Most middle age women experience hot flashes. My hot flashes coincided with my divorce. That was not great timing. There were so many changes and stressful situations at that time and my hot flashes were horrible. I would sit at my desk at work and sweat would start pouring down my face. My co-workers would say they never saw anyone with such bad hot flashes. Great! That was not comforting. I did develop some ways to deal with hot flashes.
A new study came out in February, 2015 in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal. The study found that the medium length for a women to experience hot flashes is 7.4 years. They also found that hot flashes can last as long at 14 years. The earlier they begin the longer a women is likely to suffer. Can you imagine 14 years?
The North American Menopause Society has created a mobile app for women bothered by menopause symptoms. It gives ways to cope based on your lifestyle. The app is called MenoPro and it is free. Check it out, if you are bothered by menopause symptoms.
These are some of the ways I coped with hot flashes:
1. I kept fans everywhere: on my desk, in all my purses, and in every room in my house. They were especially helpful in my purses. When I was out and a hot flash started, I would pull it out, open it and fan away the sweat. I had fans in every size and color.
2. On my vanity, I kept a small electric fan. Inevitable, as soon as I finished putting on my makeup, a hot flash would occur. With the electric fan, I would put my face in front of it until the hot flash stopped. My makeup would stay intact.
3. For night sweats, I would put an ice pack under my pillow.
How do you deal with hot flashes? Please share your tips.