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Insomnia and Menopause

"Insomnia and Menopause

Insomnia is a common disorder during menopause. Insomnia means the inability to sleep at night. Women in menopause often awaken in the early morning of the day and they find much difficulty in getting back to sleep. Women in menopause and pre-menopause periods have the greater possibility of experiencing the symptoms of chronic insomnia such as night sweats, hot flashes, anxiety, fatigue, headaches and depression.

Menopause insomnia can manifest itself in a number of ways such as difficulty in sleeping, waking up frequently throughout the night etc. Insomnia makes a person feeling tired and drained.

For women who were all undergoing menopause, insomnia is also recognized by another common symptom known as night sweats. The other side of menopause, insomnia includes difficulty in falling asleep and awakening two to four times. What makes that even worse is that the woman lying awake for half an hour each time, trying desperately to return to sleep. Several times, the reason for sleeplessness is due to the inability of the body to maintain a constant temperature, which is cased by the changes and fluctuations in the levels of estrogen and progesterone.

Losing sleep during the critical years of a middle-aged woman can be frustrating. Menopause insomnia is inevitable, which slows down the woman’s reproductive capacity. Menopause insomnia is caused by many factors, but it can be treated or keep in control with the help of proper medication, diet, and sleep habits.

Hormonal changes can also cause sleep disturbances, and may result in menopause insomnia. To avoid the discomfort of not being able to sleep at night, the doctors may suggest hormone replacement therapy to balance the declining levels of estrogen in the body. Lower estrogen can result in reduced levels of serotonin, the hormone that controls the sleep.

Menopause insomnia can be controlled by taking some measures such as exercising for about half an hour in the early morning, and it is not advised to do it before bedtime. Stimulants such as tea, chocolate, coffee, cigarettes, sweets etc should be minimized or at least it should be avoided it three or four hours before bedtime, because stimulants can keep you awake. Avoid taking alcoholic beverages before going to bed.

A glass of wine may also help to sleep well. The treatment of menopause insomnia includes hormone replacement therapy. Sleep time habits that are useful such as keeping the room temperature always cool, hot baths, relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation, soft music, using the bed only for sleeping etc should be practiced. Mild aerobic exercise in the early evening and the consumption of foods which are rich in tryptophan, such as milk, bananas, figs, dates and tuna aid are good measures to control menopause insomnia. When the level of hormones reaches a certain balanced level the problem will sort itself."