They've always been about the same for me. Started perimenopause about age 51-52. I'm almost 58 now and have been fully menopausal for almost 3 years.

For me, it is like I am baking from the inside out. I am physically hot to the touch. During the day it doesn't bother me that much because I can easily get up and move around while it happens. At night, however, I wake up drenched in sweat. My bed gets hot to the touch - that's how much I send off heat. I've tried various types of sheets, etc., but it doesn't really make much difference.

I remember my sister always complaining about hot flashes. She had ovarian cancer when she was like 12 years old and spent her entire life basically in menopause because they had to remove her ovaries. Even hormones didn't work for long because she always ended up building up a resistance. And, she ended up with breast cancer which eventually led to her death - probably because of a life on hormones due to the ovarian cancer. So yeah, they won't even consider hormone replacement (and I'm not interested because of this). My other sister also had breast cancer.

I figure eventually this issue will resolve, but after researching, I realize I may be dealing with it for a few more years. It sucks, but it's mostly just incredibly irritating and annoying.