What actually “triggers” hot flashes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My gyn thinks that the low level of Prozac I am on may be helpful in reducing them

Yep. I did this on my PCP’s advice and it definitely made a difference. It didn’t eliminate them, but probably cut in half the frequency and maybe reduced the intensity by 30%.

[Anonymous]

IME it's a lot of Western diet and lifestyle that trigger hot flashes. Hot flashes are far less common in Asia and even in Mediterranean women.

Look at your diet. Cut back on meat, eat more cooked veg, beans, tofu. Less bread--try rice (gaba is best), quinoa, and other grains. Eat a good quality yoghurt made with whole milk. It's easy to make yoghurt at home. Cut alcohol way back. No processed foods like chips, deli meat, string cheese or other fake cheese like that. Eat walnuts and almonds. Drink a lot of water and Sage tea.

You might find cutting down to 2 meals a day helps too. I like to eat my first meal of the day around 11am-12pm, and dinner 6pm-7pm. That's it. Try to get 10 hours of sleep a night. Sometimes that means going to be at 8pm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME it's a lot of Western diet and lifestyle that trigger hot flashes. Hot flashes are far less common in Asia and even in Mediterranean women.

Look at your diet. Cut back on meat, eat more cooked veg, beans, tofu. Less bread--try rice (gaba is best), quinoa, and other grains. Eat a good quality yoghurt made with whole milk. It's easy to make yoghurt at home. Cut alcohol way back. No processed foods like chips, deli meat, string cheese or other fake cheese like that. Eat walnuts and almonds. Drink a lot of water and Sage tea.

You might find cutting down to 2 meals a day helps too. I like to eat my first meal of the day around 11am-12pm, and dinner 6pm-7pm. That's it. Try to get 10 hours of sleep a night. Sometimes that means going to be at 8pm.

Believe it or not I am Mediterranean and already eat like this (DH makes fun of me because my absolute favorite snack is walnuts, prunes and dates). I don’t sleep for more than 7-8 hours though, but my energy is good. Also the previous female generation that lives back home all eat quite healthy and I recall some of them complaining about hot flashes years ago…

Thanks a lot to the PPs. I see HRT in my future.

[Anonymous]

For me: anxiety, anger, low blood sugar, high blood sugar, fast temperature changes were all triggers.

Prozac has helped keep the hot flashes, especially night sweating, to a minimum. Menopause has been better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stress

Stress for me too.

[Anonymous]

Yes to all the previous posters comments. I just wanted to add that tight fitting clothing, like yoga pants and sports bras, were also triggering for me. I can wear vuori type pants, and other breathable fabrics but not spandex. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

What had helped me is eating sugary fruit and carbs earlier in the day and not before bed.

[Anonymous]

I can't take HRT due to past DCIS and my doctor recommended acupuncture for hot flashes. My hot flashes have not been that bad yet so I haven't tried it, but I thought I'd pass the advice along for others who can't do HRT.

I have found that hot flashes are sometimes triggered by having my laptop on my lap, so I try to avoid doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't take HRT due to past DCIS and my doctor recommended acupuncture for hot flashes. My hot flashes have not been that bad yet so I haven't tried it, but I thought I'd pass the advice along for others who can't do HRT.

I have found that hot flashes are sometimes triggered by having my laptop on my lap, so I try to avoid doing that.

Thanks! I will look into acupuncture. -OP

PS I’m on day 5 of OTC Estriol cream and the last two nights were better than the first three. Tonight i had a small glass of wine, hopefully it doesn’t mean I’ll be up every hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me: anxiety, anger, low blood sugar, high blood sugar, fast temperature changes were all triggers.

Prozac has helped keep the hot flashes, especially night sweating, to a minimum. Menopause has been better.

Is Prozac more helpful than HRT? Can they both be taken together?