Hot Flashes
Although hot flashes and migraines are linked, migraines cannot cause hot flashes. Hot flashes are a common occurrence for women who are going through menopause. The Mayo Clinic reports that three out of every four women who go through menopause experience hot flashes. Hot flashes usually begin with a feeling of pressure in the head, which is then followed by a sudden warm feeling in the face and upper body and accompanied by flushing. People who are experiencing a hot flash also experience sudden perspiration and an elevated heart rate. Other symptoms include nausea, dizziness and fatigue.
Causes of Hot Flashes
Hot flashes commonly occur during menopause as a result of changing hormone levels. Frederick R. Jelovsek, M.D., in an article entitled "Hot Flashes in the Absence Menopause: Other Explanations" on wdxcyber.com, explains that estrogen affects a portion of the brain called the hypothalamus. Among other things, the hypothalamus is responsible for monitoring and controlling the body's temperature. The presence of estrogen allows the hypothalamus to tolerate relatively modest increases in temperature. When estrogen levels decrease as a result of menopause, this causes the hypothalamus to be more sensitive to temperature changes. As a result, increases in body temperature that would normally be tolerated instead trigger the hypothalamus's "body overheating" response, which causes it to dilate blood vessels near the surface of the skin in an effort to release heat. This causes the symptoms of a hot flash.
Hormones and Migraines
Although the exact cause of migraines is unknown, 34-menopause-symptoms.com notes that approximately 30 percent of women experience migraines shortly before menopause. Migraines are very severe headaches that can be almost incapacitating and last anywhere from a few hours to two or three days. Migraines can also cause symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. Because the exact cause of migraines is not understood, it is difficult to understand the role that changing hormonal levels play, but hormone-related migraines also afflict some women during menstruation. Regardless, migraines and hot flashes can have a common cause, but one does not cause the other.
