What do hot flushes feel like?

[Feelinghothothot1]

I’ll be 45 next month and in the past week I’ve started having a feeling of warmth around my neck, and I’m almost a bit sweaty. Or it feels like I get sweaty more easily but I don’t actually perspire. I’m otherwise healthy so don’t reckon it’s anything sinister. Could this be the beginning of hot flushes?

A colleague had a preventative removal of her ovaries in her 30s and I remember her turning bright red and sweating bullets, but I’m not sure whether that’s an extreme case?

It is hard to describe but a bit like the overheated and slightly unwell feeling I get from a bath that is uncomfortably hot. I can’t think and want to rip off layers.

I had one while I was on a technical work panel in front of a large audience of impressive people. I was sitting there trying not to show how uncomfortable I was whilst praying I wouldn’t be called upon to contribute anything while my body felt hotter than Hades and my brain wouldn’t function. Luckily I got away with it.

The only good thing about them is that they seem to come when my periods stop for a bit. So they signal a chance for my ferritin levels to recover between heavy bleeds. The joys of peri…

I used to get a hot body but it was over in 2 minutes. It wasn’t a big deal for me, other than removing a jumper.

Yes exactly this. The feeling of anxiety and just not feeling right before the flush.

Does anyone get hot and have really itchy skin?

Earlier today I suddenly felt roasting, face on fire and like my clothes were sticking to my skin. I pulled my top off and sat in my vest top while it was happening but ended up feeling itchy all over my arms and shoulders and scratched myself like a dog with fleas 😳

DH then made a big 'modern man' announcement fair pleased with himself that I was obviously having a hot flush 🙄!

I am 46. My hot flushes start suddenly. My head and chest feel hot and sweaty. Starts at the chest and rises. Over in minutes. Need to shed layers of clothes and I use a hand held fan.

night is worse. DP says I am like a radiator and sweaty. It’s duvet on and off. I am usually cold and this is the first year I am getting them many times a day. I am praying for winter

I’ve been going through surgical menopause so for me it’s been really intense as a result.

Until I was okayed to start HRT the hot flushes felt like I was being microwaved. It was just a massive heat that felt it came out of my bones and I would sweat from absolutely everywhere (it honestly felt like it was coming out of my eyelids the worst).

DH struggled to lie in bed beside me because he said he could feel the heat radiating out of me.

I’m still sweating a lot with them and need to take a fan everywhere I go but now the HRT is working it’s nowhere near as bad as at first at least.

I didn't have many thank goodness, but the ones I did felt like I was heating up from the inside out, and a big flush spreading up from my chest to my face, which went bright red. Then a feeling of being boiling hot and furious about it (think wearing a big Christmas jumper with the heating on full blast and 20 relatives packed into a small room hot and furious) and if I didn't cool down I'd not be responsible for my actions.
This would be followed by going cold and shivery and feeling a bit wobbly.
They started ten years before my last period and I didn't realise what is was at first. I had maybe a dozen or so, tailing off as my periods did.

I feel much the same as others have described here. I’d also add that when a hot flush comes on suddenly, people say I’m like a human radiator and want to hug me because they’re feeling cold.
Mine only happen during the day, not at night.

@PuppyMonkey Has your GP prescribed anything for them? That is quite a long time.

I’m in an art, knit and natter group. The ladies there say that the hot flushes do go away after menopause, although some still occasionally get the odd flush.
A few friends had night sweats, which went away after menopause.

@CherryKerry Itchiness can sometimes be a symptom of perimenopause. I had it a few years ago and later experienced it on my legs and feet too.