Identify and avoid your personal triggers such as smoking, spicy foods, hot foods or beverages, caffeine, and alcohol. And try to steer clear of diet pills, saunas, very hot showers, and emotional situations that cause intense stress or anxiety.

New research says that exercising consistently can shorten the time you experience menopausal symptoms. According to the first studies to follow a group of women for as long as their symptoms lasted, the researchers found that, on average, menopause-related annoyances persist over five years-and some women endure them for a decade or more. The good news is that you may have some control over the duration: "In our research, women who exercised four to six times a week had menopause symptoms for less time," says Nananda Col, MD, director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, at Maine Medical Center Research Institute, in Portland.

Feel a hot flash coming on? Take off the blazer, and you’ll still suffer in style. Dress in layers; wear cotton, linen, or rayon, and avoid wool, synthetic clothes, and silk. Stick to open-necked shirts. Wear cotton nightclothes, get a bigger bed if you and your partner are on different "heat planets," and take a cool shower before bed.

Many women continue to try nonprescription remedies or natural solutions, such as soy foods and isoflavone supplements (from soy or red clover), black cohosh, vitamin E, and acupuncture. No data suggest these remedies are consistently effective, and some integrative medicine strategies are safer than others. Discuss your options with your doctor.

Ongoing studies suggest that focused deep breathing may help reduce the frequency of hot flashes by lowering core body temperature. Think of it as Lamaze for hot flashes: As you feel on coming, slow your breathing rate by half and take deep-belly breaths.