Katy Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 The short version: how long do hot flashes last? More context: I’m 45, periods still regular. My mom’s side went through menopause early (by 40), my dad’s side late (55). I barely slept last night. I had a headache, went back to bed after midnight, and it seemed like just when I went to sleep, DH wanted to snuggle. He’s been under a lot of stress lately and hasn’t wanted to snuggle for months. All of the sudden I was so hot I felt like I was on fire. I wanted to scream get off me, but also the poor guy has really been going through it, so I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I picked up my phone and started googling hot flashes. Most websites say they last a matter of seconds. But I vaguely recall my mom going out on the deck to have her morning coffee in the winter in a tank top when I was a kid. So that was at least 10 minutes. Maybe 20. I wasn’t sweaty, I just felt like I was on fire. And I was fine when DH got up. DH has always been a degree or two hotter than me. But lately he’s been stress eating and now he feels 2-3 degrees hotter. In the winter when I’m cold, it’s nice. But I don’t ever remember feeling this hot at night before. I have occasionally woken up from feeling hot in the last couple months, but both times it was so hot outside the AC wasn’t keeping up. I wasn’t drenched in sweat or anything. Is this how hot flashes start? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Could be. I wake up with my neck sweating and HOT. Then I roll over and 30 seconds later I might be cold so add a blanket and soon I am HOT again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Mine last longer than a few seconds. More like minutes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Sounds like hot flashes to me. I did have some, especially at night, that were only a few seconds. But most of mine were more like ten or twenty minutes. It feels like the heat is coming from inside you, not like on a hot day where the heat is external. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Hot flashes were sometimes quite long for me, and sometimes they were shorter bursts of intense sweating from every pore in my legs. It was reather overwhelming. I've had experiences where my dh's body heat sent me into a hot flash. Not fun! One time I was sweating so much that we were both drenched. That sure opened up his eyes to how brutal hot flashes can be. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 54 minutes ago, Ottakee said: Could be. I wake up with my neck sweating and HOT. Then I roll over and 30 seconds later I might be cold so add a blanket and soon I am HOT again. I do this. 46 minutes ago, wintermom said: Hot flashes were sometimes quite long for me, and sometimes they were shorter bursts of intense sweating from every pore in my legs. It was reather overwhelming. I've had experiences where my dh's body heat sent me into a hot flash. Not fun! One time I was sweating so much that we were both drenched. That sure opened up his eyes to how brutal hot flashes can be. And this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 The first hot flash I ever had was not anything "flash" about it. I was just HOT. For a while - 30 mins? maybe 45 mins? Just HOT. I was at a ladies' retreat, and was looking for medicine (because I also had a headache, but had been giving out my tylenol all weekend), and one of the older ladies asked what was wrong, and I explained I was just HOT and had a headache, and she said "Oh, yes....that's what it's like...." and that's when I realized what it was (a hot flash). I was very annoyed that the term is hot *flash* when this was more like heat *wave* or something. Hot spell. Something. but not a flash. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 3 minutes ago, TheReader said: The first hot flash I ever had was not anything "flash" about it. I was just HOT. For a while - 30 mins? maybe 45 mins? Just HOT. I was at a ladies' retreat, and was looking for medicine (because I also had a headache, but had been giving out my tylenol all weekend), and one of the older ladies asked what was wrong, and I explained I was just HOT and had a headache, and she said "Oh, yes....that's what it's like...." and that's when I realized what it was (a hot flash). I was very annoyed that the term is hot *flash* when this was more like heat *wave* or something. Hot spell. Something. but not a flash. It's often a 'flash' in how suddenly the hot happens. Like, where the heck did all this heat suddenly come from, when I'm normally cold. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 I think hot "flashes" will last longer if you can't immediately do something for relief. Especially if you're being hugged by a warm person. 😛 I think my "flashes" lasted more than a few seconds, but less than a minute. Not that I ever timed them. I toured Iceland in the middle of my flashiest year. I spent much of the trip putting on layers of jackets, tearing them off, repeat, repeat .... I still don't really regulate temperature well. I am also generally warmer than I used to be as a younger adult. Though, I also get sudden chills in between the hot flashes, especially at night. Annoying, but not life threatening. 😛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 When that started happening to me, it wound up being a thyroid issue and not hot flashes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 My first one lasted about 30 minutes. It was awful. I didn't have another for several years, thankfully, and they were typically shorter - usually 5-10 minutes. I did notice they were worse in the evening and while eating. Eventually, I learned most of the foods I ate were higher in histamine; replacing them with lower histamine foods mostly eliminated the hot flashes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 The UK term is Hot Flush. Which gives a better idea that length can vary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Mine are a minute or two. And it's an internal heat, rather than just feeling hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 6 hours ago, Pippen said: When that started happening to me, it wound up being a thyroid issue and not hot flashes. For me it was both. I was one of those super weird people who got hypothyroidism and instead of being cold all the time I was hot. Hot hot HOT. It's one reason I let it go way too long w/o investigating. I had all the other symptoms of hypothyroidism (weight gain, so much puffiness, hair loss, extreme fatigue, etc.) but it never crossed my mind because I was so dang hot, not cold like you're supposed to be. Then when my blood work clearly showed it the doc told me that if I started medication I'd be even hotter (I was wetting the exam table with sweat at the time). He was dead wrong. After a few months of levothyroxine I still had hot flashes, but they became normal hot flashes. Not the fire of Hades all the time. All of you going through hot flashes have my utmost sympathy. It's such an exhausting time. Emotions all over the place, and you can't get comfy for more than a few minutes, and all the taking clothes and blankets off only to have to put them back on and repeat, repeat, repeat is incredibly exhausting all around. It's so much better once you're on the other side. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 (edited) I can remember my aunt going outside for minutes, I would guess 10 minutes. That seems normal to me. I feel like my step-mom was similar. I have had the impression it can be 10 minutes, or it can be less. They weren’t giving me detailed play-by-plays, but my aunt openly would say she had a hot flash. My step-mom would make jokey comments to another older woman if there was one around, and I always thought that’s what she meant. Other women around have never thought my aunt or step-mom seemed strange, but I think they were known to have a little worse hot flashes? But nobody ever thought it was unusual. Edit: I don’t think they were as bad as described in the op, they seemed like it would get better if they cooled off, and like they could cool off. Edited July 21 by Lecka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 (edited) I tend to get what they call night sweats. I only get them at night (hence the name) and they last a long while for me. Usually I wake up sweaty and it is accompanied by insomnia. Usually at least 20 minutes until I feel less hot, but much longer to fall back asleep. This is interesting. https://www.menopause.org/docs/default-source/press-release/hot-flashes-and-nights-sweats-on-depression-and-stress-release.pdf I do have a history of struggles with depression/anxiety and my night sweats always concur with my PMDD symptoms. Edited July 21 by cintinative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Mine last for 5 or so minutes. I got immediately relief by starting acupuncture with a fertility specialist. I was have about 6 per night and another 6 at night. Cold sweats, the whole thing. Since starting acupuncture, I have had 3 in 3 weeks! She gave me herbs to take and I never even started them. The acupuncture is enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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