What is a hot flash?

People describe the sensation as a wave of heat starting in the middle of the body or neck, which then quickly moves up to the face. The worst of it only lasts for about 20 seconds, Dr. Shirazian says, but it may take a few minutes to feel normal again. And even if your hot flashes are brief, they can come increasingly frequently as you age. Oh and — fun bonus — people are more likely to report having them at night.

"For women who are peri- or postmenopausal, hot flashes can be debilitating," Dr. Shirazian says. They may have trouble getting good sleep and can even develop anxiety around hot flashes.

But again, it's not unusual for younger women to get hot flashes, too. However, the ones you'll experience in your 20s tend to be milder than those you'll have later on. That's all thanks, as usual, to your hormones.

Although we don't fully understand why hot flashes happen, Dr. Shirazian explains that they do seem to be related to the hormone shifts that happen during menopause. It's at this point and in the years leading up to it that you'll experience a drop in estrogen, which may mess with your body's normal methods of regulating your temperature.

The other major time you'll have significantly less estrogen flowing is — you guessed it — right before your period. So it's (unfortunately) totally normal to experience a mild hot flash or two before and during the first day or so of your period.

Read the full article here: http://www.refinery29.com/hot-flashes-during-period-causes.