The severity, onset, duration, frequency, and nature of hot flashes vary between different women, even those with similar medical backgrounds. It is a confusing matter that continue to baffle researchers. The facts though, show that eighty-five percent of the women in the United States experience hot flashes one or two years after their period stop. Around 20-50% women continue to have them for many more years. The good news is, as time progresses, the intensity increases.

Research cannot identify precisely who gets hot flashes, and who get through menopause a little smoother. A definite fact is that women who have breast cancer may have the same hot flash pattern as women in general, but suffer from more intense and longer attacks. Women who also take tamoxifen, a drug for cancer, without being well adjusted to the drug have more extreme hot flashes.