What’s REALLY Preventing you From Getting a Good Night's Sleep??

Have you ever found yourself lying awake in the middle of the night, desperate to fall asleep again knowing full well you’ll feel exhausted the next day?

Worst of all, you KNOW that you need a good night’s sleep if you’re going to feel good, look good and be able to function normally.

But that doesn’t help when you’re doing everything you can to solve your sleep problems but still finding yourself staring at the clock ⏰ at 3 am…

If you’re already suffering from symptoms of perimenopause or menopause, your insomnia can feel like an extra blow.

A lack of sleep usually makes any anxiety, stress, weight gain, brain fog and hot flushes or night sweats even worse which can make it EVEN HARDER to sleep. It’s a vicious cycle.

If this is what you’re going through right now, be reassured that sleep problems are common during perimenopause and menopause, affecting around 50% of women.

That’s why so many ladies come to me looking for help. They struggle to fall asleep, wake up in the middle of the night or find themselves unable to sleep when it’s barely getting light outside.

I wanted to write to you today to explain what could be causing your frustrating perimenopausal and menopausal sleep problems and give you five powerful tips to help you deal with them.

Why do we suffer from sleep problems during perimenopause and menopause?

Many women struggle to sleep when they get to their 40s, around the time when symptoms of perimenopause start to rear their ugly heads.

We’re usually very busy during this period of our lives, juggling our careers and family lives and trying to claw back sometime for ourselves and sleep often ends up far down our list of priorities.

Then when we begin our menopause transition, the hormone changes we experience can make matters even worse, and a minor issue can often turn into full-blown insomnia.

If you can tackle these sleep problems as soon as possible, you’re far more likely to get a better night’s sleep as your hormone levels change and minimise many of your other symptoms.

What about our hormones? What effect do they have on our sleep?

When perimenopause approaches and our hormone levels start to shift, we experience a variety of changes in our bodies.

If you’ve been following me for a while or reading my blog, you’ll know exactly what these can be; hot flushes, night sweats, weight gain, mood changes, breast tenderness, a lower libido, brain fog, and so on.

You’re likely familiar with the fact that fluctuating levels of two key female sex hormones- oestrogen and progesterone- are the main players here.

They could also be responsible for your sleep problems, along with two other hormones, cortisol and melatonin. Let me explain how.

Oestrogen

Oestrogen doesn’t only affect your periods, fertility, skin and hair and bone strength. It also helps you enjoy a good night’s sleep by…

• Increasing REM sleep (to boost your mood, memory and ability to learn)
• Decreasing the time it takes you to fall asleep
• Reducing the number of times you wake up during the night
• Increasing total sleep time
• Helping to regulate your body temperature during sleep

Progesterone

Progesterone is a hormone that helps your body prepare for a potential pregnancy during your fertile years. It also helps you feel sleepy and helps you breathe when you’re asleep. When levels of this key female hormone decline during menopause, you’ll find it harder to fall asleep, and the quality of your sleep could worsen.

Cortisol

Cortisol is one of the better-known stress hormones that your body releases when it feels that it’s under threat. Research has shown that elevated cortisol levels at night time are common during menopause, making it harder to stay asleep. If you experience a hot flush or night sweat, you’ll also experience a cortisol spike, making it harder than ever to fall asleep again.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone that your body produces in response to darkness. It helps us to feel sleepy and drop off at night. As you might expect, our melatonin levels naturally decrease as we get older, making it harder to get a good night’s sleep, and the drop-off happens more suddenly during menopause.

How you can get a better night’s sleep

Even though we can’t change the fact that we are perimenopausal or menopausal, we can take steps to help improve the quantity and quality of our sleep. Keep reading to learn five powerful ways you can do just that.

Eat foods that help naturally increase melatonin levels

Start improving your sleep by eating plenty of foods that naturally help boost your melatonin levels. This includes the following:

• Cherries: Cherries are one of the few natural sources of melatonin and can help regulate the sleep-wake cycle.
• Walnuts: Walnuts contain tryptophan, an amino acid that the body converts into serotonin and melatonin.
• Pistachio nuts: Pistachio nuts contain several nutrients that can help promote better sleep, such as magnesium, potassium and tryptophan.
• Bananas: Bananas are high in potassium and magnesium - two minerals that can help relax the muscles and promote better sleep.
• Salmon: Salmon is a good source of vitamin B6 which the body uses to produce melatonin and other sleep-regulating hormones.
• Poultry: Food such as turkey is rich in tryptophan which converts first into serotonin and then into melatonin- the hormone responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle.

 Get a bedtime routine

There’s a very good reason we get kids into a bedtime routine as soon as we can- it helps their bodies wind down ready for sleep and helps them release the sleep hormone melatonin.

You can do the same. Aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, switch off your screens at least two hours before bed and do something relaxing to help you get ready for sleep.

Make your bedroom cool

Did you know that our bodies are programmed to feel sleepy when the temperature drops? That’s why I highly advise that you keep your bedroom as cool as possible, opening the window or using a fan if needed. You’ll also help yourself feel better if those night sweats do happen.

Control your stress levels

As I mentioned earlier, stress triggers the release of a hormone called cortisol which can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. It can also worsen your perimenopause or menopause symptoms and leave you feeling anxious, overwhelmed and exhausted. That’s why I recommend you find an effective stress-relieving practice such as journaling, yoga, meditation, crafting or similar to help you soothe your body and mind and enjoy that good night’s sleep you deserve.

Get outside

Finally, I highly recommend that you get outside and expose your body to natural daylight for at least 60 minutes per day, even if the weather is rubbish. By doing this, you’ll help your body regulate your natural sleep-wake cycles and help you fall asleep more quickly and easily.

If you are struggling with sleep and need more support, book a complimentary consultation.