I’m in my early-forties and think I may have recently had my first hot flash… but I’m not sure. I’ve always dealt with bad anxiety, and recent events have made this worse, so I suppose it could have been a panic attack? My heart began to race, I became very sweaty and hot, and I did feel panicky. So how exactly can you distinguish between a hot flash and a panic attack? Anyone here dealt with both?
– Marisol, Dallas
Hey Marisol
I suspect you may be starting to suffer both. I suffer with both hot flushes and feel panicky at the same time. I have had these symptoms for 10 years (!) so I can offer some advice – as soon as you feel panicky or feel a hot flush coming in it’s good to start breathing in and out slowly- and I always try to dash somewhere cool such as go into the garden or direct a fan onto you if you are working! Or splash your face (and wrists) with cold water! The calmer I try and stay the easier it is to deal with.
I hope this helps a little for you
X x x
Marisol if you felt hot all over and it arrived like a wave moving up your body was probably a hot flash.
If it also went away quite quickly.
Them rotten things can come hand in hand unfortunately … I personally suffer from health anxiety…. so if a hot flash/flush hits I can panic not knowing why and boom 2 for 1 lol I’m really trying to make light of it all …
Do you have other symptoms to align with perimenopause? I have several other symptoms, but had not recognized hot flashes. Then about a week ago, I think I had my first. (I’m 49.) I was talking to my hairstylist, who has been a friend for 10 years, after I had not seen her for a long time because of COVID. She told me that her mother passed away a couple of months ago, and she began to tell me the story of how it happened and how it affected her. Having also lost my mother, I instantly felt empathy, but it was a very Dee empathy. (Sometimes I think I’m too much of an empath.) Suddenly I felt warm, especially in my face. As she was doing my hair, I was sitting in front of the mirror. My face got really red. My first thought was, oh my God, coronavirus. But it went away, and when I went home I took my temperature -normal. I then thought about it and decided it had to be a hot flash, triggered by the emotions I was feeling after hearing her story. Just keep logging, keep observing. Absolutely I think moments of mental stress trigger them. It helps to be able to understand them better.
Yeah I am having the same symptoms and it can be very frightening and most times I have a worried feelings, does anyone believe it’s anxiety
Hi Marcia,
I agree with you.
I believe it is anxiety. I’m a worrier and since I’ve been in peri, my anxiety is through the roof. Every pain I have, I’m thinking something is seriously wrong with me, which makes my anxiety worse.
Hello all I’m now 48, not sure what form of menopause I’m in but I was so suffering from hot flashes because I’m advid Mountain Dew drinker have been since having a high stress, high pase job and have been switching to water to take better care of myself. However, I did find that if you take Amberen found at any RX it helps with the Hot Flashes as well as Night Sweats, Mood Swings, Low Energy and some Weight Gain. I’m not a sponsor for this company I simply saw an advertisement on FB and tried it because I was suffering so much and literally sweating of my makeup as I was putting it on lol. Stay cool ladies and good luck! ?
I have a lot of heart racing especially when I’m in bed. Sometimes it takes my breath away.
Same.
And me. I find Kalms can help ease the hot flushes and helps with anxiety
Same.
Marisal , menopause is an interesting phase for us women. From my experience those symptoms goes together. It does makes you anxious and panicky dealing with that adrenaline rush. I bought one of those cloth fan in the dollar store and I always keep water on me. I drink the water to cool down as well as pull my fan out to cool me down further. Wish they had a quick fix pill but they do not. You just got to read a lot about what relief is out there to find what works for you. Relief is different for everyone. After getting a few hot flashes they become less scary and you will under react to it.
The less you over react to the symptoms the less intense it becomes.
A combination of eating the right foods, vitamins, some form of activity, allowing yourself to relax and breathing exercise this brings about some balance again. I also find my Faith in God helps..
I think the same happened to me recently. That hot skin and body flush that I always felt right before panic or that feeling I was going to faint happened. But without the panic. Does that make sense? I think that must be a hot flash. Got to say it wasn’t so bad – especially since the awful panic didn’t follow.
But I’ve also noticed more panic tied to hormones since I started peri menopause, so if you had the panic afterwards it could have been a panic attack too.
Same. I’ve had both but the hot flash is just body heat rising up my neck, heart rate might increase but definitely not a panic feeling.
Maybe a bit of both? My hot flashes are worse when I have anxiety. Yoga has helped me a lot. I also take progesterone which helps. I would definitely try to see a doctor and have your hormone levels checked. Maybe they can suggest some kind of treatment. I was shocked how low my levels were when I got mine checked.
When I have a hot flash it is like someone turning on a tap to a radiator. It’s a sudden buildup of heat up to your head. The sweat just pours from my face. I grab my Menopace and hope it calms down. But it happens frequently through the day sometimes, so always carry tissues or face wipes. Makeup is history to me now.
Before taking hrt I was having a kind of rush feeling through my body, heart palpitations panic would set in then light headedness then the hot flashes. It was very scary I didn’t know what was going on. But since hrt I don’t get it no way as bad. I still get the off days (like the last 4 days) tearful too. Not nice at all
I Definitely am suffering from Both. Growing up all I Ever Knew was Hot Flashes and Mood Swings involved in “ The Change”. I Know Now There is So Much More to Struggle through.?
Very common for hotflashes, panic and anxiety starts getting worse right before comes on and during, then it calms down average for me is about 3-5 minutes. Also, if you are experiencing any type of pain such as muscular, headache or stomach pain, during the hot flash, the pain increases during those minutes.
So glad to see this post because heat & anxiety go hand in hand in my body so when I get anxious I will feel heat. It’s definite gotten worse in the past few years & I never even thought it could be hot flashes actually causing the anxiety versus the other way around. Also, not sure if it’s ok to mention this but I started taking a product I found on Amazon called Redicalm about a year ago that really helped with my anxiety. It didn’t take it away completely but keeps my anxiety from going into full blown panic attack mode. FYI I’ve had anxiety for about 25 years now.