Menopause sleep
Sleep should be a time for rest and recovery but can be life-limiting when it is disrupted by menopause sleep difficulties. We understand the fear and anxiety of lying in bed, waiting and wishing for sleep to come, or waking repeatedly during the night. You are not alone.
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INSOMNIA DEFINITION
Insomnia is when you have trouble sleeping at least three times a week for a minimum of three months, resulting in difficulty functioning throughout the day.
While you may not have clinically diagnosed insomnia, menopause sleep difficulties can severely affect your functioning during the day and at work. Difficulties getting to sleep and staying asleep are common during menopause.
Sleep quality is essential and deep sleep helps you feel rested and positively impacts your mental health and performance. Everyone needs different amounts of sleep, but an average adult requires approximately 6-8 hours.
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HOW LIKELY ARE PERIMENOPAUSE SLEEP PROBLEMS?
- Nearly half have menopause sleep issues
- Those aged 60+ are at a greater risk of sleep disruption
- Perimenopause sleep problems can begin when your hormone levels start to change
Feeling tired can lead to other menopause symptoms such as anxiety, depression, brain fog and weight gain.
Read more about the stages of menopause.
SIGNS OF SLEEP ISSUES
Can’t fall asleep within 30 minutes of going to bed
Get fewer than six hours of sleep
Wake several times a night or lie awake for hours
Wake too early
Feel exhausted during the day and find it hard to concentrate
HOW CAN YOU REDUCE SLEEP DIFFICULTIES?
Did you know that changing your lifestyle and avoiding certain things can help you manage symptoms?
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3. Don’t eat late. Your body will find it harder to rest if you eat a big meal close to bedtime.
4. Don’t exercise before bed. Try a relaxing wind-down routine in the few hours before bedtime.
5. Reduce screen time. Keep off your cell phone and laptop an hour before bedtime. Keep your phone out of your room if you are tempted to scroll when you wake up in the middle of the night.
Can hormone therapy (HT) help?
Yes. HT is known to improve sleep, mood and hot flashes during menopause. However, HT comes with risks and is not suitable for everyone. Read more about HT risks and benefits.
It might be that your healthcare provider recommends another medicine specifically used for insomnia. Speak to your healthcare provider about your personal treatment options.
Which menopause sleep aids you can try
Natural remedies
Great care needs to be taken when considering natural remedies for menopausal sleep problems. Firstly, research studies on herbal supplements are usually small with limited reliable evidence. This makes it hard for clinicians to determine whether a remedy is safe and effective. Also, the quality and purity of the supplements you want to buy may be unknown. Read more about the best supplements for menopause.
Lifestyle changes
If you are finding sleep difficult during menopause, it’s worth evaluating your lifestyle and seeing if improvements result in better sleep. Take a look at your nutrition, stress management, and exercise levels, as these can help improve your sleep and health, both now and in later life.
Sleep and menopause FAQs
As you go through perimenopause and then menopause, your estrogen and progesterone levels change.
A decline in estrogen causes vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats which can disrupt sleep. Reduced levels of the sleep-inducing hormone progesterone may cause sleep apnea and snoring.
Also, as you age, you naturally produce less melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone, which means sleep can become lighter and more easily disrupted.
Melatonin helps regulate your body clock. Normally, you have low melatonin during the day when it is light and high melatonin at night when it is dark.
Changing hormone levels can cause the following symptoms, which can disrupt sleep:
- Hot flashes and night sweats
- Mood changes, such as anxiety and depression
- Going to the toilet during the night
- Joint and muscle pains
- Restless legs syndrome – a tingling, crawling sensation
Sleep issues can also be caused by changes in medication and supplements, an unhealthy diet, eating late, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and stress.
Poor sleep can increase your risks of:
- Mood disorders
- Cognitive function, such as loss of focus and forgetfulness, and dementia
- Headaches
- Cardiovascular disease
- Risk of accidents and injuries
You can be at greater risk of the following if you cannot sleep well:
- High blood pressure and heart disease
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Osteoporosis
- If changing your sleeping habits doesn’t work
- Your symptoms are getting worse, or not improving
- Your ability to function during the day or at work is significantly and frequently affected
Nothing can describe the panic of knowing you have to be up in a couple of hours and you’ve lain awake all night”
- Behnood Abbasi, Masud Kimiagar, Khosro Sadeghniiat, Minoo M. Shirazi, Mehdi Hedayati, Bahram Rashidkhani. The effect of magnesium supplementation on primary insomnia in elderly: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Res Med Sci. 2012 Dec; 17(12): 1161–1169
- Cleveland Clinic, Insomnia
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- Park S-Y, Oh M-K, Lee B-S, et al. The effects of alcohol on quality of sleep. Korean J Fam Med. 2015;36(6):294-299. doi:10.4082/kjfm.2015.36.6.294
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- Sleep: A Health Imperative | Sleep | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
- Sleep Health: Can We Define It? Does It Matter?
- WHC-FACTSHEET-Menopause-and-insomnia-APR2020.pdf
