Menopause Hot Flushes: Natural Ways to Stop Them (without HRT)

What really causes hot flushes? How Chinese medicine shows the natural way to relieve them.

During perimenopause I managed my symptoms well, and by the time my periods stopped, I only experienced a gentle warmth now and then for a couple of months — and that was it. I truly believed I was through the worst. I’d followed the same advice I give to my clients, and just as they do, I saw the benefits. Then life shifted: my dog (technically my mum’s, but very much mine too) passed away. Within days, the hot flushes arrived — full-on, intense, and unlike anything I’d felt before. It left me questioning: why now? what triggered this? And more importantly: what could I do about it? That’s where my lifestyle protocol comes in — a structured way to calm the body, restore balance to relieve them. This month's blog is Menopause Hot Flushes: Natural Ways to Stop Them (without HRT).

Hot flushes (aka hot flashes or vasomotor symptoms) feel sudden and without warning— but they don’t come from nowhere; they’ve spent years building through your 40s. The groundworks are laid during the build-up through perimenopause with principle symptoms like sleep loss, stress, fatigue and anxiety lowers your resilience and makes hot flushes more likely. From my background in Traditional Chinese Medicine’s  (TCM) we see this from an energetic but physical pattern in the body known as Kidney-Yin deficiency; which I can map onto Western physiology. I’ll look at some natural, plus practical steps you can start using today too. If you want a personalised plan, I offer focused consultations that combine Chinese medicine thinking with evidence-based lifestyle and self-care.

Overview — what causes hot flushes (Western science)

Hot flushes are a thermoregulatory problem in the brain: when ovarian oestrogen levels fall during the menopause transition, the hypothalamus — your body's “thermostat” — becomes more sensitive to tiny changes in core temperature. This narrows the range in which your body is comfortable, so small temperature shifts trigger a sudden heat-loss response (flushing, sweating, heart racing). Neurotransmitters (especially hormones like norepinephrine and serotonin) and autonomic (sympathetic) activity are key in this process. Oestrogen plays a part in hot flushes in that they are most noticeable at the time your periods cease; this is when you enter true menopause territory. Your body doesn’t just switch overnight it transitions over a couple of years recalibrating if you like and during this time, you’ll feel this as symptoms; if you’re not prepared they can be far more volatile. I’ve spent years combatting the chronic stress build up of my former career and so though hot flushes appeared they were manageable, minimal and combatted!

Why does the quality of your perimenopause matter?

Before your periods stop completely, fluctuating oestrogen and progesterone make those thermoregulatory circuits unstable — so symptoms can build gradually over years rather than appearing suddenly.

Hot flushes are the tip of the symptom pyramid (see image below). The groundwork is laid with your lifestyle in the years (if not decades) before your final period. Some of the factors just can’t be helped as childhood nutrition is a big factor (women who grew up on a farm tend to have a great menopause!). A lot of us have lifestyle factors that need to be combatted from years long before this new awareness came about. You may be thinking about HRT or have tried it but it hasn’t done the trick. This is because HRT is just about oestrogen and from a TCM point of view menopause and hot flushes are far more complex than just this one hormone.

The early warning signs: why insomnia, stress and anxiety matter

Many women have sleep problems and insomnia in perimenopause — often well before full-blown hot flushes. Sleep fragmentation, trouble falling asleep and early morning awakenings are commonly reported during the transition. Poor sleep itself increases sympathetic nervous system activity and stress hormones (like cortisol), which can heighten hot-flush frequency and severity — a self-reinforcing loop. In short: insomnia + chronic stress = lower resilience to temperature triggers.

If you’re struggling with getting enough sleep then this is where you need to make changes first and foremost. If you’re like me and you sleep well and still have bouts of fatigue either on waking or the 3pm slump then you have more work to do as there’s a higher level of physical stress in your body than you may be aware of.

Clinical studies show links between anxiety/stress markers and hot-flush patterns (and cortisol/norepinephrine spikes are observed around hot-flush events). To put simply if you have an adrenalin spike then a hot flush will follow within around 30 seconds. For example, on waking you may then feel the build of heat or if you’ve got excited/anxious or energised about something. I noticed one day when Amazon arrived with some goodies it triggered a flush! This will be why the likes of caffeine can trigger too; where there’s adrenalin a flush will follow if you body is in a chronically stressed state. Hot flushes are like the proverbial: the straw that broke the camels back! Your body is tipping past the point of managing the stress factors and it doesn’t necessarily happen only when you hit menopause.

