Night Sweats – Menopause – Hot Flashes – Sleeping hot

Posts Tagged ‘Dozens’

Almost all women get at least some hot flushes and night sweats  around the menopause; they’re a by-product of the "make more oestrogen" chemical messages that our brains send out when they detect falling levels of this hormone.

Our ovaries may work intermittently for some time, so the sweats often come and go, until the brain realises that the ovaries have finally stopped working for good – this can take several years.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can suppress menopausal symptoms until it’s all over. Current recommendations are to take HRT for short-term relief of menopausal symptoms. But some unlucky women do continue to have symptoms into their 60s, or even longer.

I’d recommend seeing your GP to check nothing else is going on, as there are dozens of other causes of night sweats , including an overactive thyroid, chronic infections, some drugs (for example, antidepressants) and some rare forms of cancer.

If your sweats are still due to the menopause, you could consider taking HRT even now, provided your GP thinks that it’s suitable for you, although the risks of stroke and heart attack do increase slightly as you get older.