Sleep

[Anonymous]

I'm post-meno and spent years with insomnia in peri-, meno-, and post-meno. I tried all kinds of things, including sleep therapy and sleep studies. What worked was HRT at the correct dose. I am so angry, and should be, at how long doctors put off putting me on HRT. I lost years in awful, unrelenting insomnia, and that is just wrong, for anyone. Find a doctor who will work with you on HRT, and finding the right dose and combination and method of HRT. If the doctor is dragging their feet about it, it's a big sign, IMO, that you should move on to another doctor. Good luck and stick up for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm post-meno and spent years with insomnia in peri-, meno-, and post-meno. I tried all kinds of things, including sleep therapy and sleep studies. What worked was HRT at the correct dose. I am so angry, and should be, at how long doctors put off putting me on HRT. I lost years in awful, unrelenting insomnia, and that is just wrong, for anyone. Find a doctor who will work with you on HRT, and finding the right dose and combination and method of HRT. If the doctor is dragging their feet about it, it's a big sign, IMO, that you should move on to another doctor. Good luck and stick up for yourself.

Wanted to add what others have said: drinking alcohol and sleep are all but incompatible at this point in life. Exercise and getting daylight are non-negotiable, too. But the biggie is hormones. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

sometimes 30 mg of zinc in the middle of the night helps me fall back asleep

[Anonymous]

I play a boring podcast generally on a science issue. Although I also like Dan Snow’s history hits because his voice is so soothing and topics incredibly dry.

[Anonymous]

I spent several years in my late 30’s and early 40’s sleeping like crap… fall asleep okay but wake up and never ever could get back to sleep.
Stopped drinking almost entirely. Anything more than one glass of wine every couple weeks destroys my sleep. I noticed this within a month of not drinking and i wasn’t a big drinker, just average.
Cardio exercise, ideally outside so there’s some sunshine involved.
No caffeine after noon, although this seems very individual. I am fine with my morning coffee, but i used to be able to drink coffee all day long… no longer.
Good sleep hygiene. I try to stay off my phone for the last couple hrs before bedtime and i read on a kindle paperwhite.
When i do wake up - and now it’s mostly bc DH is snoring - if i don’t immediately fall back asleep i quickly get up and move to the spare bedroom, where i either read again, or listen to a sleep story. 99% of the time i fall back asleep very very quickly.
I also take good sleep much more seriously. It’s important to me and should also be importance to anyone who doesn’t want me to kill them lol.

[Anonymous]

HRT and magnesium

[Anonymous]

Everyone talks about the alcohol/sleep connection, but it has been huge for me. I stopped drinking a year ago. I sleep better every night now. I sleep much better than I did before, even on those nights I did not drink. I don’t understand why that is but I’ll take it!

[Anonymous]

After I hit 50 all of a sudden sleep issues started. Magnesium glycinate at night helps. Sometimes I take melatonin too. It is better, but I occasionally walker up at 3 am and struggle to get back to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Are you still sleeping in the same bed as your husband? That is well known to disturb sleep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should really talk to your PCP about this. Not getting enough sleep is detrimental to your body.

Personally, that has never been an issue for me. Are you sure you are getting enough daily exercise and steps in? How is your stress management? Do you take time to meditate? Dialing alcohol/sugar/processed foods way back? Getting enough sunshine (take off the sunglasses) during the day? Taking a vitamin D supplement? How is your sleep hygiene? We always start turning lights off/dimming during dinner and lighting candles. More romantic too.

Wow, is it true that sleep is important? I agree that it’s super highly unusual that a woman in perimenopause might have some sleep disturbance. Clearly everyone is like you. Can you add a video showing yourself getting romantic? You sound really pretty and subtle.

"Your sleep sucks? Here, just do these 10 things a day, no problem!"

[Anonymous]

Go to ENT then to sleep study. Could be sleep Apnea.

[Anonymous]

I think it's common in peri tbh. I have that issue: I have a good bedtime routine and go to bed early-ish usually but then I wake up in the night a bunch, can't fall back asleep, get hot...I don't drink so that's not an issue, but anything can trigger poor sleep for me. Eating a normal, heavier meal can do that, too much water close to bed time, worry during the day...

[Anonymous]

OP, are you actually tired during the day? My sleep is interrupted, have to wake up 2x a night to pee, hard to fall back asleep often, etc. But I’m not really tired during the day, so I don’t really worry about it.

[Anonymous]

I have not slept longer than 40 minute stretch in almost a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ended up having to get a CPAP - turns out I had severe sleep apnea. It hasn’t been long but I’ve already slept through the night a few times for the first time in many years.

How old are you?