the blog

Whoo, hot flash!

My husband Jose asks the best questions. As I’m fanning myself and saying “Whoo, hot flash!” he looks at me innocently and asks, “What is a hot flash?”

Now you have to understand that he’s a young man of 35 and he’s from a Central American country so a hot flash is not necessarily something he has been exposed to. On top of that is the fact that his English skills are good but he doesn’t understand all the North American terms and euphemisms so I try to find the words to explain it to him using analogies because that he understands clearly.

“Well,” I begin searching for the right words as I continue fanning “it is like a fever but your body temperature rises from normal suddenly and you are burning up and sweating.”

“Does it hurt?” Is his next questions, because there can never be just one.

“No it doesn’t hurt but it makes me very uncomfortable and sweaty.” I tell him.

“Is it dangerous?” He queries.

“Only if you get between me and relief!” I chuckle remembering a scene from Sex and the City 2 where Samantha has a hot flash while in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and strips off her clothes in front of a group of traditional Muslim men. She didn’t care that she could go to jail or be killed for her “nudity”. All she cared about was cooling down.

“And how long is that going to last?” he ventures.

“It is just another one of the 34 symptoms of menopause baby, so your guess is as good as mine.” I concede.

“Women really have a hard time with their periods and now this menopause thing.” He says scratching his head.

“You said a mouthful.” I laugh.

Fortunately, not all women experience hot flashes as they go through menopause. The website www.34-symptoms-menopause.com says that about 75 to 85% of American women get hot flashes. It is described as a “transient sensation of warmth or heat” that spreads over the body and creates a flushing or redness on the skin. The cause is a decreased supply of the estrogen hormone. The night time version of hot flashes is called night sweats.

I’ll tell you all about my episodes of night sweats another time.

My hot flashes are not frequent and they are mild so I haven’t looked at any treatments or remedies but lease leave me a comment about your worse hot flash or what you do to keep cool. You’ll be helping your sister in menopause.