Hot flashes are the most common symptom of menopause. Much of the time, they are relatively minor and don't really interfere with your daily activities. However, a few women feel really incapacitated by hot flashes.
If that's your situation, consider keeping a hot flash diary to see if you can track specific triggers that might set off a hot flash. There could be a pattern that you're missing. For example, some women say they get more hot flashes after drinking too much coffee or eating spicy food or drinking red wine. For other women, it's an emotional situation: a hot flash that comes on in a stressful meeting, for example.
A hot flash diary can help you figure out if any specific food, drink or emotional response is behind your hot flashes.
You probably only need to do this for a few days to spot a pattern. Every time you get a hot flash, write down the time of day and what you were doing just before the hot flash.
I did this myself while I was writing The Menopause Book and realized that I was much more likely to get a hot flash when I had had three or more cups of coffee. Cutting down made a huge difference.
