1. You wake up with a racing heart
You’re fast asleep and suddenly wake up. Your heart is pounding and racing, and you feel as though it’s going to jump right out of your chest.
It can be so frightening. It’s one of those awful symptoms that tends to happen right in the middle of the night.
Hormonal fluctuations can affect your temperature regulation. That’s why you can experience things like hot flushes and night sweats, but hormonal changes can also affect your nervous system.
What can happen in the middle of the night is that your nervous system essentially goes into alert mode. Many women tell me that they wake up with their mind racing and their heart racing, and they find it so difficult to get back to sleep.
You just can’t seem to calm down again.
This is really common, and I think most of us, including myself, have experienced this at some point.
However, don’t just assume that it’s the menopause. If you’re also experiencing symptoms such as chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint, particularly during the day, please speak to your doctor to get it checked.
2. You feel exhausted even after a full night’s sleep
This is so frustrating. You know you’ve had seven or eight hours of sleep, yet you barely feel as though you’ve slept at all.
This is all about sleep quality, rather than simply the number of hours you’re sleeping.
I recently watched Angela Foster’s conversation with Dr Juliane Hellhammer, a specialist in sleep and stress issues, and it gave me a whole new perspective on just how important deep, restorative sleep is, especially during menopause.
It’s during this deep sleep phase that the body and mind can repair and restore themselves, helping to replenish our energy.
Things that can impact your deep sleep
During perimenopause and menopause, our sleep can become much more fragmented.
It could be because of hot flushes and night sweats. It could be stress and anxiety. It could be palpitations or even your dreams. We can experience a lot of scary dreams during perimenopause and menopause.
All of these things mean that you can come more to the surface of your sleep.
You might not necessarily wake up fully, and you might not even remember waking up, but your whole sleep rhythm can become disturbed.
So, if you feel really tired after what you think was a good night’s sleep, ask yourself:
What kind of sleep have I actually had?
Has it been a good sleep? Do I feel rested? Do I feel restored?
If you’re completely exhausted during the day and this continues, and you can’t improve things with some of the sleep tips I’ll share below, it’s worth speaking to your doctor.
In particular, if you’re waking up gasping for breath or feeling as though you’re choking, please get this checked.
There is a health condition called sleep apnoea, which can develop during perimenopause and menopause, so it’s important not to simply put these symptoms down to your hormones.
3. You become a light sleeper
You may have found in the past that you could sleep through anything. It didn’t really matter what was going on around you.
What can happen during menopause is that, with falling oestrogen, we may not go into deep sleep as often. We can spend more time in lighter stages of sleep, and many people say they become hyper-aware of their surroundings.
Suddenly, the slightest little thing can wake you.
It might be your partner moving in bed, noise outside, the ticking of a clock or even the central heating coming on.
Tiny little sounds can end up waking you, which again means you’re not getting as much deep, restorative sleep.
After several nights of this, it can affect your energy, your mood and even your appetite the next day.
What I recommend to help you sleep better
So, what can you do to help yourself? A lot of it comes down to the basics.
Create a comfortable sleep environment
Create a comfortable sleep environment and make sure you have comfortable bedding. When did you last change your mattress? It’s amazing how much a poor mattress can affect your sleep.
You may also want to consider natural fibres for your bedding and nightwear, particularly if you’re prone to feeling hot at night.
If light is a problem for you, blackout curtains can be really helpful.
And remember, so many people now sleep with a pet on the bed, but this can be a big disruptor to sleep too.
Create a wind-down routine
You’ve been busy all day. You may have been on your phone, watching the television and doing lots of different things.
You can’t expect your brain to switch off instantly.
Give yourself at least half an hour to wind down before bed. Dim the lights and put your devices away, including your TV and phone.
You can also look at calming herbs such as valerian and hops, or passiflora and lemon balm, which can help the mind and body to relax before bed and signal to the brain that it’s time to wind down.
Get some morning light
I know it sounds a little strange. We’re talking about how to get to sleep, and I’m telling you to get light in the morning!
But we have something called our circadian rhythm, which is essentially our internal body clock. It helps regulate when we feel awake and when we feel ready to sleep.
Getting proper, natural light into your eyes first thing in the morning can help to reset this body clock for the rest of the day, which can then help with sleep.
All you need is around 10 minutes outside in the morning.
You could go for a walk or, if you’re lucky enough to have a nice climate, have breakfast outside.
It can be a little more difficult when you live somewhere where there’s a lot of darkness first thing in the morning, but as soon as it gets light, try to get outside.
And remember, it doesn’t have to be sunny. Even on a cloudy day, the natural light outside is much brighter than the light indoors.
Don’t fight sleep
There’s nothing worse than waking up at 3 o’clock in the morning. Your mind is racing, perhaps you’ve had palpitations, you’re tossing and turning, and you just can’t get back to sleep.
The problem is that this becomes frustrating. That frustration can rev up your nervous system, which then makes it even more difficult to get to sleep.
One of the things I’ve found helpful in this situation is to get up.
Keep the light really low so that you’re not stimulating your brain too much. Have a nice, warming cup of caffeine-free tea. I love Tulsi tea because I find it really calming.
Alternatively, just sit upright in bed and do some slow, deep breathing. You should find that this helps to calm everything down.
Then, when you feel ready, go back to bed and hopefully have the rest of the night’s sleep.
Poor sleep is common during perimenopause and menopause
I hope you’ve found these tips helpful.
Poor sleep is one of the biggest issues women can experience during perimenopause and menopause. If this is happening to you, you are definitely not alone.
What sleep changes have you experienced? And what have you found helpful?
Remember to share your stories. I love reading them, and you may well be helping someone else in the process.
Other articles that may interest you:
How to sleep better during perimenopause and menopause
8 things that can disrupt your sleep during perimenopause and menopause
