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 Menopause Flushing

Most women experience flushes around the menopause. They can be the earliest sign, so you can have them while your periods are still quite regular. In fact a survey showed that 41% of women whose periods were still regular, but who were over the over the age of 39, had flushes. They usually go on for 2–3 years – but 1 in 4 women have them for 5 years, and an unlucky 1 in 20 have them for the rest of their lives.

A flush is an unpleasant sensation of heat which begins in the face, head or chest. Often, there is sweating and visible redness of the skin. It usually passes after 1–2 minutes, leaving a feeling of coldness. Some women have just the flush without the sweating, while others sweat profusely but hardly flush.

Flushes may occur frequently, even several times an hour, or just occasionally. Some women find that any slightly stressful situation will bring on a flush, or that flushes are more likely to occur when they are warm (e.g. in bed, in an over-heated room, on holiday in a warm place). The flushes and sweats disturb sleep – some women wake covered in sweat – and this results in lethargy and irritability during the day.