Menopause, Insomnia and Beauty Sleep

Menopause. That stage when a woman’s ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone. The monthly menstrual cycle ceases. And undisturbed sleep flies out the window for approximately four to eight years. Defined as insomnia during menopause.

Note the common ground on these possibilities…..

Perhaps insomnia during menopause is due to hormone fluctuations which create the inability of a woman’s body to maintain a consistent temperature.

Perhaps the hot flashes or hot flushes from adrenaline coursing through the body to reach the brain and wake the sleeper is the reason for another night with insomnia.

Perhaps the lesser amound of one’s gamma-aminobutylic acid or GABA which is accompanied by the theory that insomnia is a state of hyperarousal which extends throughout the waking hours is the reason for the insomnia. And your GABA is deficient now, during menopause, just because it is.

Maybe insomnia is being driven by calcium/magnesium deficiency when estrogen drops and calcium is less absorbed, creating symptoms of irritability, insomnia and headaches.

Or the anxiety that often accompanies menopause can be the reason for racing mind, disturbed dreams, jolting awake to never get back to sleep, or at the very least, to participate in interrupted sleeping patterns against your will. While you are awake you think and over-think issues with your kids, your parents, spouse, boss, the neighbor’s dog and other aggravations, your finances, and health issues.

Those health issues may wake you. The kind of health issues which become more active as we turn forty and fifty, including estrogen-related depression, thyroid problems, joint pain, restless legs syndrome, breathing difficulties, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or other disorders. Round-robin that to understand that sleep apnea, excessive sleepiness, thyroid and hot flashes can be very much estrogen related.

The common ground is these are imbalances in various hormones regulated by the biological clock in the brain’s hypothalamus. menopause_insomnia_I_can't_sleep

Menopause. That stage when a woman’s ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone. The monthly menstrual cycle ceases. And undisturbed sleep flies out the window for approximately four to eight years.

Estrogen Challenged or Estrogen Excess

High estrogen or low estrogen – whichever the case – if one is progesterone deficient, they will be uncomfortable and experience the challenges of hormone imbalance which can range from discomfort to serious complications.

Other possibilities for insomnia during menopause.

Caffeine, chocolate, sugar, nicotine, alcohol, prescription drugs, and natural supplements can cause sleep loss, especially is taken within a few hours before bed. Many of these can also cause adrenaline rushes and hot flashes, or at least aggravate them. Perhaps what you take coincides with your menopause or perimenopause cycle. Consider each one and adjust your intake, but only after consultation and guidance from your medical professional when adjusting prescriptions or supplements.

natural_sleep_aid_megatonin According to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, approximately 61% of menopausal women have sleep problems. This is sometime after the majority of women have experienced no sleep due to the responsibilities of parenting infants and teenagers. The age of menopause comes next, when women actually stop menstruating between age 45 to 51. Sleep is again elusive. Not because there is too much to do, but because the body and mind will not allow the desired amount of sleep.

Doing all you can to be certain your sleep disturbance is not self-induced would be the wise course.

A few suggestions to make your sleep time more likely to happen and more comfortable are…

unwind before bed, no work, no exercise, no arguments, no wild stuff.
sleep in a cool, well-ventilated, dark, quiet room with white noise, such as a fan, in the background so you are not distracted by sounds of the clock, the house, or the neighborhood.
in fact, turn the clock around, close the shades, and cover the mirrors.
no television, no radio, no computer on at all, and the screen off, hence, no night light and no electronic companionship. This is needed for the body to product serotonin and to truly rest.
sleep on cool sheets with a blanket that breathes and a pillow that does not collect heat from your body, while leaving untucked the footend of sheets and blankets.
sleep in a sleeveless cotton gown.
if you are going to eat before bed, eat serotonin-producing foods Jasmine rice and other carbohydrates, turkey, chicken or bananas which help form the serotonin, a sleep-inducing neurotransmitter.
relaxation techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Technique, progressive relaxation, cognitive behavior therapy or self hypnosis may turn the moment around when you are in surfacing from sleep. Learn one or two and implement, such as deep-breathing into the stomach with all focus on that breath movement and nothing else, which allows for sleep to come softly.

Other possible support for insomnia during menopause.

