Women between the ages of 45 to 55 suffer from a variety of symptoms related to waning hormone levels during menopause. Rapid heartbeat, embarrassing facial flushing, sweating and chilling, chest pain, and night sweats are common symptoms of abrupt drops in estrogen and progesterone levels. Menopause may be a common transitional time in women’s lives. Annoying and frustrating symptoms, however, need not take control.
Night Sweats
Night sweats are common menopause symptoms that disturb sleep, and generate sweating and chilling sensations. With no apparent trigger, women wake drenched in sweat, feeling anxious and nauseous. Once night sweats pass, women continue to lose sleep as they get out of bed change damp pajamas to avoid chills throughout the night. Rapid heartbeat, fatigue, heartburn, and anxiety can accompany night sweats.
Chest Pain
Night sweat symptoms can include rapid heartbeat that feels like chest pain. These sporadic symptoms usually pass within minutes. Chest pain that is sharp and shooting and that does not subside within a few minutes or that increases in intensity may require medical attention. Women should consult their medical health professional for symptoms of chest pain other than a brief pounding sensation and rapid heartbeat. Women should receive a thorough physical examination and blood work analysis at the onset of menopause. Ruling out heart disease helps women to
treat symptoms of night sweats and chest pain.
Causes of Menopause Symptoms
Chest pain during menopause includes brief, rapid heart pounding. Night sweats create upper body flushing, sweating, chills and anxiety. Both chest pains and night sweats are common symptoms of waning estrogen and progesterone levels in the body. Changes in reproductive hormones create imbalances that decrease metabolism and reduce immunity. The hypothalamus controls body temperature. When waning hormone levels cause chemical changes, the hypothalamus alerts a variety of system functions to protect the body from danger. Menopausal women can lose up to 80 percent of estrogen and progesterone stores rapidly. This abrupt imbalance forces the heart to pump blood throughout the body, increase oxygen levels to muscle and tissue, increase body temperature and brain chemicals to rebalance women’s metabolism.
Treatment
With a few basic lifestyle adjustments, women can significantly decrease symptoms of
chest pain and night sweats related to menopause. Substituting alcohol and caffeine with herbal, green teas can reduce the affects of stimulants to produce stress hormones. Quitting smoking increases oxygen levels in the blood reducing chest pain. Sleeping in a cool room, with light bed linens and loose pajamas reduces night sweat symptoms. Drinking plenty of water and eating foods rich in soy, protein and calcium can boost women’s metabolism. Increasing aerobic exercise and relaxation techniques will diminish chest pain and night sweats.
Considerations
Herbal supplements are an effective treatment for increasing estrogen and progesterone production, naturally. Supplements diminish a variety of menopausal symptoms without side effects. Women should consult a medical health professional at the onset of menopause for a thorough physical and blood analysis to allay fears of heart disease. Women with relentless and debilitating symptoms of rapid heartbeat, sweating, and chills should discuss alternative treatments with their doctor.