Menopause and Insomnia - Why Am I Having Trouble Sleeping?

Menopause and insomnia. These two conditions are almost inseparable as insomnia is one of the main symptoms of menopause. What causes menopausal insomnia and is there anything we can do to alleviate it?

I have spoken to many women who inform me that they were always good sleepers prior to the menopause. The menopause itself is a natural occurrence and relates to the slowing down of the reproductive process. This causes hormonal fluctuations which are the reason for most of the unpleasant symptoms some women experience, including insomnia.

Symptoms of menopausal insomnia include difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking and waking up too early and being unable to get back to sleep. The frequent waking may be caused by hot flashes that many women experience. These can increase our body temperature, making us feel hot and causing us to throw off our bedclothes. Then as soon as the hot flash subsides, we become cold causing us to wake up yet again.

Stress also tends to increase at this time and can keep you tossing and turning for hours if left unchecked. Anxiety, which causes us to worry, keeps us from falling asleep and may sometimes have no obvious cause. Both stress and anxiety can be helped by exercising daily, especially in the morning which we set up our circadian rhythms to promote restful sleep.

Depression may also rear it's ugly head and is a prime cause of early waking. There is nothing worse than waking at 3 am and feeling depressed about your life. If this happens often it may help to focus on everything you have to be grateful for and use this to improve your mood. This can help you fall back to sleep

If you've noticed your sleep patterns changing and you are a female between 45 and 60 years of age, menopause insomnia will almost certainly be the culprit.

How to deal with menopause and insomnia

Although the symptoms of menopausal insomnia and classic insomnia are almost identical, it is actually the menopause causing the problems you are having with your sleep. Therefore taking a good natural herbal or homeopathic remedy for the menopause, having a good diet, exercising enough and controlling your stress levels will go a long way to improving the quality of your sleep. Only consider a sleep aid if the insomnia continues after doing all of the above.

If, despite your best efforts you find you are still not sleeping, then a natural insomnia remedy will undoubtedly help. Steer clear of chemical sleep aids that you may become addicted to and which have side effects such as daytime drowsiness.