05 Mar 3 Things You Can Do for Hot Flashes
Hot flashes are the most common reason women seek treatment for menopausal symptoms. Technically called vasomotor symptoms of menopause these “power surges” can become a debilitating and embarrassing daily or hourly event in your life. They can affect your sleep (night sweats), productivity, self-esteem, mood and many other parts of your life.
It is thought that hot flashes are caused by a disturbance in the thermoregulatory center of your hypothalamus. This is the primitive area of your brain that is constantly monitoring your body temperature, hormone levels and many other vital functions. When your hormones begin to change, this area of your brain becomes more active while sensing these changes. As it tries to adjust, some of this activity can spill over and affect the part of your brain that controls body temperature resulting in a hot flash (or night sweat).
Jen Ramaekers, PharmD, one of our hormone specialists, has three recommendations for dealing with hot flashes:
- Eliminate Triggers – even though hormone changes are primarily responsible for hot flashes there are usually things you are doing that are making them worse. Some of these might include: spicy food, caffeine, dressing warmly, alcohol and others. Identifying and avoiding these triggers can go a long way in making you feel better.
- Lose Weight – While there are no studies that link hot flash frequency or severity to absolute weight, losing weight can help reduce hot flashes. This is most likely due to a reduction in insulin. Hot flashes and night sweats have been linked to high glucose levels and other indicators of insulin resistance.1 (If you’re looking to lose weight, visit redlinepharmacy.com/idealprotein)
- Compounded Bioidentical Hormone Therapy (cBHT) – Menopausal hormonal changes and hormone imbalances are the primary cause of hot flashes. Naturally correcting these imbalances is one of the best ways to reduce or eliminate these bothersome symptoms. Bioidentical hormones are exact copies of the hormones your body produces…NOT synthetic substitutes.
If you have hot flashes or other hormone-related symptoms visit our website at redlinepharmacy.com/cBHTdc to learn more or schedule a FREE, NO OBLIGATION discovery call where we will discuss your symptoms and how our hormone program could help you feel like yourself again.
If you would like to learn more about compounded bioidentical hormone therapy, join us for an informative 30-minute Zoom meeting on Thursday, March 18 at 12:00 p.m. Visit redlinepharmacy.com/cbht to register for this FREE, informational meeting!
1. Thurston RC, El Khoudary SR, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Crandall CJ, Sternfeld B, Joffe H, Gold EB, Selzer F, Matthews KA. Vasomotor Symptoms and Insulin Resistance in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2012;97(10):3487-3494.