How to Improve Your Sleep During Menopause

Are you a woman getting close to or in the menopausal period of your life and already starting to notice changes in your sleep patterns? You are not alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) 61% of woman going through menopause report sleep related issues during peri-menopausal, menopausal, and post-menopausal periods which can range from the early forties to late fifties over a period of 8-10 years.

In this article you will find out about the relationship between your menopausal state and your sleep, the common treatments for this condition, some easy steps you can take to alleviate your state and what to do if you still can't sleep after following these steps.

How Sleep Changes During Menopause

The quality of our sleep is impacted by our body temperature. During a normal sleep cycle our body temperature will drop by up to 2-3 degrees. This allows the brain to cool down and permits us to enter "hibernation" mode. It is here that our bodies enter deep sleep and can work on their nightly restoration and repair jobs that help us to wake up the next day feeling refreshed and alert.

During menopause your hormone levels are changing (decreasing levels of Estrogen) and as a result you may experience "hot flashes" when your body temperature becomes elevated. If this occurs during sleep, it counteracts the normal sleep cycle and keeps body temperature higher than it should be to enable restful sleep.

Up to 85% of women experience hot flashes over a period of about 5 years. During hot flashes you typically experience an increase in heart rate and peripheral blood flow, leading to a rise in skin temperature followed by perspiration. As the perspiration evaporates, your body cools down and you may feel chilled. These events occur at different times of the day for different women: morning, late evening and also during sleep when they are often referred to as night sweats. Night Sweats are the most disrupting as they impact not only our immediate need for sleep but also our sense of well being the following day. You may experience excessive daytime sleepiness, irritability, anxiety and depressed moods as a result of disturbed sleep.

Treatments for Sleeplessness During Menopause

Common medical treatments for menopausal symptoms are Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) or Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Both treatments have been proven to help with the symptoms of menopause but at a cost. Medical studies have shown that women taking these treatments are more prone to diseases ranging from breast cancer and cardiovascular disease to dementia.

More recent research has yielded both improved hormone therapies as well as alternatives in the areas of sleep medications and topical treatments such as creams. These have reduced but still not eliminated the side effects that come with chemically based treatments.

There has also been a parallel effort to understand how menopause affects women from an environmental and behavioral standpoint and the following tips make a good starting point from which to alleviate your sleep problems before considering drug-based options.

Change Your Sleeping Environment

• Create a sleep inducing environment: a comfortable and supportive mattress, minimize distractions in the bedroom (ideally remove TV, no work, no laptop/computer), cool. quiet and dark, use only for sleep and sex.


• Use 45 watt light bulbs in your bedroom: intense light (100w+) confuses our internal clocks making us believe that it is still daytime, thus causing us problems in getting to sleep.

Change Your Sleeping Patterns

• Make a habit of waking up at the same time every morning: helps to regulate and train our internal clock.


• Avoid napping during the day: napping may disrupt night time sleep for people who already have sleep issues by reducing the need to sleep at a regular time.


• Make a habit of going to sleep at the same time every night: helps to regulate and train our internal clock.

Improve Your Physical Sleep Preparations

• Spend at least two hours a day in the sunlight: spending time in the sun helps to calibrate our internal clock which in turn drives our desire to sleep during darkness.


• Exercise regularly - preferably late afternoon or early evening: helps to regulate our metabolism and internal clock, exercising right before going to sleep elevates body temperature and can prevent sleep.


• Eat healthy and moderately sized meals: and allow 3-4 hours between dinner and going to bed. Allows our digestive system to complete it's work before we go to sleep.


• Eat plain yogurt before bedtime: plain yogurt contains low levels of sugar, breaks down in the stomach very slowly and does not create a sugar surge while we sleep.


• Avoid caffeine after noon (coffee, caffeinated tea, soda, chocolate etc.): caffeine stays in the blood for 7-8 hours and is a stimulant that can prevent sleep.


• Avoid spicy food at dinner: there are documented links between spicy food and sleep disturbance.


• Avoid nicotine: nicotine is a stimulant and once in the blood system will stay there for a long time.


• Avoid alcohol especially before bedtime: alcohol contains sugar which takes 3-4 hours to break down. It helps people to wind down and get sleepy but wakes them up in the middle of the night with a sugar surge.

Improve Your Mental Sleep Preparations

• Practice yoga or meditation on a regular basis (2-3 times per week): these practices help us master the methods of relaxation that are required to get a deep and good night's sleep. If prayer is part of your daily routine, remember that it is also a form of meditation.


• Keep a sleep diary: log when you go to sleep, when you wake up and the interruptions you experienced during the night. This simple method helps us to understand the scope of our problem and quantify it. When we make improvements we can review the data and appreciate the change.


• Reduce stress and worry: use a worry log to write out your worries. This helps to offload troubling thoughts from your mind on to a piece of paper that can be dealt with the next day. Sharing your experiences of menopause with your friends and family can also reduce stress and worry by putting things into perspective.

Allow 3-4 weeks of following these simple and easy steps. Make sure to monitor the changes that you make and keep those new habits that make a difference. If you find that these changes to your sleeping environment and behaviors do not make a significant difference and you are still not achieving deep and satisfying sleep it may be time to work with a sleep coach.

A coach will:

• teach you how to overcome limiting beliefs around sleep and menopause


• help you make clear distinctions between menopausal symptoms and other past life events that may be impacting your sleep


• help you to develop more effective thinking patterns around traumas and other past life events


• help to shift your attitudes and work with negative thinking patterns, turning them to positive and supportive ones

A sleep coaching program includes identifying your sleeping goals, detecting and dealing with obstacles to achieving your success and keeping you on track to reach your sleeping goals through accountability and follow up.