Hot flashes occur suddenly and are ascending. They usually disappear as quickly as they occurred. Sometimes it occurs only once a day, but on other days up to 40 times.
As different as hot flushes seem and can occur, so different can their cause be. In addition to the classic menopausal hot flushes, numerous other forms of ascending heat are also known, but they occur much less frequently. The most important forms will be described in more detail below.
Symptoms
Hot flushes are characterized by rapidly rising heat, which starts in the chest area and rises up to the head within a short time. A subjective feeling of warmth develops, in some cases the head also reddens. In addition, the heart rate increases and the affected person sweats more.
After a few minutes the hot flush subsides again. Due to the evaporation of the resulting sweat, the affected persons now shiver. Very often, the symptoms described above also occur at night during the menopause.
The production of female sex hormones decreases and the body in return produces more stress hormones, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. This leads to hot flushes, which mainly occur at night. As a further possible cause one must think of an overheated bedroom and also of serious illnesses such as tumorous neoplasms.
Typically, tumorous neoplasms manifest themselves through weight loss, fever and night sweats. The consumption of coffee, black tea, alcohol and strongly spiced food, as well as food that is difficult to digest and food that is served too hot, massively intensify hot flushes. But the above mentioned foods can also trigger hot flushes after eating on their own.
This is particularly common if one does not consume those foods and beverages regularly or suddenly consumes them in extremely large quantities or combinations. Usually such temperature fluctuations are only of short duration and do not repeat themselves. However, if you are exposed to similar conditions again, these symptoms can reappear.
Excessive sweating – what causes it? hot flashes with nausea are an indication of gastrointestinal tract infections. It is then important to distinguish between a feeling of heat and a real fever to find the right remedy.
Both, however, are caused by the same mechanism: the pathogens release toxins (toxic substances) in the body, which change the target temperature at the body’s own thermostat in the brain. This leads to a rise in body temperature and hot flushes. The former are then supposed to destroy the pathogens.
Hot flushes in the case of a cold are an indication of infections of the upper respiratory tract. It is then important to distinguish whether it is just a feeling of heat or a real fever in order to find the right remedy. Both, however, are caused by the same mechanism: the pathogens release toxins in the body (toxins), which change the target temperature at the body’s own thermostat in the brain.
This leads to a rise in body temperature and hot flushes. The former are then supposed to destroy the pathogens. Colds are mostly bacterial pathogens.
These cause the hot flushes as well as the other cold-specific symptoms. Hot flushes and dizziness are both quite unspecific symptoms and must always be evaluated in conjunction with other symptoms. These two symptoms are most likely to occur during a syncope (fainting spell), but are also accompanied by palpitations and low blood pressure.
The most common accompanying symptom of hot flushes is outbreaks of sweating. They occur in the sense of a reaction of the sympathetic nervous system (part of the autonomous nervous system) and serve as a cooling method when the body temperature rises. Depending on the cause of the hot flushes, a wide variety of accompanying symptoms can occur.
Hot flushes are therefore referred to as unspecific symptoms. If cold sweat and chest pain occur at the same time, acute heart attack should definitely be considered. Complaints such as flushing, headaches and dizziness are also an alarm signal, as they could stand for a blood pressure derailment (in the case of high blood pressure).
If the blood pressure is suddenly too low, in addition to a hot flush, heart palpitations, dizziness and fainting may occur (syncope). Women in the menopause (menopause) can experience a whole range of other symptoms: In addition to sweating and dizziness, headaches, insomnia, depression and general irritability can also occur.Also only affecting women is the unilateral lower abdominal pain in the middle of the cycle, when the so-called basal body temperature rises due to ovulation. Hot flushes are often caused by a hormonal disorder, more often starting from the thyroid gland (see below), more rarely from the adrenal gland.
The organ-specific symptoms of these disorders then occur. Accompanying symptoms such as weight loss, fever and night sweats should make one think of cancer (so-called B symptoms). If nausea and vomiting occur simultaneously shortly after the hot flushes, a gastrointestinal infection may be present.
When running nose, coughing and fever occur, hot flushes can occur in the context of a cold. In cold or accompanied withdrawal (from alcohol, cocaine and/or opioids), hot flushes occur together with the classic withdrawal symptoms. In general, any form of hot flushes can be accompanied by stress symptoms such as restlessness and indisposition.
It is assumed that hot flushes are both cause and consequence of the activation of the autonomic nervous system. The occurrence of hot flushes accompanied by pustules in the décolleté when eating food containing glutamate is still unexplored. Tachycardia as an accompanying symptom of hot flushes can be an alarm signal for sometimes life-threatening diseases.
In the event of sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, severe headaches or dizziness, the rescue service should be alerted. Hot flushes are more harmless together with palpitations and slight dizziness after suddenly getting up, for example. This is due to a reaction of the body by the so-called sympathetic nervous system, which increases the beats of the heart to ensure blood circulation in all organs when blood pressure drops.
This part of the nervous system can then also lead to a hot flush. Chronic hot flushes with permanent heart palpitations are more likely to indicate hyperthyroidism. In general, however, tachycardia is a symptom that needs to be clarified and is worth a visit to your family doctor.
Sweating or medically Hidrosis is primarily used as a method of cooling the body by the evaporation of water on the skin surface. This is done by activating the autonomous nervous system, more precisely by the “fight-or-flight” part, the so-called sympathetic nervous system. Sweating with hot flushes is usually perceived as unpleasant and can, depending on its nature, provide an important clue to the cause.
For example, a cold sweaty pale face with hot flush and palpitations would indicate a heart attack, a warm skin with shaky hands and hot flush would indicate hypoglycemia. Sweating alone during hot flushes is primarily a physiological reaction of the body and should only be clarified in connection with other symptoms including those mentioned above. For example, hot flushes frequently occur in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy as the abdominal girth increases.
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