When I was 42, I broke my ankle. At the time, I was under huge pressure at work and constantly thinking, I just need a break. Well, my body clearly listened. During my recovery — and having never taken a supplement in my life — I started experiencing waves of uncontrollable heat whenever I exerted myself. They felt very much like hot flushes. It took a few weeks for them to subside, but with regular Shiatsu therapy my body eventually rebalanced.

The second time came during lockdown, when I suffered an even worse ankle injury. Strangely, although the injury itself was more severe, I coped far better. By then I was already taking supplements to support stress-related perimenopausal symptoms — and I know this made the difference. This time, despite being in late perimenopause, no symptoms appeared at all.

When flushes appeared this time, only a week after our dog’s death, I realised this happens to my clients too. A lot of women get in touch around 18 months after experiencing the loss of a loved one or some accident or trauma. When we trace symptoms back, we can normally pin point a majority of symptoms appearing not long after this event; a time of extreme stress.

In TCM stress takes it toll on Kidney energy – creating Kidney-Yang deficiency. With this condition you may find yourself feeling cold a lot of the time or at specific times of the day. This is again a temperature issue; the loss of your fire. Kidney energy is split into 2 parts – Yang is your fire (loss of warmth) and Kidney-Yin deficiency is the loss of your cooling mechanism. This is why with hot flushes many women feel cold between their flushes. This seems to be the more common; than women who just feel hot all of the time. This is something that I specifically assess in consultations to then decide the right course of action.

Kidney-Yin deficiency (TCM) — what is it? How it maps to Western symptoms

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kidney-Yin deficiency is a pattern associated with menopausal heat. Typical TCM signs include sensations of heat (especially at night), night sweats after 3am, dryness (mouth, eyes), insomnia, low back/knee soreness, and a red tongue with little coating. Heat is normally an excess symptom which can be more easily dealt with than a deficient (lack of symptom). Fatigue would be a lack of symptom and we have to add something in in order to resolve. However hot flushes come from a deficiency and so do take time to resolve with the right steps. Hot flushes ARE different to night sweats that tend to happen between 1 and 3am.

Night sweats (between 1 and 3am) are a true excess symptom that can be resolved with liver support and dietary changes at your evening meal.

How TCM maps to western science:

TCM “Kidney-Yin deficiency = loss of cooling, moistening, and restorative processes”

Western idea: reduced oestrogen and downstream neurotransmitter changes → thermoregulatory instability, sleep disruption, dryness, and vulnerability to stress-related sympathetic surges.

Although the language is different, both perspectives point to the same cluster: loss of a stabilising influence (in TCM, Yin; in biomedicine, ovarian hormones + neurochemistry) → increased heat events, sleep loss, and emotional fragility.

Try Qi Gong as an alternative to Yoga to reduce stress levels and hot flush intensity

Natural and TCM approaches to reduce hot flushes

I know that symptoms can be reduced effectively with the right actions so here are some of the main areas to begin with:

Lifestyle management

Sleep hygiene, cooling strategies, avoiding known triggers (alcohol, spicy food, hot rooms). A plan to reduce stress and this can contain many tools in your kit.

Relaxation & paced breathing

Simple slow-breathing exercises and paced respiration can reduce hot-flush intensity by calming sympathetic overactivation. When you feel a flush coming don’t block it or get overly worked up. You can dissipate the adrenalin by getting up and moving around. You can take a deep breath and let out a sigh. It’ll come and dissipate quickly if you accept and allow.

Yoga/ Qi Gong are both eastern energetic exercises which aim to destress the system to ultimately combat the cause of hot flushes. Unlike western style exercise. Stress ca be made worse by certain exercise types.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

There are herbal formulas and TCM combinations used for menopause that can reduce symptoms. However my experience has led me to believe that these work in conjunction wiht vitamins and minerals and not without them. The build up of physical stress requires nutrition to relieve it.

Acupuncture and my therapy Shiatsu use the acu-points to help strengthen Kidney Yin by strengthening the physical factors and reducing the cause of the trigger – your nervous system.

