Menopause Night Sweats and Remedies

Menopause brings about many things. Your periods become irregular. Your ovulation schedule becomes erratic. Your moods become unpredictable and almost manic. You are irritable. You are exhausted. You have insomnia. You are plagued by hot flashes. Worst of all, there are the dreaded menopause night sweats. These only aid your inability to sleep and your irritability. Furthermore, they are uncomfortable and even embarrassing. After all, who in the world likes the feeling of waking up to sweat soaked sheets?

The real problem is that night sweats are almost a mystery. In fact, until very recently, little was understood about them at all. Fortunately, as menopause becomes a more "open" subject, if you will, these unpleasant phenomena are being studied quite closely. Really, it is about time. When we go through menopause, we have enough to worry about and enough to deal with, without the addition of such physical torments.

Hot flashes, another dreaded menopausal symptom, are directly related to night sweats in a lot of ways. So, before understanding everything about night sweats, we need to understand a bit about hot flashes.

Basically, hot flashes tend to occur during changes – namely imbalances – in your hormones. That, of course, is what menopause is all about really. Your estrogen levels go severely out of whack before steadily declining. Your body and your hormones become completely overwhelmed by these changes. So really, hot flashes do not just occur during menopause. They can occur any time your body is going through drastic hormonal changes. For most women, however, their first large hormonal changes occur during puberty and – you guessed it – during menopause.

Hot flashes result in several things. The hormonal rampages in your body trick your brain into thinking that you are cold. In turn, your blood vessels dilate, your heart rate speeds up, you become dizzy, your heart starts to pound – and you start to perspire. Quite heavily, as a matter of fact. And there you have the night sweats.

There are ways you can deal with both hot flashes and night sweats, and they do not necessarily have to involve hormone replacement therapy, or HRT. That is entirely your choice – and your doctor's, of course. Changing your own behavior and your day to day life can help tremendously however.

For starters, try to relax. To the extent that you are able, keep yourself out of and away from stressful situations. Stress tends to trigger both hot flashes and night sweats a great deal. You can change the way you dress as well. As you begin menopause, try to dress in light, airy, and comfortable clothes. Make sure that your skin and your body have enough room to breathe. The same goes for the way you sleep. That is, keep your room at a cool, comfortable temperature. Do not pile a lot of heavy, hot blankets on your bed. It is much easier to warm up than cool down. If you are worried about getting cold, keep some spare blankets at the bottom of the bed within easy reach.