Another thread on hot flashes: triggers

[Thorn]

I used to play the "gee, what set them off this time" game, but then realized that, for me, that's just bad science....sure, I'd just eaten chocolate or had a glass of wine, but how many times had I had chocolate or a glass of wine that didn't trigger a hot flash?

That said, I read that one theory for the hot flashes is that it is a failure of the body to thermoregulate. Our temperature fluctuates within the day normally and is affected by the ambient temperature. When our temperature rises (oh, like at bedtime or upon waking or hot rooms/summer days), it should just creep slowly. However, something is missing in the menopausal body to handle that regulation and thus, instead of slow change, we perceive a spike. We over/undercompensate for those temperature changes.

For me, that seemed to make sense and correlate better than any food-based logic. Like Crankin, I find that keeping cold water near by and sipping at the onset works well.

Now, the question I have for y'all...do any of you find that when you're in a period of hot flashes that you have problems on the bike? I've had 2 episodes of really bad cramping (quads + hamstrings + calves, both legs) and both times were when I was going through a longer period of hot flashes. I have read that estrogen is related to muscle cramps, but then, the muscle cramp research is as "maybe it is this; maybe it that" as the hot flash research.