Suddenly you have an intense, hot feeling on your face and upper body, often accompanied by a rapid heartbeat and sweating, giddiness, nausea, anxiety, headache, weakness, and, most awfully, a feeling of suffocation.

Some women experience an “aura,” an uneasy feeling just before the hot flash. My mother used to “smell heat”. This is when the arguments for HRT appear. Should you take (chemical or natural) estrogen to alleviate them?

Tips to beat the Hot Flash Flush
Firstly, don’t fight the flush, you have to ride with it. Try to relax if you can.Get help for bad habits. Talk with your healthcare advisor about support for beating smoking.

• Cut down on coffee and strong stimulants.
• Avoid spicy foods
• Eat smaller meals more often to avoid the heat generated by digesting large amounts of food.
• Try adding horseradish to your diet.
• Apple cider vinegar. Some women find relief from a glass each morning with honey
• Fan Get some little hand fans for your purse.
• Keep ice water to sip to cool down your insides
• Carry moist tissues, baby wipes, to freshen up after a flush.
• Carry sprays to help lower your skin temperature
• Open your freezer and stick your head in for a minute.
• Practice deep-breathing and relaxation techniques.
• Dress in layers
• Throw away your turtlenecks and fitted collars
• Wear cotton pajamas or a nightgown. Nighties are easier to change than sheets.
• Use cotton sheets only, not synthetics.
• Take a cool shower before bed.
• Keep a cool gel pack under your pillow at night so that you can turn the pillow over for a cool effect
• Keep a hand towel by your pillow to wipe the perspiration from your neck
• Get a bigger bed if you and your partner are on different heat planets but you still want to stay in close orbit.
• Tell yourself, out loud, that this is a temporary symptom
• Keep your sense of humour

Recommended

Color Me Beautiful Revolution Over 40 Cool It Body Spray to ease tension and hot flashes with a cooling, refreshing mist infused with lavender, geranium and cypress essential oils. Helps you feel cool, calm and collected.

And above all, remember .. Menopause is not a disease, but a natural event!

Lemons are an excellent source of vitamin B6, iron and potassium, and a very good source of dietary fibre and vitamin C. They also contain calcium, copper, folic acid, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc.

Lemons are rich in bioflavonoids, which protect against damage from free radicals, act as natural antibiotics and may help prevent heart disease and cancer. They are also anti-bacterial and anti-septic, making them good for mouth ulcers, canker sores and sore throats. The pulp and skin contain pectin, a compound which lowers cholesterol.

2. Repeat the Stomach Vacuum

Strengthen your lower back muscles that support your spine with the “stomach vacuum”.

1. Exhale. Suck in your gut.

2. Maintain the contraction for 10 to 20 seconds.

3. Repeat 10 to 15 times, as often as you like throughout the day.

3. Sing

When we sing instead of speak, we are practicing intonation, melody line, and crescendo, which gives us a broader vocabulary to express ourselves. We stand up straighter, breathe better and raise out spirits. Singing, particularly in a chorus, seems to benefit the elderly particularly well.

From the BBC How singing unlocks the brain

If you look at the 35 symptons of menopause you notice these signs

• Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
• Crashing fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion

which can indeed be symptoms of menopause, but also can be signs that you just don’t have enough energy to get through each day.

Let’s be serious here, a slowing down of your energy and vitality is a sign of aging – but you can stave off the fatigue of approaching old age by consciously striving to maintain and expand your energy.

At our stage of life, we can’t take anything for granted, we have to work to keep ourselves on the ball. Just as we have to work on our memory, keeping it sharp by constant mental exercise, we have to be aware of what we are eating, and try to maintain a proper diet so we have enough energy to go about our daily business. We need more energy than we did before, but it takes a while longer to build up.

How to boost your energy : First and foremost you need a good diet, exercise and plenty of sleep. If you drag yourself out of bed in the morning unable to wake up properly, then a look at your eating habits may be in order.

Kick start your day with energy giving foods, there are plenty to choose from on your supermarket shelf – all sorts of muesli, bran, wheat, rice, soya and nut mixtures. Actively seek fruit to eat, and buy what is seasonal and as fresh as possible.

We all know that we have to pay special attention to our diet now. We can no longer get away with the rushed snacks and the instant fix-it junk food.

Drink plenty of water. Cool, clear water helps you through physical or emotional activity. If you get a craving for an instant energy boost in the form of sugar, have water and fruit juice instead. Sip it slowly. Imagine the clear water filtering through you, cleansing, refreshing and revitalising, sending energy through with each sip. Savour it.

Don’t use coffee or tea to give yourself a fleeting burst of artificial energy, kick start your day with energy giving food.

Note : Are you a little anaemic? If you have been experiencing prolonged or heavy bleeding, a lack of iron could be the problem. Please consult your health care provider if you suspect you may have anaemia.

Exercise Is lack of exercise increasing your feelings of fatigue? If you haven’t exercised in some time, start with walking It’s easy and it’s free.

Getting the right amount of exercise can rev up your energy levels and even help you to feel better emotionally. Exercise benefits every part of you, it makes your body produce endorphins, the chemicals that lead you to feel better when you’re unhappy. Exercising makes you look better too.

You need restful sleep to recharge your batteries. Everybody is tired once in a while, but when it’s a constant feeling, day after day, a common reason is, of course, lack of sleep.

Remember: Fatigue that is not relieved by enough sleep, good nutrition, and a low-stress environment should be evaluated by your health care provider. Because fatigue is a common complaint, sometimes depression, grief or a potentially serious cause may be overlooked.