Highly absorpable natural supplements to consider for insomnia are melatonin, skullcap, chamomille, valerian root, passion flower, L-taurine, inositol, or a supplement with calcium lactate gluconate and magnesium chloride.

Soy products are not suggested since these are phytoestrogens and can create a greater imbalance. Black cohosh is not suggested here because this is also a phytoestrogen and because the herb, in the opinion of this writer, is not for longterm use – see studies elsewhere for your own conslusion.

You will note that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or estrogen is not suggested. The traditional treatment has long been HRT for symptoms such as hot flashes and insomnia. The HRT was given in a patch, a pull, a vaginal cream. The risk of breast cancer, heart disease, stroke and blood clots have been warned by physicians and studies, including one by the Women’s Health Initiative, therefore this is not a suggestion for ESSA Natural, but all choices remain your own to make. Please remember to consult your medical professional.

You will also note that the suggestion to avoid naps during the day is not included in this essay. A firm belief is held that if one is tired, the body is in charge. Sleep is a time for healing, for sacred dreams, for energizing to make strides in intellectual projects. Perhaps the excessive naps on a daily basis are going to the be the monumental problem in sleeping at night, for good reason to conclude this issue. But the naps that are direly needed, especially by one who is suffering insomnia or health issues, these naps are best taken.

Melatonin – the Hormone of Darkness

Melatonin is to sleep what grass is to cow’s milk. Or sunlight is to flowers.

Megatonin supplementation acts as a mild hypnotic and causes melatonin levels in the blood to rise earlier than the brain’s own production accomplishes.

The melatonin signal forms part of the system regulating the sleep-and-wake cycle. Melatonin chemically causes drowsiness and lowers the body temperature. Interestingly, a three-month-old infant’s melatonin measures at the highest level between midnight and eight o’clock in the morning.

Melatonin production is inhibited by light and permitted by darkness. The Dim-Light Melatonin Onset begins each evening and peaks in the middle of the night, then gradually fades the second half of the night.

Without melatonin, there is no sleep, anxiety is high, stress is obnoxious and women in the age of menopause have ever biological cause to age even faster than they did before menopause.

Melatonin is of utmost importance.

Not only for sleep but for cancer risk, immune system, gallstones, fertility and ADHD.

Sleep in the dark, for one.

Consider a supplement at a low level dose for insomnia.

GABA Linked to Insomnia

GABA is the first brain chemical abnormality that has been identified by scientists and linked to insomnia. The abnormality is a substantial reduction in levels of this inhibitory neurotransmitter. GABA stands for gamma-aminobutyric acid. An amino acid that influences the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.

Those with insomnia have been measured to reveal an average of 25 to 30 percent less GABA in their brains than equally healthy, normal sleeping people.

GABA is a neurotransmitter known to reduce electrical activity and help brain regions shut down. Sleeping pills work by helping nerve receptors more efficiently link to the gamma-aminobutyric acid resource.

The theory after these findings is that insomnia is a state of hyperarousal extending the waking hours of the day, rather than only a night disorder of sleeplessness.

The study was concluded with the layman only able to conclude that one with insomnia could use extra GABA because they do not know if insomnia produces low GABA, if low GABA produces insomnia, or if hyperarousal is the cause of both insomnia and low GABA.

The purpose of GABA is to decrease the overall activity of many brain areas to help the brain rest. Since the busy, repetitive, or racing mind is the result of an inability to shut down at night and is a common complaint of people with insomnia, the GABA deficiency is correlated to this challenge.

L-Theanin is another gamma aminoacid. Let’s call them ‘the sleep cousins’.

Gamma-glutamylethylamide is an amino acid derivative found in tea. Imagine that, we think first of stronger doses of caffeine that coffee would offer. But the L-theanin acts antagonistically — synergistically — against the stimulatory effects of caffeine on the nervous system.

What does this mean to a menopausal insomniac with hot flashes and no patience for puzzles?

L-theanin is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and reduce mental and physical stress, creating a sense of relaxation about a half hour after ingestion. The amino acid stimulates production of alpha brain waves to create deep relaxation and mental alertness such as is achieved through meditation. Also L-theanine asssits in forming of the inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma aminobutyric acid or GABA.