5 answers about vasomotor symptoms (VMS)

Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) are a group of symptoms related to menopause. Menopause begins exactly 12 months after a person’s final menstrual period. The term is often used to refer to the time in a person’s life leading up to menopause, which is known as perimenopause.

VMS are commonly known as hot flashes and night sweats. These are sudden episodes of feeling overly warm or overly hot, which can be accompanied by flushed skin, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and anxiety. These symptoms are often followed by chills as the episode subsides. Hot flashes occur during waking hours and night sweats occur during nighttime.

Why are VMS called vasomotor symptoms?

The term “vasomotor” refers to the narrowing and widening of the blood vessels. This is a process regulated by the nervous system. Narrowing and widening blood vessels can decrease or increase blood flow, which is one of the ways that the body regulates temperature.

VMS are related to disruptions in this process. During menopause, production of the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone fluctuate. It’s believed that these fluctuations affect a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which regulates a variety of processes, including temperature.

How common are VMS?

Approximately 75 to 80 percent of people experience VMS during menopause. The frequency and severity of VMS have been found to vary across people of different races and ethnicities. In the United States, VMS is more prevalent among Black women, and Black women report more disruptive VMS compared to women of other races and ethnicities.

How long will VMS last?

There is no reliable way to predict how long perimenopause or VMS will last for a particular person, and the duration can vary significantly from person to person. According to the National Institute on Aging, symptoms last between 2 and 8 years in most cases. However, VMS can continue after menopause and can last up to 15 years.

As with frequency and severity, the duration of VMS has been found to vary across people of different races and ethnicities. In the United States, longer duration is more common among Black women.

What can make VMS worse?

There are numerous factors that are known to make VMS worse. These include smoking, obesity, alcohol consumption, stress, and sedentary lifestyle. Managing VMS and other health concerns related to menopause can involve making changes to address these or other factors.

Are there medications that treat VMS?

It’s important to work with a healthcare provider to assess and address your symptoms and other health concerns. Treatment for VMS is typically overseen by a primary care provider or gynecologist, and these providers are a good place to start when discussing treatment. Working with a healthcare provider is also essential to identifying other healthcare needs during and after menopause.

Hormone therapy is a common treatment approach for VMS and other menopause-associated symptoms. Hormone therapy restores declining levels of estrogen (and sometimes progesterone), which helps relieve VMS and other symptoms. Hormone therapy can be administered with oral medications, skin patches, gels, creams, and other formulations.

There are also several non-hormone medications that are indicated for treating VMS. These include a low-dose antidepressant and a medication that regulates activity in the hypothalamus to prevent that part of the brain from triggering VMS.

Before starting any medication, it’s important to discuss potential side effects and other concerns with your healthcare provider.

Again, there are disparities between people of different races and ethnicities when it comes to treatment of VMS. Black women are more likely to experience VMS and more likely to experience severe VMS, but they are also less likely to treat VMS with hormone therapy. The reasons for these disparities are not fully understood—and highlight one of the many reasons why continued research is so important.