The nighttime version of hot flashes is night sweats. Stealing sleep as a thief in the night, these annoying menopause symptoms can interrupt a full and decent night’s sleep. Soaking perspiration and accompanying chills cause women to feel restless, thrashing through the night. Soaking from sweat that dampens clothing and bed linens follows shivering chills and creates a pattern of anxiety, frustration, and exhaustion.
Night sweats
Approximately 75 percent of all menopausal women suffers from mild to extreme symptoms of night sweats. With symptoms such as disrupted sleep, perspiration, chills, nausea and anxiety, night sweats attack women between the ages of 45 and 55. The hypothalamus is unable to regulate body temperature due to decreasing levels of estrogen and progesterone, reproductive hormones. The hypothalamus causes the body to heat and chill to maintain a normal body temperature of 98.6. The body wakes as blood pressure rises increasing skin sweating sending a false warning of danger.Unchecked night sweats can cause dehydration, create a rapid and irregular heartbeat, a sudden sensation of heat, nausea, and headaches. Unfortunately, the effects of night sweat reach beyond bedtime. Women begin their day exhausted and irritable after the sweating, chilling and anxiety symptoms from night sweats or nocturnal hyperhydrosis. Night sweats also increase stress, long-term sleep disorders such as insomnia, and reduce concentration and focus.
Night Sweats Triggers
A variety of lifestyle, eating habits, chemical and environmental conditions can trigger night sweats. Stress wreaks havoc on the body. Producing cortisol and adrenaline, stress chemicals increase body fat, high blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Stress hormones can also increase anxiety and excessive worry. Other night sweat triggers include smoking, drinking caffeine and alcohol. Allowing the body to overheat in shopping malls or hot and humid environments can generate night sweats. Wearing heavy bed clothing, sleeping with a heating blanket or thick bed linens raises body temperature that can lead to night sweats.Natural Treatment for Menopausal Night Sweats
Eating foods rich in protein, complex carbohydrates, calcium, and soy will diminish night sweats frequency and duration. Soy products such as tofu, apples, rice, yams, and potatoes diminish the hormonal imbalances that create sleeplessness and anxiety. Soy contains natural estrogen-producing nutrients that can alleviate night sweats. Drinking plenty of water will also reduce stress hormones trapped in fatty tissue.Exercising at least 30 minutes each day and practicing meditation reduces the symptoms of night sweats. Substituting caffeine, alcohol, and sugar with herbal, green tea can decrease chemical stimulants that increase stress. Herbal treatments also stimulate estrogen and progesterone production. Herbal medicines are natural and provide relief for individual night sweat symptoms such as sleeplessness, anxiety, and nausea. Women can avoid taking medicine then they may not need to treat their symptoms.
Considerations
For a small percentage of women, eating healthy and increasing exercise does not reduce their symptoms of night sweats. These women should discuss alternative treatments options with their medical health professional. Drugs and surgery may be necessary for some women to control the powerful and debilitating symptoms that damage the quality of their lives. Drugs and surgery can increase women’s risk for developing heart disease. Additionally, hormone replacement therapies come with dangerous side effects. Although the natural and herbal medicinal approach is often the most effective, some women may require treatments with benefits that outweigh the risks.
