Can Hot Flushes Cause Heart Palpitations ?
May 20, 2024
Are You Dismissing Regular Hot Flushes?
If yes, this is what you need to hear about them: those annoying hot flushes may be a warning sign indicating an elevated likelihood of serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or even strokes.
How Are Hot Flushes and Heart Palpitations Correlated?
The fluctuations in estrogen levels can lead to heart palpitations, which may feel as if your heart is on a chase, racing as if you’ve been in a marathon. Your heart may begin to race, sometimes even skipping a beat. These feelings can start in your chest and travel up to your neck and throat. Have you ever felt these sensations? If yes, you don’t have to worry.
Menopause ushers in a multitude of transformations, encompassing both physical and emotional shifts. Physically, you may contend with hot flushes, sweating, and night sweats, alongside discomfort from vaginal dryness and irregular periods. Apart from these, mood swings, sleep disturbances, dry skin, and hair loss may also feature prominently, accompanied by memory challenges. On an emotional level, diminished sexual desire might become a notable aspect of this transitional phase.
What Are the Causes of Heart Palpitations?
During menopause, estrogen levels change, eventually stopping production, which can cause a feeling of a racing heart commonly known as palpitations. These palpitations can also happen during hormonal changes like periods or pregnancy. In menopause, palpitations often occur alongside hot flushes, making the heart beat 8-16 times per minute faster. Other factors that can cause palpitations include:
- Being overly stressed
- Doing intense exercise
- Drinking excessive caffeine, alcohol, or smoking
- Taking certain medicines, like cough and cold remedies or inhalers for asthma
- Having a fever
- Having an irregular heartbeat
- Having a thyroid problem
- Being dehydrated
- Having changes in blood sugar or blood pressure
If you’re occasionally experiencing heart palpitations lasting just a few seconds, there’s likely no need for immediate action. However, it’s essential to monitor any changes in frequency or duration, as well as any worsening symptoms over time, which could indicate a more serious heart condition requiring medical attention. Seek emergency help if palpitations are accompanied by symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, or fainting. Taking heed of these signs ensures proactive management of your heart health and overall well-being.
Are There Any Tips I Can Follow to Prevent These Palpitations?
To avoid palpitations, the immediate and most basic tip you can follow is to calm yourself down, allowing the racing of the heart to subside and steering clear of triggers like caffeine found in coffee, chocolate, and energy drinks, spicy foods, alcohol, nicotine, and recreational drugs.
Be extra cautious with cold medications that contain pseudoephedrine. Avoid stress-induced palpitations by using relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, meditation, or massage. If palpitations persist, signaling a potential heart problem, some women find relief through hormone replacement therapy, although it carries risks of heart disease, stroke, blood clots, and breast cancer.
Prioritize heart health during and after menopause by actively engaging in aerobic exercises, maintaining a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and low-fat dairy, managing blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, maintaining a healthy weight, and seeking guidance to quit smoking.
If you are experiencing hot flushes or heart palpitations during menopause, how are you currently addressing these symptoms? Take a moment to consider the impact of these symptoms on your overall well-being and explore proactive steps you can take to prioritize your heart health, for you deserve a healthy heart.