Hot flashes

Hot flashes are a common symptom caused by hormonal changes during menopause. About 80% of menopausal women experience hot flashes for at least one year, while about a quarter of women struggle with them for more than five years. Affected women experience recurring sensations of heat throughout the body, often accompanied by sweating.

What is the cause of hot flashes?

It is assumed that the falling estrogen level during menopause disturbs the body's temperature regulation, which can lead to hot flashes. When there is a lack of estrogen, the small vessels under the skin dilate, increasing the blood supply to the skin and causing heat sensations and skin redness. However, the exact mechanism of how the hormonal change is related to hot flashes is largely unexplained.

How do hot flashes become noticeable?

Hot flashes occur suddenly and affect the face, neck, chest, back and upper arms. The feeling of warmth can spread to the rest of the body and is often accompanied by redness of the skin. The duration of a hot flash is usually 30 seconds to about 3 minutes, but in rare cases it can last 30 minutes. The frequency of hot flashes varies from one to 30 times per day. After the hot flash, the increased sweating can lead to light shivering or even freezing.

Do hot flashes have an effect on basal body temperature?

Unfortunately, there are very few studies that have investigated the influence of natural hot flashes on core body temperature. In general, it is believed that hot flashes are not caused by an increase in core body temperature, but by the dilatation of blood vessels in the skin. As a result, more "warm" blood flows from inside the body into the skin, which leads to the perception of a significantly stronger feeling of warmth and to reddening of the skin. Oral basal body temperature measurements are not affected by these hot flashes

Daysy accompanies you through all phases of your reproductive life

Daysy is designed to determine with very high accuracy your non-fertile and fertile days based on basal body temperature. Measuring basal body temperature allows you to determine very accurately when ovulation has occurred. Progesterone has a thermogenic effect, which causes the basal body temperature to rise by approximately 0.25-0.45 °C after ovulation. Due to the specific release of the hormone by the corpus luteum, the progesterone level and the associated increase in basal body temperature after ovulation is a very constant retrospective indication that ovulation has occurred with a very high probability.

You can measure with Daysy at any time as long as you had at least 1 hour of good sleep and measure immediately after waking up, before you get up and become active. A shorter or disturbed night's rest can lead to temperature fluctuations that can cause additional red or yellow days. For more information, see: Disturbance: the natural influences.

Like any new stage of life, menopause brings both opportunity and complexity. Our bodies are complicated, but they don't have to be mysterious. Daysy can help you recognize your own unique menstrual pattern and use this knowledge to manage these phases of your reproductive life.