Menopause brings with it all kinds of unpleasant side effect. Among those, sleep disorders create some of the most serious impacts on women’s lives. Studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to poor concentration, headaches, depression and even diabetes, along with a host of other symptoms and disorders.
As anyone who has suffered from insomnia will attest, it’s not as easy as just going to sleep. In fact, the more common sleep complaint of menopausal and peri-menopausal women isn’t that they can’t get to sleep, but that they can’t stay that way. They sleep only in short bursts, which means less likelihood of even entering REM sleep, and sometimes they cannot return to sleep once they’ve awoken.
Since many women these days shy away from hormone replacement therapy, women suffering from sleep disorders due to menopause often have to turn to other options.
Lower the Temperature
Sometimes, hot flashes and night sweats may be the reason you can’t stay asleep, and a too-warm room may make it difficult to fall asleep to begin with. In fact, a cooler temperature is often the easiest way to reinforce proper sleep in people of any age and gender.
Try lowering the ambient temperature in your bedroom at night and running fans to keep the air circulating. If that’s not possible or those solutions don’t work for you, consider placing an ice pack under your pillow or wrapping one and placing it near your feet in bed. The head and feet are both important temperature centers for the body, so cooling either area may help you remain cooler overall.
In addition to these cooling solutions, make sure you are wearing lightweight, comfortable pajamas that aren’t unnecessarily binding, and replace thick comforters with lighter blankets or even just sheets.
Cultivate Peace
A surprising number of menopausal women report that they find stress-relieving activities like yoga and tai chi, and even prayer and meditation, helpful in getting their sleep schedules back on track. The trick to these activities is to do them at the same time every day, and then make sure to go to bed at the same time daily, as well. Establishing and keeping routines is the most helpful action you can take to stabilize your internal clock.
Talk to Your Doctor
If lifestyle solutions don’t help and lack of sleep is getting in the way of your life, contact your OB/GYN. Sometimes a short-term run of hormone replacement therapy can produce results without the potential side effects, and in other cases medications like anti-depressants have shown to help.
Whatever you do, seek help rather than just thinking you have to live with it. Menopause causes enough disruption to your life without adding to it by dealing with sleep deprivation.
