Menopause and Sleep

Women during perimenopause and menopause often complain of sleeping problems, which are often associated with hormonal and psychological factors. Hot flashes are one of the prominent problems that occur during before menopause and during menopause that often causes poor sleep and has been known to cause insomnia if the hot flashes occur prior to going to bed.

Along with hot flashes, 56% of menopausal women complain of insomnia without night sweats or hot flashes. Some even have complaints of other sleep disorders such as restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, and snoring. No matter what all women have sleeping problems during menopause and some even have them up to seven years before the onset of menopause. Menopausal women have restless sleep, toss and turn, and have problems going to sleep.

A few of the reasons sleep is a major problem can be blamed on daily stress, fatigue, overwork. All of these when combined can lead to an unbalance of your bodily functions, which then causes metabolic changes that can lead to sleep disorders. On the other hand, most sleep disorders in menopausal women are attributed to unbalanced hormone levels.

Before you rush out and get on hormone replacement therapy there are some things to try. Remember, hormone replacement therapy does have side effects that are harmful to your body and your overall health. Trying natural ways to cope with menopausal sleep disorders should be your first choice.

There are three major approaches to coping with Menopause Sleep disorders which include lifestyle changes, all natural herbs, and of course medication.

Begin with creating a room for sleeping and a sleeping environment. Using products such as white noise machines, tabletop water fountains, and Electric Aromatherapy Diffusers can be the best way for you to create a calm and peaceful setting that will help you achieve better sleeping patterns.

When you use a white noise machine in your bedroom, the machine will absorb all noises that might awaken you during the night. Once awaken you may experience insomnia. The white noise machine will absorb sounds such as traffic, the hot water heater, or other noises around the home that tend to keep you awake. A tabletop water fountain, will give you something to focus your mind on so you can relax and drift off to sleep and the electric aromatherapy diffuser will help in providing a relaxing and calm mood for sleep.