Menopause Night Sweats
by Joan
If you’re suffering from menopause night sweats, I encourage you to take a proactive approach to seeking help for these night sweats. I know menopause night sweats can be frustrating, but feel comforted that you’re not alone. Because the phenomenon is so common, a small cottage industry has grown to help you get a good night’s rest, from elaborate bed fans to popular herbal remedies for night sweats like black cohosh.
With this site, I will provide you a number of tips and resources to help you address these menopause night sweats in ways we didn’t have even five years ago. We’re getting better and better at conquering the phenomenon clinically referred to as sleep hyperhidrosis.
What Are Menopause Night Sweats?
Menopause night sweats are exactly what they sound like: excessive sweating in the night as a result of menopause hot flashes when you’re asleep and can’t do anything about those night sweats. While I know some women who celebrate the natural passing of their menstrual cycle, I also know we all must face the consequences of these changes in our bodies, and quite often, they’re just not any fun.
I urge you to stay calm and be at peace with the changes. As our ovaries begin the natural process of bidding adieu to our lives, our endocrine system and thus our hormonal balance will experience dramatic shifts. Menopause night sweats are natural and can even be seen as healthy because your body is cleansing itself of excessive toxins (every time you perspire you emit some toxins, hence the sometimes unpleasant odor).
However, when you decide to address causes of excessive sweating, I suggest seeing a medical professional for advice. While your night sweats are most likely nothing to be too concerned about, it is still a good idea to have your doctor evaluate you to be certain nothing more serious is occurring within your body. Sometimes simply changing your medication regiment can provide you significant relief.
Menopause Night Sweats
Natural Remedies for Menopausal Night Sweats
For a natural approach to menopause night sweats, some studies indicate that herbs such as Rhodiola Rosea and Black Cohosh can help, while a supplement regiment including vitamin e, a niacin-free vitamin b complex and magnesium can also make a great difference. My sister attained excellent results from taking melatonin and valerian. I suggest avoiding all-encompassing multivitamins before bed. Some may actually make you feel restless in the night. So stick to specific, individual supplements and always discuss your regiment with your doctor and/or your pharmacist before combining too many different herbs and vitamins.
In some cases, a little chamomile tea can help. However, some people may feel anxious consuming a hot tea before they try to fend off night sweats in their sleep. Other natural ways to address your hot flashes at night include wicking pajamas, wicking sheets, a pillow that helps keep your head and face cool (see the nearby Amazon.com links), and a bed fan designed to provide even, subtle cooling to your bed.
Sometimes the most simple ideas can help as well: keep a cool glass of water within reach, and if you feel yourself beginning to heat up, hold the cool glass against the inside of your wrist. This cools your blood where it passes tightly together as it circulates and can provide a system-wide sense of cool surprisingly quickly. I also suggest keeping a low powered fan nearby and using light, 100 percent cotton bed sheets.
What Causes Menopause Night Sweats?
The most broadly accepted theory on menopause night sweats is that hot flashes are caused by a deficiency in estrogen circulating your system because of declining ovarian function. We also know that cycling estrogen levels are part of the picture as many women enjoy relief from night sweats while taking estrogen.
So it isn’t surprising that research suggests consuming soy might provide some relief for hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. I recommend, however, that you obtain your soy from food rather than from supplements. Foods which contain soy include tempeh, tofu, soy milk, miso, whole soybeans, soy powder (often as protein powders for soy shakes), and texturized vegetable protein. Consider yourself a little lucky; night sweats in men deriving from a kind of andropause don’t have such common and tasty resources for treatment.
If you would like to be more aggressive with your menopause night sweats, you might discuss HRT — hormone replacement therapy — with your doctor. Your doctor may also have some other medication suggestions depending the severity of your menopause night sweats, but I always prefer to take a minimal and natural approach before bringing in the big guns.
Learning to handle the inevitable aftermath of menopause night sweats is for another essay. Please return soon when I will add more to my site about help for night sweats, including some additional specific products and routines to help you address your menopause night sweats.