You glance over to the clock, and it’s 3 a.m. You don’t usually wake up in the middle of the night, but your upper body feels like it’s on fire from the inside out.
You can feel yourself sweating profusely, your skin flushing, and your heart rate is through the roof.
Or maybe you’re in the middle of a weekly meeting. It’s almost your turn to present, and you can feel the heat building and building, with nothing to do but wait until it becomes full-fledged warfare.
Many women going through perimenopause experience these detrimental hot flashes, and when it feels like there’s nothing you can do, you just suffer until it stops. But what if you had a kit that could make the experience a little less insufferable?
We’ve found products for your bed, your body, and your bag so that whenever a hot flash hits, you’ll be ready.
What a kit can do (and what it can’t)
A hot flash survival kit is just that: a kit filled with tools that help you get through the inevitable. While they don’t treat hot flashes, they can provide relief and comfort so the torture feels a little (or a lot) more bearable.
Up to 80% of menopausal women experience hot flashes and night sweats which on average last 7 to 9 years and persist for more than 10 years for a third of women.
According to the position statement on nonhormone therapy for vasomotor symptoms published by The Menopause Society in 2023, cooling techniques were graded Level II, meaning limited or inconsistent scientific evidence, and were not recommended as a treatment for hot flashes.
One study that was a 4-week randomized crossover study of a device designed to maintain thermal comfort for women during sleep in which 39 women with hot flashes used the device found improvements in sleep but there was no reduction in objectively monitored number or duration of hot flashes during the night.
While it’s reasonable to use anything that makes you more comfortable during a hot flash, The Menopause Society found there is not strong evidence that lifestyle modifications (e.g., cooling techniques and avoidance of triggers) relieve hot flashes.
Placebo improvement ranges from 20% to 66% in studies of nonhormone treatment of hot flashes and women who are more anxious are more likely to improve from a placebo treatment.
The bed
With any good hot flash kit, start with the bed. Get temperature-regulating, moisture-wicking sheets to keep you as cool as possible, even when your body is burning up like a firework.
Our first pick is the Cozey Sheets Set, which comes with a fitted sheet, top sheet, and two pillowcases. They’re made with 100% breathable cotton designed to allow airflow to move freely.
The light, soft sateen feel of the sheets will absorb sweat well, whisking it away from your body. Unlike heavier cottons, it doesn’t hold as much moisture.
They’re available in sizes from Full to King and start at $170.
The Cool+ Sheet Set from COOP is another great option, engineered using a nylon-spandex blend that pulls excess heat from your body while remaining soft to the touch.
It has a 0.45 Qmax score, which is how sheet companies measure the level of cooling sensation.
They’re available in sizes from Twin to California King, and prices start at $129.00, making them both affordable and effective.
You can also find other bedding, such as a cooling pillow or pillow topper that pulls heat away from your face and neck during a hot flash. No matter which bedding brand you choose, you’ll want to layer covers and stash the duvet.
You can get the same effect from three or four smaller blankets, but when that hot flash hits, you can remove layers as needed.
A bedside fan with an easily reachable remote and a water bottle that keeps water cold are also must-haves for your kit.
Last but not least, turn the bedroom temperature down. One sleep-lab study ran the same women through nights at 86, 73 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit and found the coldest night cut the number of hot flashes in the first half of the night, from an average of 2.2 to 1.5.
The effect didn’t carry into the second half, when REM sleep appears to suppress hot flashes on its own. A cold room is worth setting up, but expect it to help you fall asleep more than it helps you stay asleep.
The Greenest Recommends
- Cooling sateen sheet set — breathable cotton sateen, the fabric this section calls for
- Moisture-wicking mattress protector — keeps night sweat off the mattress itself
- Cooling pillowcase set — the surface your face is against all night
What to wear
Layers are your best friend when fighting hot flashes, both at night and while you’re out living your life. In bed, your pajamas should be made from sweat-wicking materials like Tencel modal, bamboo viscose, and synthetic fibers like high-tech polyester blends.
Brands like Yala offer pajamas and sets made of bamboo, while Cool-jams uses polyester microfiber that feels like cotton but doesn’t hold moisture the same way.
Other brands that make pajamas specifically for cooling include Cozy Earth, Hush, and Lusome’s menopause-specific options.
You may also want to review your wardrobe and make a few tweaks. Layering during the day will be especially helpful, letting you take a sweater and long sleeve off as you warm up.
But the fabrics of those layers can take the relief a little bit farther. The lightest, most breathable, moisture-wicking materials give you options, too.
For example, linen has an open weave that allows heat to escape. It also dries quickly so you won’t be stuck in sweaty clothes all day at the office.
Tencel, or lyocell, absorbs and releases body heat. Open-weave cottons are also great because they’re notoriously airy and give your skin room to breathe.
Whatever you add to your wardrobe, avoid heavy synthetics, fleece, satin, or other tightly woven materials that will do nothing but trap heat and keep you clammy after the sweating has subsided.
You can find plenty of great basics, layers, and office options that use these fabrics from Kotn, Blue Sky Clothing Company, and Encircled.
