Menopause is a phase of life that every woman will go through as they age. It marks the end of their reproductive cycle and could bring along a slew of side effects and physical changes that they might feel. While it is a very natural thing to go through, sometimes the effects can be a hindrance to day-to-day life and may need an extra push of help.
Many of the effects a woman might feel throughout menopause could be hot flashes, sweating, change in mood, weight changes, and even sleep problems. These sleep problems may be brought out by the phase of menopause itself, or they could be caused by the hot flashes that occur throughout the day. No matter what it might be, no one should have to go through sleep problems and there are ways to help.
What are the Causes
One of the most obvious stressors when trying to sleep could be continuous hot flashes. These make a woman feel extremely hot for a moment of time and make them sweat from it. If this were to happen when she is asleep, it could lead them to wake up and not be able to fall back asleep as well. If she keeps waking up through the night, it will cause a distressed sleep.
This could end up bringing up more sleeping issues because of it. Problems such as insomnia or sleep apnea could come from not sleeping enough and bring upon their own set of issues. The risk of getting insomnia only grows with women going through menopause. It can cause them to not be able to sleep through the night, continuously wake up, or wake up too early and be tired through the next day.
Sleep apnea can also be an issue for women going through menopause. This can cause them to not be able to breathe fully through the night. Leading to unrestful sleep or the inability to fall asleep during the night.
How to Help
There are both medical and personal ways to try to help get a night of better sleep through menopause. Depending on the cause and how severe it is could call upon different solutions.
If it is a menopause symptom that is causing difficulty sleeping, there are medical ways available to help. Options such as hormone replacement therapy taken through female hormone pellets, vaginal cream, a pill or injection could help level out a woman’s hormones. These are made to level out estrogen and help any effects from menopause stop and go back to normal. This could help with any hot flashes or other issues causing you not to sleep.
Outside of medicine, there are some nightly routines you could get into to help. Wearing loose or not as much clothing to sleep could help against the feeling of hot flashes. As well as having a fan or AC on if hot flashes are very common through the night.
Other sleeping problems could be helped by having a cool-down bedtime routine. This could mean showering or bathing, reading, dimming the lights, or doing simple yoga to let your body relax before going to sleep.
Sleeping problems can be incredibly uncomfortable and debilitating once morning comes. Don’t let menopause stop you from having a restful sleep.