Supplements & phytoestrogens

There are 3 types of remedies that you can take:

Phytoestrogens (such as soy isoflavones) act like a gentler form of HRT, giving your body a mild oestrogen-like effect that may help reduce symptoms. If you can’t tolerate soy, red clover extract is a softer alternative.

Herbs have an energetic influence on the body and work to bring vital organs back into balance. For example, milk thistle supports liver detoxification (which can help reduce night sweats), while ashwagandha helps calm adrenal stress and restore resilience.

Minerals are my starting point with almost every client, because nearly all the symptoms of peri- and menopause can be traced back to deficiencies in key vitamins and minerals. They are the foundation of body chemistry — giving your body the raw materials it needs to make the hormones it already knows how to produce. In my view, you simply can’t go wrong by nourishing your body properly.

Of course, we begin with a healthy, balanced diet, but today that often isn’t enough. Our food is no longer as mineral-rich as it was 50 years ago, and modern women are living under levels of stress that previous generations didn’t face. The result? Many are running on empty without even realising it. My role is to help you “put petrol back in the tank” so your body can function as it should.

In the long term, the most robust path to a smoother menopause (and health beyond) is a combination of plant-based, food-rich supplements together with lifestyle changes that reduce stress and minimise triggers. This way, your body regains balance naturally.

 

To summarise: A healthy menopause is a hot flush-free one

It all starts with perimenopause however if you’re reading this in menopause or afterwards your body will still really benefit from making these changes. The human body is incredibly resilient and when you feed it what it needs your symptoms will reduce!

1. Sleep first. Prioritise sleep hygiene, fix an evening wind-down routine, and treat insomnia before any other symptom (unless you sleep well – then you’re treating stress). Poor sleep fuels the whole cascade.  Sleep and stress require exactly the same lifestyle dietary and supplement changes.

2. Learn paced breathing. 4–6 slow breaths/minute (inhale 4s, hold for 7s exhale 8s and pause - this switches you bacj into healing mode) when you sense a flush starting — easy to do, and lowers intensity.

3. Identify your triggers. Keep a short diary for 2 weeks (food, caffeine, alcohol, stress, temperature) — pattern spotting helps target changes and combats overwhelm. It’s also incredibly beneficial for me for a consultation or if you decide to use my self-help programmes.

4. Work on stress resilience.  This can be with meditation or the breathing practise above. It can be about doing Yoga/Qi Gong and/or receiving destressing therapies like shiatsu (see sister website her). One of the best changes you can make to reduce stress is learn to say No.

5. Supplementation protocol.  If you have symptoms your body is asking for help. These symptoms may not go away and if they do then at what expense to your future health. Yes, your body will recalibrate over time to exist on what it has but without the fuel it needs then life and health is affected. I have an extensive supplements guide to get you started plus self-help programmes for those with moderate symptoms including my book: Understanding Your Menopause which has helped hundreds of women eliminate their symptoms. If you are struggling you can contact me for a consultation.

   
   
   
   

   Menopause Hot Flushes: Natural Ways to Stop Them (without HRT)

   
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   

How a consultation with Cotswold Menopause can help

Andrea’s approach blends Chinese medicine pattern diagnosis (e.g. Kidney-Yin assessment) with personalised lifestyle, sleep, and supplement plans — focused on practical changes you can follow. In a consultation you’ll get: a detailed history, a clear explanation of why you have these symptoms (TCM + Western mapping), an easy, step-by-step plan to reduce heat and restore sleep, and follow-up support. Options include Zoom consultations, short power-chats, and local in-person support such as Shiatsu where appropriate. Women report meaningful reduction in hot flushes and symptoms within weeks when they follow a tailored plan.

How east and west work to together to reduce menopause symptoms

Chinese medicine and modern biology are not opposites here — they are two languages describing one transition. TCM’s Kidney-Yin deficiency captures the lived experience of lost cooling, dryness and poor rest; Western medicine explains the same cluster as oestrogen withdrawal, neurotransmitter shifts and autonomic reactivity. Tackling sleep, stress and resilience early in perimenopause is one of the most effective ways to prevent that slow build into disabling hot flushes — and that’s a message both systems agree on.

Book a consult with Andrea at Cotswold Menopause to get a personalised plan: she offers Zoom and in-person options.

KNOWLEDGE . PAUSE . FLOURISH