What does a hot flush feel like?

[Gumbear]

I'm 45 but still have regular periods. Earlier today I was eating lunch and suddenly felt extremely hot all over and really light headed. I also felt like I couldn't breathe which I assume was anxiety. I didn't go red and wasn't sweaty. It lasted about 10 minutes and then went away completely.

Does that sound like a hot flush? I had something similar about 6 weeks ago but just the hot feeling and no light-headedness. I do have low blood pressure but was sitting down.

Yes it sounds like a hot flush. Mine descend in a big wave, I feel really uncomfortable with heat, have to just lose layers and stay still till it passes.

I've found switching to decaf tea has helped mine immensely.

Thanks. Do you feel lightheaded as well? I'm not sure if it was anxiety that caused the light-headedness. I've also had a tight chest ever since which I think is anxiety.

No I've not been light headed with mine

Mine are like I am being heated from within. I can be cold, as in my skin is cold to the touch but I still feel hot. It’s horrible.

@MagentaRocks the same for me.

But if I've had a night sweat, when I get back to bed after drying off and having a wee, I sometimes then lie there and feel waves whoosh up me to my face. It's like waves of warmth.

Mine are the same as this. I've never been light headed.

OP i don't get lightheaded but I did when my ferritin was low, I kept feeling like I might faint at work. This was at the same time as peri meno flooding and I'd lost all my iron.

You could get your iron levels checked.

What it’s like? you just feel like a massive hot wave covering you. I tend to get red cheeks, it’s noticeable but not very red. I think it depends on your skin tone. I know a few people with lighter skin and medium blonde hair, who got bright red cheeks, neck and décolletage.
I was never light hearted (and I have low blood pressure). Sometimes I feel anxious at the same time but I often feel anxious.
Being sweaty is a separate issue.

Don't just gradually feel warmer , it's like a sudden woosh start stripping clothes off . From normal to oh my god , so hot . It will then go away instantly .

Mine felt like I was getting ill, that hot and cold feeling you get when you have the flu.

I felt light headed when hot flushes first started for me, I also often felt mildly nauseous but I also suffer from Migraines and vestibular migraine.

I had a medically induced menopause. Hot flushes felt like being boiled alive - sweat would be trickling down my forehead and clothes would be soaked in sweat. When it was over, I'd then be freezing in those wet clothes which would trigger another. It was hell.

A really really uncomfortable warning, feel quite ill, I can't really describe it, fluey? Then for me my forearms start to prickle, then full on hot sweat that all you can do is sit and wait for it to pass.
In the mornings I used to get cold sweats, I'd take the dog for his morning walk and have sweat dripping down my back with cold and clammy skin even if it was -5 outside - something that only ever happened first thing.
Been on HRT for 3 years and thankfully never get them now.

Mine were like a little surge of adrenaline or anxiety with a flush of nausea and mild panic sometimes, but would pass quickly. A glug of cold water really helped.

I still get them occasionally when I've had a hot shower or dried my hair, and much fewer when I stopped drinking (sorry!) 😀

Mine were like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. I kept thinking it was the weather changing until I realised. I'm lucky they're gentle.

When I had them, I could feel the heat starting at my feet and working up my body until it reached my head, then it felt like I had a heat lamp pointing directly at my head (not just my face)

Mine too.

I also get hot flushes that just affect my feet! The rest of me is fine but the my feet just catch fire (not literally) and I have to go and stand in a puddle of water in the bath, or if it's really bad stand go and stand barefoot outside

I think I am getting them. Just my face heats up suddenly like a wave. My first few ones, I thought were fear, that’s what it felt like.

Do not automatically assume it is the menopause. In your situation I'd get it checked out by a doctor. You had shortness of breath and a tight chest as well as feeling hot. Those symptoms should always be investigated. Yes, it probably is a hot flush, but would make sure.

I feel really weird and ill and start taking off any layers I can, I feel kind of claustrophobic because I am both hot and cold at the same time. Not sweaty though (maybe because I am on drugs that inhibit sweating?).
I also want to stand in the garden, regardless of the time of night.
Glamour all the way. HRT has helped a lot, but I still get them if I drink alcohol.

I never had a hot flush during the day. What I had was one week of feeling hot in the night so I bought some Menopace and they stopped the feeling hot in the night immediately. I took them die around three months just in case and then no longer needed them.

For me it was an unpleasant heat from deep within that quickly spread up my body to my head and yes gave me red face and neck etc - often in meetings! But with this also came a sort of panic/feeling of claustrophobia. I found I couldn’t sit in the middle of a row in the theatre for instance - that would make me feel v anxious if I felt a flush starting. I always needed an escape route. Never felt like that before. HRT has helped massively.

Being boiled alive from the inside.

That’s exactly how I would describe mine.

I feel flushed all over and feel faint.
I literally have to sit down until it passes.