset. It cannot really be predicted but many women begin having the symptoms may years prior to menopause, while they are still menstruating.

Hot flashes Characteristics

Hot flashes symptoms have the following characteristics, if they occur.

• It is usually a sensation of internal heat. This is not due to an increase in body heat as in classic fever but due to body temperature regulation abnormalities.
• The sensation of internal heat most often begins in the face , chest, or even the back and neck in some cases, and it can spread throughout the whole body
• They are usually brief, intermittent and occur with varying frequency. You may have just a few each week or many episodes in one day. Each episode may last just some few seconds or some few minutes; up to 30 minutes in some women.
• They may appear many years before cessation of menses, during the perimenopausal period when the woman is still menstruating, progressively get worse over time and then taper off. It may taper off completely in some women. The intensity of the flashes usually reduce with time.
• There may be flushing or redness of the skin, with or without a hot skin surface. This is flushing.There may be rapid heat beat or palpitations with each episode.
• Sweating may occur, especially from the upper body. A sensation of chill may also follow each episode. These sweating episodes may worsen in the night(lower levels of estrogen) and be particularly disturbing in some women.Read more on menopause and night sweats.
• Hot flashes don’t like hot weather or a hot room! They get worse.

When To Seek Help From Your Doctor

Mild hot flashes most often will not need any special therapy, except for some lifestyle modifications. However, when your symptoms become more frequent and severe and disrupt your daily activities, please see your doctor for medical treatment as appropriate. Yes, they are part of menopause but you do not have to suffer from them when treatment is available.

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