Help! I Can’t Stand These Hot Flashes!

Dr. Mallory Ranem

 What Causes Your Hot Flashes?

 You may have been told that too little estrogen is causing your hot flashes, but in reality there are multiple factors that lead to these undesirable heat waves. Estrogen doesn’t actually begin to fall until late in the transition of menopause, so hot flashes are most likely the result of a shift in the balance between estrogen and progesterone. It is progesterone that is usually too low, not estrogen. Also, because your main source of progesterone comes from your ovaries and adrenal glands, when you are in a state of stress your body will respond with more hot flashes.

What Is It? A menopausal hot flash will take place due to a mix-up of signals between your brain and body. Your brain can receive confused messages from your body due to hormone fluctuations. The temperature-regulatory part of the hypothalamus misinterprets the messages as signals for elevated core body heat and then responds by sending a “release heat” message to the peripheral body. Your body is actually trying to dispel itself of heat by increasing your heart rate, dilating vessels, and opening sweat glands. When it’s all over, you are left in an uncomfortable puddle of sweat.

Your Nervous System’s Role The adrenal glands and ovaries supply the majority of hormones (progesterone and estrogen) for your body, and the nerves from the lumbar spine supply your adrenal glands and ovaries. You can see why it is vital to maintain spinal correction and preserve this communication from the brain to these areas. When the communication is restored in your nervous system, then your body is able to create the correct balance of estrogen and progesterone, waking up the pharmacy inside of you!

What Are The Triggers? Tracking your hot flashes in a journal will help identify some of your specific underlying triggers. Here are some of the most common things found to set off hot flashes:

• Sugary foods, sweet fruits that act like sugar in the body (bananas, grapes, dried fruit, pineapple), and simple carbohydrates

   

• Caffeine, nicotine, and other stimulants

   

• Alcohol

   

• Spicy foods and hot (temperature) drinks or foods

   

• Hot places, such as saunas, hot tubs, showers, etc.

   

• Anxiety or stressful situations or people

   

• Activities that heat up the body without allowing enough time for adequate cool-down 

What Can I Do? Begin by making a daily record of your hot flash activity. Be sure to include time of day, food and/or beverage intake during that time period, activity, and any other detail surrounding the episode. You may start to notice a trend in how, when, where, why you get hot flashes the most.

Your body needs the right fuel to run properly, but especially when you are stressed out, fatigued and your hormones are running wild. Eating a balanced diet of protein, healthy organic fats, complex carbohydrates (especially vegetable sources), and select fruits and vegetables will fuel your body and brain with the materials needed to function and keep signals from getting mixed up.

• Eat these proteins: almond butter, organic deli meats (avoid others as they are full of chemicals, nitrates, and other harmful substances), organic meat, eggs, rice or almond milk.

   

• Stay clear of any soy proteins

   

• Avoid processed foods that contain chemicals that throw off your body chemistry

   

• Cut out or cut down on sugar intake (remove all artificial sweeteners)

   

• Introduce stevia as a sugar substitute

   

• Eat organic fruits and vegetables

   

• Consume raw seeds and nuts, especially almonds and other harder nuts  

Quit Stress! Begin with a simple word, “No.” The days are filled with endless errands, caring for older and younger generations, house-hold demands, marital challenges, full-time jobs, and financial stresses. Your world is pulling you in so many directions and the body can only take so much before it yells for help. Could that be the time your hot flashes start? Take the time to relax, exercise everyday even if it’s a simple 10 minute walk, learn to navigate negative emotions and give yourself time for re-energizing. 

Is There Something I Can Take?

Organic flax oil (Omega Nutrition) – 1 tablespoon per 100 pounds of body weight

Black currant seed oil

Catalyn (whole food multivitamin)

Symplex F to balance your glands

A multitude of herbs may be very beneficial but we like to check out specifics that would work best for you with Applied Kinesiology.  

Your body needs time to heal from the inside out. By looking at overall whole body function you can create your own natural body chemistry restoration without a pill, a cream, or a patch. It’s time to take charge of your health today!

Just a Few Testimonials… “I have been very skeptical of chiropractors…I have been ‘converted’.  Through my military career until today, I have endured ever increasing lower back pain and sciatica.  There was even a time when my back seized up so intensely that I was unable to do a thing.  Since regular adjustments…I can truthfully say I have not felt so healthy and pain-free as I do now…1000% improvement.”                                                                                       -Scott Danielson, Hudson, WI “I was living on Ibuprofen and prescription meds, daily, and sometimes more for my headaches.  After being treated for four weeks I have reduced the amount of my meds and …I was sleeping only 3-4 hours per night, now I sleep 6- hours STRAIGHT!”                                                                -Colleen Christenson [I had a] “Staph infection in my eye! The eye watered, itched and was swollen half shut and looked terrible. Dr. Conners suggested the Light Beam Generator treatment for 15 minutes. Within two hours the itching was gone. Two days later I returned for a second session and now, one week later, the eye is back to normal. (No pills or needles either.) This was better and faster results than I could have imagined from the LBG machine.”                                                             -Lew Scharr “Since I started having adjustments I have noticed that I can exercise more easily. I used to get sick when I exercised because I would get so hot and not sweat. Now I feel great when I exercise.  My heart rate doesn’t go up as high as it used to also.                                                              -Susan Green

“I think chiropractic care is essential to everyone’s health. Three years ago I started care with Dr. Conners and have slowly but surely improved in health. I have not had the stomach flu or colds in all this time. A few times I thought I was getting a cold, but once I was adjusted the symptoms went away… I credit chiropractic care to my increased energy, positive attitude, and pain free back. Chiropractic care is a way of life- that brings life.”                                                             -Eileen O’Keefe “…I started experiencing pain behind my ear… By Thursday of that week the left side of my face was numb. I went to the doctor, she diagnosed my condition as Bells’s Palsy and prescribed…medication and stressed the importance of early treatment. I had a chiropractic appointment that same afternoon and called to cancel, the staff told me how they thought the best thing I could do fro myself was to treat this with chiropractic adjustments. …Within two weeks the Bell’s Palsy was gone WITH NO DRUGS.”                                                             -Linda Winn “Having had pain in my shoulder and middle back for years, it has been great to receive relief…It was very hard to even take deep breaths…it is a far better quality of life now…”                                                             -Elaine Hogberg “I have had allergy symptoms for many years. For the past two months I was miserable with daily headaches that never really let up. I was treated for a sinus infection…still no relief. I have only had six sessions… and have been headache free for five days now!! I can feel something different (better) in my neck- it’s loser and more ‘relaxed’. I can’t wait to continue with more sessions!” -Lynn Dion