Any woman experiencing menopause can tell you that one of the worst symptoms associated with this natural change is hot flashes. There’s nothing more infuriating than feeling hot even with numerous fans blowing on you, the AC on high, and while in shorts and t-shirt, but with hot flashes, sometimes it feels like there’s nothing you can do to remedy how hot you feel. Hot flashes are one of the most common symptoms of menopause, and our hormones are to blame for them.
How Do Hormones Affect Hot Flashes?
Menopause is all hormonal. All women go through menopause when their bodies reach the end of their reproductive cycles. At this point, our bodies produce less estrogen and progesterone and may sometimes produce more of other types of hormones like testosterone, which is why our bodies go through so many changes during this time. A lack of the hormones the female body is used to having and an increase of hormones our bodies aren’t so used to are the reasons why menopause is often referred to as “the big change.” But what do hormones have to do with hot flashes?
While scientists haven’t solidified a conclusion as to why women experience hot flashes during menopause, many agree that it is because of the sudden decrease in estrogen in our bodies. While some of us may have low levels of estrogen throughout our entire lives and many of us start having decreasing levels of it before we hit menopause, once we’ve reached “the big change,” the change is so sudden and impacting, that our bodies have nothing left to do but react to it. A sudden and large decrease in estrogen triggers many symptoms, and unfortunately, hot flashes are one of them.
What Can You Do?
Fortunately, there are different things you can do to ease the symptoms of menopause. One of the ones we can help you with at Primary Care El Paso is hormone replacement therapy. During hormone replacement therapy, we can help you replace the hormones lost during menopause. This can help ease the symptoms caused by a decrease of estrogen in your body, including hot flashes, while your body goes through this natural change. We understand that “the big change” can be overwhelming, but we’re here to help.
If hormone replacement therapy sounds like something you’d like to try to aid the symptoms of menopause, give us a call today! We’ll set up an appointment to discuss your options and whether or not hormone replacement therapy is right for you. We look forward to helping you!