Sleep Problems and Menopause

Filed in archive Menopause on April 4, 2007

Menopause causes many conditions that can disturb sleep and bring on a bout of insomnia. Anxiety, for instance, can make you toss and turn like a ship on the waves as you try to relax and get some sleep. Heart palpitations can also keep you awake, and the more tense you become, the worse the palpitations become.

Another condition is the decrease in hormone levels. This causes insomnia, frequent awakening and fragmented sleep. But the worst culprit is probably those bothersome hot flashes.

Yet, a recent survey shows that, although women do suffer from sleep disturbances because of menopause, few even bother talking to their doctor about it or didn't get good advice when they did.

Best of Third Age has this ti say:

Despite the fact that the women surveyed identified sleep as such a great concern, the majority (89 percent) of perimenopausal and menopausal women and 100 percent of postmenopausal women reported they did not feel their sleep concerns had been adequately addressed by their healthcare provider. To that end, the survey disclosed that only 10 percent or less of perimenopausal to postmenopausal women felt their current course of treatment was working to alleviate their sleep disturbances, and nearly half (46 percent) of women reported that talking with their doctors about their sleep disturbances would be valuable to them, while the remainder of women surveyed expressed an interest in more information being provided from other sources, ranging from pamphlets to news/media coverage, magazines, education/support groups and the internet.