During perimenopause and menopause, most are led to believe that hot flashes and night sweats are the culprit of the ovaries and their declining estrogen production.  Thankfully, that is wholly untrue.  When estrogen production begins to decrease, it never recovers, so if that were the case, one would have hot flashes and night sweats for the rest of her lives.  As any woman who has gone through menopause will tell you, hot flashes and night sweats usually stop not long after menopause takes effect. So, here is a look at what the real cause of these unwelcome symptoms and, more importantly, see if you can figure out how to find relief.

Perimenopause is the transitional time that occurs before woman stop having their period and enter menopause.  Much like puberty in reverse, during this time a woman’s hormones begin to slow down, gradually descending from the high levels needed to for reproduction. This transitional period, depending on the individual, can take anywhere from one to ten years, but the average stretch is around three years.  Perimenopause ends when a when a woman does not get her period for no less than one year.  After this, she enters menopause.