One thing before I go further into this topic...
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Now, let's get back to the topic…
What can disrupt your sleep during perimenopause and menopause
So, let’s take a look at some of the common things that can cause you to wake up more during the night and contribute to poor sleep during perimenopause and menopause. Here are 8 ones to be aware of:
1. Night sweats
Probably the most common cause is night sweats. There you are, fast asleep, and you get a sudden surge of heat. You can get very sweaty; you can feel really damp or wet. You then have to get up, maybe change your clothes or bedding. Even waking up once during the night with night sweats can disrupt your whole sleep pattern quite dramatically.
For night sweats, you can use the herb Sage. We have our (one-a-day) Menoforce Sage tablets, which are used traditionally for the relief of hot flushes and night sweats.
Remember to have a little glass of warm water before you go to bed, purely because sweating can dehydrate you. You may also find having a small snack before bed can help to calm things down a little.
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2. Shallow sleep
We know for a fact that falling oestrogen levels interfere with how quickly you can fall asleep, how long you stay asleep, and what kind of sleep you get. You need periods of deep sleep because these are the times when your body helps to restore itself; and when you go into the dreaming state it’s good for your mental health; so, you need these things for your day-to-day and general health.
What happens during perimenopause and menopause is that you go into a much shallower sleep, so things can wake you up that didn't use to affect you at all. It could be your partner moving about in bed or even snoring. It could be light coming in through the curtains. It could be pets jumping on the bed. It could be noise going on outside or in other parts of the house if someone is still up. It could also be a change in temperature if your room gets too cold or too hot.
So, what can you do here to improve sleep generally? We have two remedies. One is our Dormeasan Sleep Valerian and Hops Drops, our registered sleep product. We also have Sleep Well Dissolvable Granules, which are granules that you can just pour directly onto the tongue about half an hour before bed.
3. Restless legs
Restless legs at night can be really uncomfortable. There you are, just about to drop off to sleep, and suddenly your legs start moving of their own volition and you can't stop them. It can be really painful as well, almost like cramps. You may also experience this during the night.
This is very often due to low magnesium. You may find taking a magnesium supplement with your evening meal can help calm restless legs down. You can also get magnesium skin spray, which is really handy because you just massage the spray into the affected areas before you go to bed.
Dehydration can also be a factor. Also sitting for too long. If you spend your whole evening sitting in front of the TV and not moving, that can also affect the legs. Some form of gentle stretching, maybe half an hour before you go to bed, can be helpful; or if you don't have dark nights like we do at the moment, then going out for a brisk, short walk mid-evening can be really helpful.
4. Your liver
Did you know that liver function can affect your sleep? Your liver does all sorts of different processes during the day and night, but the liver's busiest time is between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
If your liver is really stressed, although you don't feel anything going on in your liver, that activity can be enough to wake you up if you're in a shallow sleep.
Things to be aware of for this are really just commonsense ones. Alcohol in the evening is going to affect the liver. And a heavy meal late in the evening will too, especially if it's heavy in fats and protein because they really put extra pressure on your digestive system. Your liver then has to deal with that while you're still trying to get to sleep.
So, try and avoid alcohol later in the evening. Have it maybe after your evening meal and try not to eat too late.
5. Anxiety and panic attacks
These are very often connected to night sweats. For whatever reason, your nervous system goes into complete overdrive, which ends up triggering adrenaline and a panic attack. You wake up, and the next thing you get is night sweats. So, very often, one tends to follow the other.
Again, you may find a combination of Valerian and Hops can be quite useful, because these are herbs that are known to help with anxiety.
If you do wake up, then try and do some deep breathing exercises just to help you calm down and get you back off to sleep. And again, taking a magnesium supplement with your evening meal can be very helpful in calming the nervous system down before you go to bed.
6. Drinking coffee and tea in the evening
They are really big disruptors, as well as anything else with caffeine in it, even things like fizzy drinks. If you're having a cup of coffee or a cup of tea after your evening meal, that caffeine can be whizzing around your system eight hours later. It revs up the nervous system, which can also contribute to your panic attacks and your night sweats.
I always recommend having no caffeine after your evening meal, and preferably before 3 pm in the afternoon, because again, if you have a coffee at 3 pm in the afternoon that could be affecting you getting off to sleep at 11 o'clock at night. Coffee substitutes and herbal teas are better alternatives to have in the evening, and can be really nice and gentle on your nervous system.
7. Low blood sugar
If you've had your evening meal quite early on in the evening and you don't have anything else to eat, by one, two, three o'clock in the morning, your blood sugar level can really fall, and that sudden dip can wake you up and also trigger night sweats. It can also trigger panic attacks.
If this is your sort of situation, it's really important to have some kind of snack in the evening. A small protein snack could be something maybe like a little bit of Greek yoghurt and some nuts and seeds or berries. An oatcake and peanut butter or nut butter. One I find really nice is a small piece of avocado with a little bit of cream cheese in the middle. These snacks can help stabilise your blood sugar during the night, which can give you a better night's sleep.
8. Dehydration
And of course, for those of you that are going, ‘what about dehydration’? Yep, you're absolutely right! Dehydration can wake you up, especially if you're getting night sweats too.
Again, drink plenty of plain water during the day, and have a small shot glass of warm water just before you go to bed. A lot of you ask why I recommend warm water before bed. It's really simple. You want your body to calm down and relax. If you have a drink of really cold water before you go to bed, you've shocked your digestive system and it's going to take longer for everything to calm down again. So, just a little bit of warm water.
I hope you found this one helpful. There are lots of other things that can interrupt sleep. If any of you find other things are causing you problems, let me know what they are and we can see what we can do for you.
For those of you who have had poor sleep, what did you do to help yourself? Please share your stories. You know that I love to read them all.
Until next time, take care and have a lovely week.
You may also find these topics helpful:
How to sleep better during perimenopause and menopause
3 sleep problems during menopause
Menopause weight gain & how poor sleep impacts it
Too anxious to sleep? How to calm night-time anxiety and sleep better in perimenopause and menopause
