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Struggling with Sleep During Menopause? Here’s What You Can Do To Help with Insomnia

  • Ruth Devlin
  • Mar 15, 2022
  • 6 min read

Updated: Jul 16

Sleep - what a difference it makes when you get a good nights sleep, to wake up feeling rested instead of feeling a bit ’punch drunk’. For an incredible amount of women this can feel like it becomes an eternal battle whilst going through the menopause.


How much sleep do you need...

The average amount of sleep required by adults is said to be between 7 & 9 hours, quite a lot of women I speak to count themselves lucky if they get 5. We will all sleep for different lengths of time the important thing is that the hours you sleep should be of a good quality and should be uninterrupted….do I hear expletives and gasps of dismay...read on...


When symptoms take over, especially the vasomotor ones like hot flushes and night sweats, it can become increasingly difficult to get those necessary restorative hours. Hours when your brain and body get a rest. Getting a good nights sleep can make such a difference to your quality of life and importantly long-term health. I think some people forget how restorative a good night sleep is...essentially it's a biological necessity and something we should all prioritise.


Sleep is more complex than most people realise - we go through various stages of sleep during the night from REM (rapid eye movement) sleep through to deep sleep and then back up into REM sleep, known as the sleep cycle. We can go through several sleep cycles during a night - these vary between each person and can differ every night with many factors contributing to either a good or a bad nights sleep.

Specialists in sleep research believe that the critical stage to gaining a truly restorative sleep is the deep sleep stage. This is when your muscles are really relaxed, breathing slows, brain activity slows, and is a time for your body to recover and grow.

It is thought that each stage of REM & deep sleep contribute to cognitive functions like creativity & memory. Not getting enough of both of these stages can have an impact on aspects of our physical and mental health.


What can have an impact on sleep stages

  • Your age - throughout our lives the amount we need changes with babies and children requiring more hours than older people.

  • Lifestyle choices...what we eat and drink...eg alcohol and caffeine can alter sleep patterns.

  • Basic sleep hygiene...what time are you going to bed, what's your lead up to bedtime like, what time did you eat your last meal, did you exercise too late, do you have a routine, is your bedroom for sleep & sex only, not an extension of your office and do you have a comfy bed?

  • Menopausal symptoms...all genders can have problems with sleep but for women when this transitional stage of life comes along and if you experience any symptoms associated with the menopause, they can start to have an impact on your quality of sleep. Troublesome symptoms including the vasomotor ones - the night sweats, raised levels of stress & anxiety - having a busy brain. Then there's the genitourinary ones - having to get up in the middle of the night for a pee, women can experience heavy periods, flooding, a myriad of different symptoms all contributing to a poor nights sleep.


It’s also good to remember that sleep disturbance isn’t just down to menopausal symptoms though - every day stresses of life like relationships, your work and simple things like poor time management resulting in never getting time for yourself can all contribute.


What you can do to help…

Lifestyle choices...yes I know here we go banging on about these again but they can and do make a huge difference to not only your symptoms but can help enormously towards getting a better nights sleep.

Having a nutritious, balanced diet is essential. Getting regular exercise and movement into your daily life...have a look back at previous posts...

Alcohol and caffeine...these are both stimulants, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having the odd dram or cup of coffee but excessive amounts or having them too late during the day can have an impact on sleep.

Make sure you have alcohol free days - guaranteed to improve sleep alongside helping other symptoms. Try switching in other drinks instead of having multiple cups of coffee a day. Caffeine stays circulating around in your body for longer than you think and can have such an impact on sleep patterns and again other symptoms.

Have a good bedtime routine makes a difference - giving your body time to wind down before leaping/collapsing into bed. It genuinely helps. Make time for a bit of R&R...if you like baths add some magnesium flakes (very calming mineral) to help you relax. Or try some in a footbath. If you’re into yoga / pilates just take a moment to do some gentle stretches before bedtime - an excellent way to wind down and brilliant for your muscles especially if you're prone to the likes of restless leg syndrome and get those twitching legs - soooo annoying!

Tech stuff...the blue light emitted from our LED screens can contribute to insomnia and eye strain. By finding ways to regulate exposure to blue light it may help you to sleep better, can help to stabilise mood and preserve eyesight. It’s advisable to switch off electronic devices an hour before bedtime. If you find this impossible try wearing *yellow tinted glasses when watching TV or googling things on your laptop for those last couple of hours before you go to bed - said to have made significant differences to sleep patterns. But ultimately just try and shut everything down earlier! Try listening to a podcast or reading a book instead.

*Even if you don’t suffer from insomnia wearing yellow tinted glasses benefits anyone who spends a lot of time on their computer or smartphone, and anyone who spends time on game consoles. It can really help to reduce eye fatigue and strain. Don't forget most smartphones have a filter in their settings you can switch on which helps to reduce the intensity.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy techniques...worth looking into, have a look at this blog post which explains it so well and the breathing one...focussing on your breathing can be incredibly relaxing.

Journaling...some people just have a busy brain which can become worse when hormones start to go all wonky. Helping to calm your brain down with suggestions above can help as can journaling...doing a physical brain dump before you go to bed. Jot down in a notepad all the things you've got to remember to do the next day for example - it definitely works for some people. NB do the pen & paper method - keep that phone away from your bed...no doom scrolling during the night if you wake up!


Summary

Essentials…

  • A good bedtime routine.

  • Avoid lengthy naps during the day, if you need one don't exceed 20 mins.

  • Check caffeine intake - reduce and have the last cuppa earlier in day - that goes for hot chocolate too, as for fizzy drinks, try and cut these out or down massively!

  • Alcohol - doesn’t help sleep - reduce and have alcohol free days.

  • Bedroom - should be cool, dark and free from techy devices and noise. Invest in a good mattress and good bedding.

Self care...

  • Exercise/movement

  • Nutritious diet

  • Stress management

  • Time management

  • Pelvic floor exercises - look at the squeezy app

Medication and complementary therapies...

  • HRT is the first line treatment for symptoms associated with the menopause and can help many people.

  • Cognitive behaviour therapy - learning simple CBT techniques can really help with certain symptoms so aiding sleep.

  • Hypnotherapy

  • Acupuncture

  • Reflexology

  • Mindfulness

  • Yoga and pilates


Useful resources.

A brilliant factsheet on the Women's Health Concern website written by Dr Heather Currie is well worth a read...



Any information is as accurate as possible at time of writing and is for information purposes only. The information and support that Let's Talk Menopause provides is for your own personal use. It is not intended to replace or substitute the judgement of any medical professional you may come in contact with. You should always seek advice from your healthcare professional regarding any medical condition.

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