Menopause and sleep - our tips on improving your sleep
Sleep can be disrupted during perimenopause and it's a common complaint we hear often. Sleep issues can vary from not being able to get to sleep, to waking in the early ours to more extreme disruption in the form of insomnia. But what causes bad sleep?
Hot flashes - the ability to regulate our temperature is hampered by lowered estrogen and nights sweats can be so extreme they make you wake up in the night.
Anxiety and depression - whether our mood makes it difficult to get to sleep or get back to sleep if we wake in the night, anxiety and depression are common symptoms of the menopause and can hugely impact our sleep pattern.
Natural sleep pattern - also known as our circadian rhythm, it's like our internal clock telling us when we need to sleep and when we need to wake. Our hormone system produces melatonin to encourage sleep and cortisol to instigate wake and give us the energy we need to rise and shine. Again, progesterone and estrogen are essential hormones to assist in the regulation of this process so when they are in decline, it impacts levels of these other essential hormones.
How can I get a better night's sleep?
Lifestyle changes to consider:
- Avoid large meals that are rich in heavy or spicy foods before you go to bed
- Try to avoid caffeine for at least four hours before bed, or from the early afternoon, as this is a stimulant
- Try to limit how much alcohol you drink in the day. Alcohol is also a stimulant and decreases sleep quality, so avoiding this may help
- Exercise has been scientifically proven to make it easier to get to sleep more quickly and deepen sleep.
Medical assistance: HRT could be an option for you to increase estrogen and progesterone levels.
CBT: Cognitive behavioural therapy can be useful if intrusive or negative thoughts effective your sleep by teaching you strategies to manage these thoughts.
Supplements: Here are our recommended products to help with sleep by doing all these things; regulate your sleep pattern, reduce anxiety, calm the nervous system, balance hormone production, reduce pain and even reduce hot flashes.
