Hot flashes are one of the most common symptoms of menopause. According to epigee.org, 80 to 90 percent of North American women have at least one hot flash a day during menopause. The severity of the hot flashes varies from person to person. Most women experience hot flashes for about two years, but some women can face them for five years or more. Common symptoms include an intense feeling of heat, heart palpitations, flushing, sweating, cold chills, sleep disturbances, anxiety and exhaustion.
Intense Heat
According to emedicinehealth.com, hot flashes typically start with a rush of heat throughout the body. This intense heat tends to affect the head and neck the most. Epigee.org states that often the intense feeling of heat may cause a sensation of suffocation, nausea or dizziness.
Palpitations
Conscious awareness of how your heart is beating usually means you are having heart palpitations which result from an irregular heart beat. Women commonly experience these during a hot flash. Fluctuating hormones may be the cause of the palpitations.
Flushing
According to thefreelibrary.com, the intense feeling of heat associated with hot flashes results from the dilation of blood vessels near the surface of the skin. The dilated vessels may also cause your skin to flush. Women with light skin are the most likely to experience flushing.
Sweating
Sweating experienced during a hot flash varies from person to person, and can range from mild to profuse. According to thefreelibrary.com, the sweating results from the same dilation of surface blood vessels that causes flushing.
Cold Chills
Women often feel a chill after the hot flash is over. The sweat produced during a hot flash quickly cools you down and causes you to feel a chill all over your body.
Sleep Disturbance
Night sweats (hot flashes at night) lead to sleep disturbances. According to 34-menopause-symptoms.com, when estrogen levels fall low during the night, they cause hot flashes. Hot flashes typically wake women up and lead to poor sleep patterns.
Anxiety
Hot flashes make many women feel anxious. Predicting when the next hot flash will occur is very difficult. Women can feel embarrassed when a hot flash hits while at a restaurant, at work or at a friend's house. This embarrassment may cause women to avoid social situations. However, it is important to remember that most women experience hot flashes during menopause, and that others are not likely to judge you for it. The hot flash itself, however, can also cause a feeling of anxiety.
Exhaustion
In addition to all the other symptoms associated with hot flashes, they may leave you feeling exhausted. According to epigee.org, many people feel exhausted for up to an hour after a hot flash occurs.
