Perimenopause and Hot Flashes

Today I’m going to talk about hot flashes and about how they can make you crazy! In peri-menopause hot flashes will often start right before your period. You may not experience them at all during most of the month or you may have a few intermittently in the middle of the night.  As you get closer to menopause you may start to experience them more often.

Peri-menopause

The reason you have hot flashes is not just that the estrogen in your body goes out of balance. There is a group of chemicals called “catecholamines” that is also connected to hot flashes. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are chemicals made in your nervous system. Their job is to help you get ready for flight or fight when you’re stressed. During your normal cycle, your estrogen levels begin to rise after your period ends. They peak at ovulation and then begin to drop again. When you move into peri-menopause your estrogen levels drop even further than normal. Your body is more prone to hot flashes at this lower level. Interestingly you can also have hot flashes if you have too much estrogen. As with all things in your body – everything is about balance.

Energy and Balance

In the philosophy of Chinese medicine, you have both yin energy and yang energy. Yin is described as feminine: cool, calm, moist – the nighttime energy. Where the Yang is masculine: hot, sunny, bright – the daytime energy. As the beautiful picture that represents this duality symbolizes, that energy must flow together and be equal.

So in peri-menopause that Yin energy – the feminine, hormonal energy – is dropping. So when the Yin is lower than it is supposed to be – typically at night – your Yang energy will also be raised out of its balanced position, and this causes the hot flashes.

Relief

There are things you can do to help raise your yin energy, especially by focusing on doing ‘feminine’ things. Spend more time doing things that encourage rest and relaxation. Eat blueberries – they are cooling and moistening and these little guys really help boost your yin energy and help calm the imbalances brought on by peri-menopause! There are also Chinese herbs you can take, have acupuncture, or you can even have a hormone test done in order to determine how to balance them in other ways.

If you’d like to learn more, I am part of a peri-menopause summit from March 18th to March 24th where I will be talking about Chinese Medicine and how it all works in reference to peri-menopause.

Don’t forget to like my Facebook page and ask to join the Facebook group. Also, my book Healing When It Seems Impossible 7 Keys to Defy the Odds is available now on the Amazon Store and Kindle!

The post Perimenopause and Hot Flashes appeared first on Heart to Heart Medical Center.



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Shiroko Sokitch, MD
March 25, 2019 at 04:50PM

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