3: Night Sweats

Well, hotties we are steadily getting through our list of 34 reported symptoms of the menopause.

Remember, you may experience them all or none at all, but for the majority of us, we will have at least several of these to varying degrees.

This month we focus on ‘Night Fever’, or more commonly known as Night Sweats. Believe me it’s not half as much fun as getting on the dance 🕺 floor to bust out some John Travolta moves. But you may find yourself doing a less than cool night time ritual.

So what causes night sweats?

According to good ol’ Google and Mother Nature:

“Night sweats occur before and during menopause because of changing hormone levels, including estrogen and progesterone, affecting the body's temperature control which is regulated by the hypothalamus.”

Even slight changes in our female hormone levels affect the action of other hormones, and the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating the body's temperature. It’s Mother Nature's way of cooling us down.

Sheesh Mum, you’re all heart! I can think of better, less sweatier ways, can’t you hotties?

A tell-tale sign that you're experiencing night sweats is that when you rise from your slumber - if you’ve managed to get any at all - and you find a soggy outline imprint of your body on your bedsheets, creating what I like to affectionately call ‘body sweat art’.

You may also feel like you’ve had the mother of all workouts as you’ve been performing the Hokey Cokey bed dance, all night long. You know the one that goes a little like this - you put your left leg in, left leg out, in out, in out you shake it all about. Hotties everywhere will know exactly what we’re talking about with THAT dance routine...

So what can you do? Well, there are lots and lots of pieces of advice out there. So take your pick and see if any of them work for you:

• Natural fibre bed clothes and bed linen - cotton is good for staying and keeping cool; avoid if possible man made fibres - they all too easily can cause, attract and retain sweat.
• Keep a fan or magazine nearby to help circulate the air over your body.
• Stay hydrated - water is your new BFF - and avoid alcohol or caffeine drinks close to bedtime.
• Keep the room cool and have plenty of fresh air circulating.
• Several herbal supplements and remedies such as clary sage and peppermint oil are reported by some to help stay cool. Yeah baby! Although always check first with your GP/pharmacist that there are no contraindications.
• Medications and hormone boosters such as HRT and certain food types can be an option too. Boost me up please…

It’s not a ‘one size fits all’ I’m afraid Hotties - it’s as individual a journey as you are - and oh my, what a voyage of discovery this is becoming!.

All that’s left to say Hotties is ‘stay true to you’. It’s a journey we are on but we will get to our destination. No sweat!!

Stay cool, stay beautiful…

Love
Julie x