From Meera S., community member:

Yes — this is completely normal, and I thought I was coming down with something every single time it happened to me for months. The pattern was so consistent: sudden, intense heat flushing through my body, then sweating, and then within a few minutes I would be shivering and reaching for a blanket. It felt exactly like the start of a fever.

Once I understood what was actually happening, I stopped panicking and could just ride it out.

Here is the biology: during a hot flash, your hypothalamus — the brain’s thermostat — sends a false signal that your body is overheating. It responds by dilating blood vessels near the skin and triggering sweating, to release heat as quickly as possible. This is effective: heat escapes, and your body temperature drops. But the hypothalamus sometimes overshoots. The temperature drops below its set point, and now the body is “too cold” — so it shivers to generate warmth. Both the hot flash and the cold shiver are part of the same malfunctioning temperature regulation event.

What helped me practically: I keep a light cardigan within reach wherever I sit — at my desk, by the bed, on the sofa. I take it off at the start of a flash and put it on again during the chill. I also found that sipping cold water during the hot phase and then something warm (light chai, warm water) after the shivering starts helped smooth out the extremes a little.

Getting the underlying cause treated — the oestrogen fluctuation — is what actually resolves both phases. Speak to a gynaecologist if you haven’t already.