So anyway!
I have written a few times about going through menopause, and I often get asked about how I cope with the hot flushes that can happen.
So here’s what I have learned so far.
Wearing light layers during the day helps, and when I was in full flight menopause, I just didn’t bother wearing any foundation as I just sweated it off, just get super good at double cleansing and looking after your skin so that all you need to to is maybe some concealer. I always colour in my eyebrows and do my mascara though!
The food and drink triggers that set off my hot flushes are any food high in sugar content, white bread, white potatoes, white pasta, anything that can cause an insulin rush. I don’t completely eliminate these foods from day to day because hey, who doesn’t love a bacon roll, but I do limit them greatly and don’t keep bread in the house because carbs make me crave MORE CARBS!
Other drink triggers are Tea (not coffee), and also white wine and prosecco. I Know. Queue collective outrage. Alcohol is not important to me, I can take it or leave it, but these days it’s only a wee half glass of bubbly.
During the day, if a hot flush comes on, wearing light layers in great because you can peel them off and put them back on again. Here’s another joyous thing to consider though. When you have a hot flush, and for me, and I just wanted to jump in loch, your brain senses a spike in temperature and fires up your limbic system to make you sweat to cool your body down. Joy upon joy, this sweat then settles on the skin to cool your down and you feel like an eel. I think, for me, thats the most stressful feeling. Nothing can be done apart from waiting for my body temperature to come back to normal.
What about at night? A big thing for me is having a good night time routine. Switching off my laptop at 10pm at the latest, T shirts and shorts in bed for the win, and lavender spray for my pillow before I nod off. I have included a link to my favourite Neals Yard one.
Rosemary is great for first thing in the morning to help with concentration, but at night lavender is for the win. I use some essential oil in my diffuser so it wafts round the flat.
Other things to be aware of are that fidgeting in bed can increase your body temperature so if you feel a flush starting, fidgeting around is going to make it seem worse! Our abdomen is the warmest part of our body so, a cold damp cloth on your stomach may help you drift off, I got this party trick from an Aussie pal. Trying to get to sleep in hot temperatures is a thing in Australia, Scotland? Not so much.
I also keep a jade facial roller beside my bed. If I do feel hot during the night, all I do is pick this up and simply roll it all over my face! Maybe thats why my skin looks not too shabby even though I say so myself. Jade is naturally cool and antibacterial. All kinds of wonderful.
So there you have it!
Watch out for food and drink triggers that could set off your symptoms, and lavender for the win at night to promote a sense of ease and calm, as well as getting a jade roller. Giving yourself a facial massage into the bargain!
I really miss being able to do facials, and facial massage at the moment. Hopefully not too long before we can get back to some kind of normal in the next year.
Onward!
Elizabeth
PS I am a Neals Yard consultant so the links are through my own consultants website, the jade roller is off Amazon and is not an ad or affiliate link. I’m nae that popular! :)