Why am I having hot flashes and night sweats?
Sudden heat, flushing, or sweating that disrupts your day or night.
What you may want to know
Hot flashes and night sweats are among the most frequently reported symptoms in perimenopause and menopause, and they vary widely in how long they last and how much they interfere.
Other things can produce similar sensations, including thyroid conditions, certain medications, infection, anxiety, and alcohol. Having them does not by itself establish the cause.
Both hormonal and non-hormonal approaches exist and are discussed in clinical practice. What is appropriate for any individual depends on her full history, which only her clinician can review.
If you build your Hormone Map, this page can also show what you've already reported in this area.
Build My Hormone MapWhat may be useful to track
- How often they happen and roughly how long they last.
- Whether they wake you at night, and how many nights per week.
- Anything you notice around them, such as heat, alcohol, caffeine, or stress.
Questions you could bring to your clinician
Once you've completed the assessment and reported symptoms in this area, question prompts based on what you reported will appear here.
When to seek care
- If you have chest pain, pressure, shortness of breath, fainting, or a racing heartbeat with these episodes, seek urgent medical care — those symptoms need to be evaluated rather than assumed to be hot flashes.
- If you also have fever, unexplained weight loss, or drenching night sweats that are new and persistent, contact a clinician promptly.
This is a patient-reported, educational summary. It is not a diagnosis, a medical record, or a treatment recommendation. Only your clinician can advise on what is appropriate for you.
Something else on your mind?