Everyone hears about hot flashes - overall they are a very normal part of life and of aging. Let me explain what hot flashes really feel like:
It's this drastic change in body temperature - similar to when you have a fever or you get INCREDIBLY embarrassed. First you get this rush of heat that seems to start at your chest and arms and moves rapidly to your face. Instantly you feel like you are boiling from the inside out and you start to sweat (in some cases) and it lasts anywhere between 20 seconds to several minutes. Then, once it's gone, you get that clammy cold sweat and you are all-of-a-sudden freezing cold and shaking and can't get warm.
Some women don't get them at all, some get them up to a few times an hour, and it is primarily due to hormonal changes.
Hot flashes are not normally painful, there's no physical pain or general risk involved, but they are very uncomfortable.
Now, because I have been on several medications to try and keep my hormones in check (or not working at all), this is the fourth time that I have been through hot flashes.
So imagine - I was driving down to see my parents, it was very lightly snowing outside, the weather is a little chilly (maybe 5 degrees or so), and there I am, going from full blast heat to windows open and full blast air-conditioning, switching back and forth about every ten-twenty minutes.
But hot flashes never seem to have 'good' timing. If you are already embarrassed - maybe you've gone to pay for your groceries and your debit and credit cards have both come up with 'insufficient funds'... You're holding up a lineup of people as you try paying in three different forms and have to guess as to what amounts you can put on each card... The cashier is annoyed, the people in line are all annoyed, you're annoyed because you just put money in the bank two days ago, and you just want to disappear - THAT's when they happen. You're already flustered and BAM - your internal body temperature rises by ten degrees and your face and arms and neck are covered in sweat and you feel like you're going to pass out simply from the head rush.
Or take, for example, the other night I was at a BBQ. The weather was perfect and we were all enjoying ourselves. Once the sun started to go down though, it was pretty freezing. When the sun was out and a beautifully blistering mid-twenty degrees, those hot flashes would hit me about every twenty minutes... And there I am, embarrassingly waving my arms in front of my face and undressing as much as possible without being inappropriate... Then a few minutes later I am putting back on my extra sweater. BUT... When the sun was setting, I was so cold that I had to borrow a blanket from inside and I curled my feet up in the chair and covered myself completely.
I'm sitting, freezing cold, and (go figure) NO HOT FLASHES! The one instance where hot flashes would be welcome - allow my core to warm up just long enough to improve my comfort of sitting outside.
So - when I am already uncomfortably warm, hot flashes strike several times an hour, and when I am absolutely frigid, the hot flashes subside for a few hours.
Because what would life be like if everything happened at the time when it would be most beneficial? Boring!!