Hot flashes can occur outside of menopause. While they are commonly associated with perimenopause and menopause when hormone levels fluctuate, other factors can also cause hot flashes.
Some medical conditions that may cause hot flashes unrelated to menopause include:
- Hypothyroidism: An underactive thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone and can cause hot flashes along with fatigue, weight gain, and depression. Treatment involves thyroid medication.
- Hyperthyroidism: An overactive thyroid produces excess thyroid hormone, potentially leading to symptoms like hot flashes, racing heart, weight loss, and anxiety. Treatment may involve antithyroid medication, radioactive iodine, or thyroid surgery.
- Carcinoid tumors: These rare tumors release hormones like serotonin that cause hot flashes, diarrhea, wheezing, and heart valve damage. Treatment involves surgery to remove tumors.
- Chronic infections: Infections like HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis can prompt fever and hot flashes. Treating the underlying infection alleviates symptoms.
- Medications and chemotherapy: Blood pressure medications like nifedipine, chemotherapies, tamoxifen for breast cancer treatment, opioid withdrawal, and certain antidepressants can cause hot flashes as a side effect. Changing medications may help resolve hot flashes.
Some medical treatments and conditions relating to reproductive health that can prompt hot flashes include:
- Menopause transition: As women approach menopause, hormone shifts during perimenopause trigger symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats in 80% women. They last for about 4 years on average. Hormone therapy helps alleviate symptoms.
- Surgical menopause: Removal of ovaries causes immediate menopause and intense hot flashes. Short-term hormone therapy can provide relief.
- Medications to suppress estrogen: Medical treatments for endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or cancers of reproductive organs suppress estrogen, leading to menopausal side effects.
- Chemotherapy, pelvic radiation, and bone marrow transplantation: These cancer treatments can damage ovaries, resulting in hot flashes.
The bottom line is that many conditions affecting hormone levels or disrupting body thermoregulation can cause hot flashes unrelated to reproductive aging. So hot flashes do not automatically equal a menopause diagnosis.
Speak with your doctor to pinpoint the underlying cause of sudden or prolonged hot flashes interfering with quality of life. Blood tests measuring thyroid, gonadal, and pituitary hormones provide vital cues.
Managing hot flashes involves identifying and addressing the trigger, lifestyle changes, alternative remedies, and possibly prescription estrogen therapy if they occur due to menopause transition or medical/surgical menopause.
The caring staff at Revive Hormone Institute specializes in getting to the root of hormone issues behind symptoms like hot flashes. With customized natural bioidentical hormone therapy plans tailored to your needs, we can help you feel balanced and comfortable again.