Night Sweats

A female body spends years functioning as a prolific woman of child bearing potential. With age this role moderates and eventually comes to a standstill. The ensuing hormonal imbalance makes women an easy target to hot flashes and night sweats which are extremely thwarting and disruptive to life. The worst facet of hot flashes is the sensation of hopelessness which women go through over their own bodies.

A hot flash at night is called a night sweat, which may be accompanied by feelings of fretfulness or panic. Women wake up dank and sweaty with their night wear sticking to their skin and entailing a change.

The real cause of night sweats is a hormonal imbalance in the body and since the demands that lead to hormonal imbalance tend to soar in the years leading up to menopause (perimenopause), night sweats are commonly thought of as a menopause symptom.

But in actuality, women can experience hormonal imbalance at any stage in their lives. Essentially, the heat-regulatory area of the brain is hoaxed into thinking that the body needs to drive out heat, instigating it to dispatch signals for the blood vessels to expand, heart rate to intensify and sweat glands to open up.

The upshot is an obnoxious rush of heat, perspiration, dizziness and heart palpitations that characterize night sweats. Night sweats can be potent enough to drench sleepwear and sheets, and mind it; this flooding is not related to an overheated environment.

Some more physical and psychological symptoms associated with hot flashes and night sweats are:

• Nausea
• Headache
• Weakness
• Suffocation
• Anxiety
• Flushed appearance
• Chills as the hot flash subsides
• Fatigue
• Cravings
• Mood swings
• Insomnia

Some triggers or precipitating factors for night sweats, which have been identified till date include:

• Sugar and simple carbohydrates
• Caffeine, nicotine, and stimulants in general
• Alcohol
• Spicy and acidic foods
• Tobacco and marijuana
• Saturated fats
• Hot places(saunas, hot tubs, showers)
• Over warm bedrooms
• Stressful environment
• Intense exercise

The idea of controlling the unwelcome symptoms of night sweats with drugs seems very attractive, but a holistic approach to resolving and trying to overcome the problem is more appreciable. This three-tiered, natural line of attack includes dietary restrictions, lifestyle variation and endocrine support.

One can endeavor to minimize night sweats by eating a nutritious and balanced diet. Such a diet would not only help in balancing the hormonesdefine, but would also aid in controlling the neurotransmitters which direct the brain.

Reducing stress from your life in whatever way – whether through exercise, meditation or life style modification will help pacify the internal thermometer and aid in triumphing over the trouble called night sweat.

Efforts to elevate the levels of hormones by giving low doses of bio identical progesterone and other forms of bio identical hormones have also achieved tremendous success in overcoming night sweats. This therapy, however, is only effective in stopping night sweating, but is not curative.

So women eat well and adopt the take it easy attitude to help yourselves deal with the problem of night sweats.