
Menopause and Sleep: What's the Connection?
If you're a woman in midlife, you may find yourself tossing and turning and waking up multiple times each night. The problem may be related to menopause.
Aug 21, 2017
Menopause & Aging WellSheryl Kraft, a freelance writer and breast cancer survivor, was born in Long Beach, New York. She currently lives in Connecticut with her husband Alan and dog Chloe, where her nest is empty of her two sons Jonathan. Sheryl writes articles and essays on breast cancer and contributes to a variety of publications and websites where she writes on general health and wellness issues. She earned her MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College in 2005.
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If you're a woman in midlife and find yourself tossing and turning, waking up multiple times each night (that is, if you're lucky enough to have fallen asleep in the first place), there's a likely reason: hormones.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, the years stretching from peri- to post-menopause are when sleep problems are most abundant, accounting for 61 percent of reported insomnia. In fact, it's fairly common for women who visit their health care providers complaining of insomnia to learn the reason for their sleeplessness is they're beginning the transition into menopause. Known as perimenopause, its average length is four years.
It's been four years since I last brought attention to this topic, and it bears repeating, because there's undoubtedly a new group of women searching for relief.
During perimenopause and continuing onto menopause, the decline in the production of estrogen and progesterone (a hormone that promotes sleep) ushers in a sharp decline in the quality—and quantity—of your sleep. It can be perturbing and disturbing to be stuck in a rut of sleeplessness—but it will get better.
Hot flashes and night sweats—much like a pesky snoring or restless bedmate—can suddenly rouse you out of a deep sleep, filling you with anguish and anxiety. There are a few treatments that have been found helpful in relieving menopausal symptoms, including estrogen replacement therapy (or ERT) and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which includes a combination of estrogen and progesterone. Given in pills, patches, gels, creams or injections, these have varying effects on women and, of course, are not an option for everyone.
Alternate ways to manage menopausal symptoms that interfere with sleep include the more natural approaches like calcium supplements, phytoestrogens and over-the-counter nutritional supplements like black cohosh, as well as drugs, such as
sleep-promoting drugs, blood pressure medications like clonidine, and low-dose antidepressants like venlafaxine (Effexor) and paroxetine (Brisdelle). Brisdelle is specifically approved for reducing moderate to severe hot flashes associated with menopause.
But hormones aren't the only culprits in midlife sleep issues. Other "garden-variety" things can also make sleep difficult around this age, like:
If you're experiencing sleep issues, take heart: most of the time, they will improve with time. I'm happy to say that mine did (that doesn't mean I don't experience the occasional problem). For years, night sweats and hot flashes plagued me—until they finally didn't. Blissful sleep followed.
Perhaps most importantly, analyze the reasons for your sleep issues and explore solutions. There are so many things you can do to help you sleep better:
More helpful reading:
De-stress With Breathing Techniques
How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?
Menopause and Anxiety: What's the Connection?