Home Remedies for Hot Flashes

Stop Hot Flashes with These Home Remedies

Home remedies for hot flashes are a smart alternative to hormone replacement. Stop hot flashes caused by menopause with easy herbal remedies that have been proven over time.

Hot Flashes Symptoms

I guess it is possible that some women don't have hot flashes during menopause and if you have not started peri-menopause yet you may not know what a hot flash is like.

Picture a small furnace inside your body that you have never known was there. One day something suddenly turns that little furnace on. It is turned on high! You feel the warmth spread all over your body. Your face becomes hot. You are sweating. You may even be sweating so much your clothes feel damp. No one else in the room seems to be aware of how hot the room has suddenly become. You are sure sweat is about to drip from your nose. You get up and go outside where it is cooler. The blasted heat follows you. Then all of a sudden you feel the heat begin to subside. You are cooling down but your clothes feel wet. Your scalp feels extra cool and you discover that the hair at the back of your neck is wet. You feel clammy.

Some women feel weak during and following a hot flash and some feel nausea. Some turn red in the face and actually tremble. Some women experience rapid heart beat or palpitations. Many feel like they are suffocating.

This is what many women in the beginning stages of menopause experience many times every day. For some women it is especially bad at night and it interferes with sleep. Some women even have to get up every night to change out of their wet bed clothes into dry ones.

When you realize that you probably have a few years of this ahead of you, you begin looking for anything that will give you relief. In years past many women chose hormone replacement therapy. Research in recent years has shown the dangers of HTR and now women want something that is safer. They turn to home remedies for hot flashes.

A word of warning here: If you are now using HRT, when you stop using it your hot flashes will return. Yes, you still have to go through it even if you are 70 years old when you stop HRT. There is no justice.

What Causes Hot Flashes and Night Sweats?

A woman begins menopause around the age of 50 when the ovaries stop producing the hormone estrogen. The body's thermostat reacts to this decrease in hormones and a temporary rise in body heat is experienced.

Hot flashes can be triggered by:

• stress
  
• spicy food
  
• a hot bath
  
• hot weather
  
• caffiene
  
• alcohol
  
• mood swings

Women who have had surgery to remove their ovaries will also experience hot flashes.

Some Common Home Remedies for Hot Flashes

A vitamin that has been effective in reducing hot flashes for many women is Vitamin E. When taking vitamin E for hot flashes, the recommended dosage is 400 to 800 I.U. a day.

Soy products and soy supplements containing isoflavones is effective in relieving menopausal symptoms including hot flashes for many women. The isoflavones in soy beans are plant estrogens or phytoestrogens. Research has shown that taking soy dietary supplements is more effective in reducing hot flashes than soy food products.

Natural progesterone is available in over-the-counter creams. It relieves hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and water retention for many women. This is the one thing that stopped hot flashes for me after I stopped HRT. There are several brands on the market. The one I used was quite expensive but my hot flashes were so severe, I would have paid double or triple for the relief. This cream also stopped my hair from thinning - my hair thickened up quite a bit. It was such a relief to finally be able to sleep through the night without waking up in a sweat and a wet nightgown. The brand I used was Emerita Pro-Gest Natural Progesterone Cream . It's made in the USA and contains no animal or petroleum products. You only use a very small dab twice a day so a tube lasts quite a while.

Herbal Remedies for Hot Flashes

Herbs for hot flashes are effective for many women. The most popular is black cohosh. Black cohosh was used by American Indians for menstrual cramps and menopause symptoms before the colonists arrived in America.

Black cohosh should not be taken as a home remedy or hot flashes by women who have heavy menstrual flow, think they might be pregnant, or are nursing. You also should not take it if you have had estrogen dependent cancer, are on hormone replacement therapy, or are taking birth control pills. Discuss taking black cohosh with your physician if you have any heart problems or have high blood pressure.

Many women report that evening primrose oil has not only reduced the number of hot flashes exerienced but has also helped them sleep better at night. The scientific studies made so far do not support this but one must be aware of who paid for those studies, the size of the dosage used, and over what period of time the study was conducted. Learn more about Evening Primrose Oil Benefits.

Fenugreek has been found to be helpful in relieving hot flashes. It is available in capsule form. See Fenugreek Benefits.

One of the ancient home remedies for hot flashes and night sweats is Sage Tea. A few cups of sage tea sipped throughout the day and especially before bedtime is very effective for many women. See Benefits of Sage Tea.

MellowPause is a herbal remedy made by Native Remedies that promotes calmness, reduces the frequency of hot flashes, and aids in maintaining a normal sleep pattern. It contains black cohosh and pasque flower. You just take 10 to 15 drops after each meal three times a day.

Other herbs found to be helpful home remedies for hot flashes are red clover, fennel, dong quai, and chasteberry.