Anxiety Hot Flashes

Anixety hot flashes are anxiety-driven waves of heat sensation and bloodflow. Anxiety hot flashes have several additional small side effects such as sweaty hands and palms. These hot flashes are very similar in nature to the hot flashes women who are in the midst of menopausal episodes experience.

Anxiety hot flashes are a common scenario for those suffering from generalized anxiety, panic attacks, panic disorder and anxiety attacks.

There is an adrenalin rush that comes with anxiety and with this increased anxiety; the brain goes into overdrive, causing heavy sweating.

Hot flashes are characterized by a feeling of heat, normally felt first in your chest and face. The heat may be felt first in your shoulders or neck first, occasionally. From there the feeling of heat may 'travel' or progress throughout the rest of your body.

The feeling of heat is not just an imaginary sensation. Often the area where you feel the anxiety hot flash also be flushed with blood. If you feel heat in your face it may appear to other people as though you are blushing furiously.

Hot flashes typically have a duration of 20 to 30 minutes. Because the hot flashes are anxiety hot flashes, they accompany moderate to high levels of anxiety. Because they are tied to your anxiety, hot flashes will often accompany other symptoms related to anxiety attacks.

Some of the symptoms of anxiety hot flashes that can occur are shortness of breath and lightheadedness. You may feel dizzy and like you are going to faint. In some cases this can lead to actual fainting, which can present a very serious danger. The body becomes warm and sweat begins to visibly form on your face, neck, chest or head; anywhere that the hot flash is occurring. Hot flashes can start and stop very quickly in a few limited individuals, but everyone is uncomfortable during the experience.

Feelings of embarrassment often accompany a hot flash, and this embarrassment can lead to feelings of anxiety about what other people think about you. This can create a Ônegative feedback loopÕ in which your anxiety hot flashes cause embarrassment, which leads to more anxiety, which intensifies the hot flash.

During the hot flash, you may hyperventilate and feel like the wind is being knocked out of your body. Being in a hot environment can exacerbate the situation.

While this will not resolve the issue, there are a few basic things that anyone can do to lessen the intensity and frequency of anxiety hot flashes:

· Avoid spicy foods

Spicy foods stimulate responses similar to hot flashes. This can actually trigger a hot flash episode. The familiar hot flash feeling can also make you anxious, which then leads to real anxiety hot flashes.

· Avoid Alcohol

This does not relate to hot flashes specifically, but rather anxiety. If you turn to alcohol to try and control your anxiety, you actually end up exacerbating the problem and causing more anxiety. More anxiety leads to more anxiety hot flashes.

· Take a cool shower

Anxiety hot flashes are accompanied by a surge of adrenaline and increased bloodflow to the skin. Taking a cool shower will both calm you down (counteracting the anxiety surge) and the cool temperature will also push the blood away from your skin.

Ultimately the key to completely getting rid of anxiety hot flashes in your life is to remove the underlying anxiety. While your hot flashes are a complex response, they are ultimately just one symptom of the underlying anxiety that is the main problem that needs to be resolved.