The Greenest Recommends
- Bamboo viscose pajamas — bamboo is one of the sweat-wicking fibers named above
- Moisture-wicking sleep set — polyester microfiber that feels like cotton without holding moisture
- Lightweight open cardigan — the layer you can take off in one motion
The bag and the desk
On-the-go essentials are just as important as what you sleep in or wear while out and about. A bag of goodies that’s always within reach when a hot flash hits can be especially helpful when stepping away isn’t possible.
Things you want to include are:
Some people suggest other products, but you should avoid them because the payoff isn’t worth the potentially negative side effects. For example, menthol products may feel cooling for a minute or so, but they can sting the skin and cooling sprays are typically made using alcohol that causes dry skin.
The Greenest Recommends
- Handheld rechargeable fan — fits a handbag and recharges by USB
- Insulated water bottle — keeps water cold through the afternoon
- Small desk fan — for the spot you sit in all day
The drugstore aisle
You can stock up on plenty of supplements and over-the-counter options, but the evidence behind them is thinner than the packaging suggests. Purified pollen extract, sold as Relizen and Serelys, has the most encouraging numbers of the bunch.
In a randomized trial of 53 women, those taking the extract recorded a 65% reduction in symptoms against 38% on placebo after three months.
Researchers have suggested it may act on serotonin in a way loosely similar to an SSRI, though that mechanism hasn’t been established.
Even so, The Menopause Society doesn’t recommend it, citing limited research, and it places supplements and herbal remedies as a class among the things it advises against.
The other supplements come recommended by a friend of a friend, and the science behind them is weaker still.
A Cochrane review of 16 trials covering 2,027 women found no difference between black cohosh and placebo in how often hot flashes came, and Health Canada requires black cohosh products to carry a liver warning telling you to stop taking it and call a clinician if you develop abdominal pain, dark urine or jaundice.
Ginseng has been tested more than most, including a trial of 384 postmenopausal women that found no greater reduction than placebo after 16 weeks.
Soy foods, soy extracts and the soy metabolite equol come out mixed. The Menopause Society recommends none of them.
The triggers you keep hearing about
A large cross-sectional study of 4,595 Chinese women found an association between alcohol use and hot flashes, but this finding has not been duplicated in other studies (for example, the Melbourne Women’s Midlife Health Project). Besides, in a cross-sectional study alcohol use and hot flashes are measured at the same time so a cause and effect relationship cannot be determined.
There are no clinical trials of avoiding triggers, so the expert panel of The Menopause Society gave trigger avoidance a Level II in their position statement published in 2023 and they do not recommend trigger avoidance for treatment of hot flashes.
It doesn’t cost anything to pay attention to any personal patterns that you may notice, but giving up coffee or wine without scientific evidence to support its effectiveness does have a cost.
What the evidence actually supports
In its 2023 position statement on nonhormone therapy for vasomotor symptoms, The Menopause Society graded two nondrug therapies Level I, meaning good and consistent scientific evidence, and recommended both. They are cognitive behavioral therapy and clinical hypnosis.
Women experience reductions in hot flash interference and bother from cognitive behavioral therapy. However, most of these studies compared CBT with waiting list controls or standard of care instead of an attention/time matched control.
In a 12-week single-blind randomized trial of 187 postmenopausal women with at least 50 hot flashes per week, those randomly assigned to five weekly sessions of clinical hypnosis had physiologically monitored hot flashes reduced by 57%, compared to a 10% reduction in women randomly assigned to an active control intervention designed to give comparable but structured attention, and self-reported hot flashes were reduced by 74% for the clinical hypnosis group against a 17% reduction for controls.
In a further analysis of this study, the benefit of clinical hypnosis wasn’t influenced by a woman’s expectation about treatment, and clinical hypnosis can be provided by a clinician or using a smartphone app.
Paced respiration consists of breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth at a rate of 6 to 8 slow, deep breaths per minute.
Paced respiration initially showed promise in small studies conducted in a behavioral laboratory setting, but the expert panel in The Menopause Society’s 2023 position statement graded it Level I and listed it as not recommended, concluding there is good quality evidence to suggest that breathing and relaxation do not relieve hot flashes.
In a randomized study of 208 women paced respiration wasn’t any better than shallow breathing or usual care for number or severity of hot flashes or for how bothersome or interfering hot flashes are.
Paced respiration practiced once or twice daily wasn’t any better than usual breathing in a randomized study of 92 women.
When the kit isn’t enough
A hot flash kit will give you the right tools to get through hot flashes, not avoid them altogether. And while it can make the experience a little less severe, there are some signs that you should pay attention to that will let you know it’s time to see your doctor.
If the frequency and severity of your hot flashes are keeping you awake every single night, for example, or are making it impossible to get through your daily activities, whether work or social, seeing a clinician is the best way to address those issues.
They can provide a well-rounded treatment plan that addresses the root cause of the hot flash.
The survival kit, alongside a comprehensive medical approach, can make it that much easier to deal with unavoidable hot flashes and preserve your comfort and quality of life.
Angelica Bottaro is a medical writer and researcher with a background in psychology and journalism. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Trent University and an Advanced Diploma in Journalism from Centennial College. Angelica has been a freelance writer since 2014, with bylines in Healthing.ca, CTV Shopping Trends, and Verywell Health, among others.
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