Why hot flashes at night

Avoid triggers. Helpful habits to establish. Add natural foods and supplements to your diet. The takeaway. Remedies for Hot Flashes. Premenopause, Perimenopause, and Menopause. Understanding and Dealing with Hot Flashes. Read this next. Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph. Medically reviewed by Kevin Martinez, M. Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.

Manage Your Hot Flashes at Work. Thacker adds. Maybe not. Most women start having symptoms of perimenopause in their 40s. Those symptoms include irregular periods, vaginal dryness and yes, hot flashes.

You might sweat, turn red and feel your heart start to race. Hot flashes might last only 5 minutes or so. For many women, hot flashes are a part of their lives for months or even years. That all adds up to a lot of lost sleep.

There are risks associated with taking hormones, including increased risk of heart attack , stroke , blood clots, breast cancer , gallbladder disease, and dementia. Women are encouraged to discuss the risks with their health care provider. The risks vary by a woman's age and whether she has had a hysterectomy. Women who still have a uterus would take estrogen combined with progesterone or another therapy to protect the uterus.

Progesterone is added to estrogen to protect the uterus against cancer, but it also seems to increase the risk of blood clots and stroke. Before taking hormones to treat menopause symptoms, talk with your doctor about your medical and family history and any concerns or questions about taking hormones. If hormone therapy is right for you, it should be at the lowest dose, for the shortest period of time it remains effective, and in consultation with a doctor.

Read about this topic in Spanish. North American Menopause Society info menopause. NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date. Your doctor will talk to you about the benefits and risks of using HRT. If you have had a type of cancer that's sensitive to hormones, such as breast cancer, your doctor will not recommend HRT and will talk to you about alternatives. Other medicines have been shown to help, including some antidepressants and a medicine called clonidine.

Find out more about treatment for hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms. Women often turn to complementary therapies as a "natural" way to treat their hot flushes. But the research is patchy, the quality of the products can vary considerably, they can interfere with some medicines, and they can have side effects for example, liver damage has been reported with black cohosh. Find out more about complementary therapies.