When it comes to insomnia and menopause, there are actually a couple ways that they can go together. It depends a bit on your specific situation. So, let’s look at what they are and how to treat them.

Stress:

General stress is enough to give anyone a bout of insomnia. As a woman during menopause, though, your stress levels are likely to be much higher than average. You might often find your mind wandering all over the place at night. If you’re thinking about a billion things at once, or even hyper-focusing on one thought, it can be impossible to rest properly.

So, one way to relieve insomnia during menopause is to cut back on stress as much as you can. That means giving yourself permission and time to relax, particularly for a couple of hours before bed. You can’t expect to go from wide awake to out like a light in a matter of seconds. It takes time to unwind and calm down after a long day.

Hot Flashes/Night Sweats:

Unfortunately, menopause causes all sorts of “fun” changes within your body. The hormone imbalance can have a lot of side-effects, including hot flashes and night sweats. If your body temperature is out of whack, you may not be reaching a deep sleep. Not only that, but if you sweat so much that your sheets get soaked, you’re going to wake up. There’s no way to sleep through such a thing.

There are a couple of ways to limit the chances of that happening, though. One way is to make sure that your room is cool, that should help you keep your body temperature in check, at least a little bit. You can also try taking natural supplements that can help to stabilize your body a bit.

General Insomnia Fighting:

During menopause, especially, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep. After all, your body is stressed enough without being sleep deprived, too. There are a few things you can do to help your insomnia, regardless of the cause.

To begin with, eat foods like chicken, turkey and carbohydrates, since they can stimulate production of sleep-inducing serotonin. Also, be sure to avoid unhealthy, sugary, spicy or caffeinated foods or drinks in the evening. They can affect you for several hours and make it impossible to sleep.

Finally, if you want to treat menopause and insomnia, do yourself a favor. Relax. It’s all about relaxation. Make sure that your bedroom is a safe haven where you feel comfortable. Also, make sure your bed itself is comfortable. You can’t sleep in a room you hate or on a bed you hate, after all.

There are many different things that could actually be causing your insomnia. So, it’s important to consider all of them before you just jump to conclusions. They can be grouped into a few categories.

Physical Problems:

Any physical ailment that could distract you from sleeping could be the cause of your problems. That could mean a permanent issue, like sleep apnea or asthma. It could also mean a seasonal allergy.

Another possibility, though, is that you could have a temporary physical injury. For example, let’s say that you have a broken bone. If you have to lay in a certain position to sleep because of that, or, worse yet, can’t sleep at all because of that, it could cause insomnia until the condition heals. Of course that can turn into a major problem, since your body won’t heal as quickly if you aren’t getting enough rest.

Gender and Age:

Women seem to be more prone to insomnia. That’s because the sleep schedule can be greatly affected by changes in the balance of hormones in a person’s body. So, for example, if you are a woman who is pregnant or going through menopause, you could develop trouble sleeping.

Also, our sleep cycles are dependent upon how much melatonin our bodies produce and at what times of day. Typically, melatonin production is higher at night and drops off in the morning. Older people often produce less melatonin or produce it more sporadically, though.

Mental State:

Your mental state can also have a huge impact on how you sleep, either temporarily or permanently. By that I mean that you could just be a generally anxious or stressed person. On the other hand, though, you could find your sleep schedule suffering on specific occasions when your stress level is raised. For example, a lot of people don’t sleep well during the week before they get married because they are too stressed.

Substance Problems:

When it comes to what causes insomnia, substance problems are pretty high on he list. Basically, that means drugs, alcohol or smoking. However, caffeine can also play a roll, as can medications, both prescribed and over the counter. So, it’s important to be careful of what you put into your body and when.

Other Distractions:

Finally, there’s other distractions. Too much light or sound is never good when you’re trying to sleep. While it might be nice to watch TV until you pass out, for example, remember that the TV still stays on while you’re sleeping. So, one of two things can happen. Either hearing the TV in the background can give you nightmares or the volume might change when the program changes, waking you up. Either way, it doesn’t make for restful sleep.

Of course, there are other distractions to consider, too. For instance, your spouse, your kids or your pets might wake you up on a regular basis. You could also have a noisy neighbor that keeps you up at night.

No matter what, the point is to understand your insomnia. It’s important to know why you have it, if you want to be rid of it. Then there’s no reason you have to be sleepless again.