mind & body
Practice yoga. Researchers
To date, “the best treatment we have available for hot flashes is estrogen.”
at the University of California found that when postmeno- pausal women who were expe- riencing hot flashes took weekly yoga classes, the frequency and intensity of their hot flashes decreased by 31 percent. “At this stage of life, it’s important to take time for yourself to induce some relaxation on a daily basis,” Kirkpatrick adds. If yoga isn’t your cup of tea, try meditation or another activity that helps you decompress. Try acupuncture. The
results are mixed when it comes to whether acupuncture helps with hot flashes. But a multi-center study from South Korea found that when perimenopausal and postmenopausal women who were experiencing hot flashes received acupuncture treatments, their hot flashes improved significantly over a four-to-eight-week period. “While the science that supports acupuncture or yoga is not strong,” says Schiff, “it is entirely possible that both relieve stress and may have a placebo effect.”
Stronger Ways to Chill Out If lifestyle measures don’t help and hot flashes are driving you around the bend, talk to your doctor about whether you’re a candidate for hormone therapy (HT). To date, “the best treatment we have available for hot flashes is estrogen,” says Schiff. (See The Smart Woman’s Guide to Hormone Therapy, page 10.)
Use the lowest effective
dose of hormones for the shortest period of time possible. Talk to your doctor
16 pause FALL / WINTER 2011
about whether you’d benefit from this approach. In healthy, nonsmoking, perimenopausal women, oral contraceptives can be used to treat hot flashes. Keep in mind, though, that hot flashes may come back after a woman discontinues HT, in any form. They can also return while a woman is on HT, though this isn’t common. If your hot flashes persist or begin while you are on HT, let your doctor know so he or she can look for other causes and perhaps have your thyroid levels checked. (See Could It Be My Thyroid?, page 18.) For those who have severe hot flashes and can’t or don’t want to use hormone therapy, certain antidepressants— particularly the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac®, Paxil®, and Zoloft®, and Effexor® (a selective serotonin- norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, or SNRI)—may reduce the intensity of hot flashes, though they’re not approved by the FDA for this purpose. “When they’re used for hot flashes, antidepressants usually work within three to four weeks, just like hormone therapy does,” says Schiff, who cautions that these drugs do have side effects and could interfere with other drugs women may be taking, such as those for breast cancer treatment. If you go the hormone
therapy or other medication route, stay alert to side effects and unusual symptoms and stay in touch with your doctor about how and when to adjust (or stop) the treatment. That way, you can keep your cool without courting unnecessary risks.
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