Written by Dr. Sandra Miranda, ND
You went to bed at a reasonable time. You think you slept for seven or eight hours.
So why are you waking up feeling like you could use another eight?
If this sounds familiar, you’re certainly not alone.
For many women, sleep can become surprisingly difficult during perimenopause and menopause. You may have trouble falling asleep, wake up during the night, experience night sweats, or find yourself wide awake at 3 a.m. And even when you technically sleep enough hours, you may not wake feeling refreshed.
Hormonal changes can be one factor.
But your sleep doesn’t happen in isolation. Stress, blood-sugar fluctuations, lifestyle, nutrition and other aspects of your health can also influence how you feel throughout the day.
This is one reason I don’t want women to simply accept exhaustion as an inevitable part of getting older. Instead, let’s get curious about what’s happening.
Are you waking because you’re uncomfortable or having night sweats? Are you feeling wired but tired? Are you waking hungry? Are you under significant stress? Are changes in your hormones affecting your sleep?
These questions can help us understand where to look.
Rather than reaching immediately for a quick fix like a sleeping pill, my approach is to look at the individual woman and consider the different factors that may be contributing to how she feels. It could be elevated cortisol from stress, or low estrogen and progesterone from peri-menopause or menopause, it could be an elevated insulin resistance problem from unhealthy eating and eating on the go, etc.
You don’t have to simply push through another day feeling exhausted, let’s figure out what is really going on so you can treat the root cause of your problem.
If you’re waking tired, struggling with sleep, or noticing other changes since entering perimenopause or menopause, call us for a free 10-minute meet-and-greet. Sometimes feeling better starts with asking better questions.
