Understanding Menopause
Menopause, which is a phase where ovulation process ends in a woman’s body, is a natural phenomenon. Some people have an easier time going through this phase, while some face very irritable and uncomfortable issues. Symptoms of menopause include – weakness, sleeplessness, anxiety, hot flashes and night sweats.
Insomnia – Lack of Sleep
Most women complain about sleeplessness or insomnia due to hot flashes and night sweats during menopausal phase. The extent of hot flashes can be so high that a sound sleep wouldn’t be possible at all due to the discomfort caused by it. Whether or not you experience hot flashes, sleeping could be a problem as one gets older. There are basically 5 states of sleep. The deeper your sleep is, the higher numbered will be the state. Typically, once you have crossed 50 years, you could just be getting into 1st and 2nd states of sleeping. This can cause you to wake up even with the slightest noise or stay tired even after sleeping for a long time.
Handling Hot Flashes
If it is purely due to your hot flashes that you are not sleeping well then you can try doing some of these hot flashes handling techniques,
- Keep the temperature of your room cool enough
- Wear comfortable and light night clothes. If the environment is very cold, you can wear more than one layer of clothes so that if you have a hot flash attack, you can easily remove the outer layer of clothes.
- Watch what you eat! Spicy, bitter and very hot food is not recommended.
- Avoid caffeine, tobacco and alcohol consumption (totally if possible).
- Exercising for a minimum of 30 minutes can help you a great deal. The benefits of exercise will be four fold. It will help you in handling other illnesses too.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
If your hot flashes and insomnia are related to menopause, then Hormonal Replacement Therapy could be of use to you. In this therapy bioidentical hormones are given to you in order to treat the hormonal deficiency. Bioidentical Hormones resemble the hormones that are produced in your body and will work like them too. Low dosage of these is given gradually during your therapy. You can definitely keep the symptoms of menopause, including insomnia, hot flashes and night sweats, under control with the use of this therapy. So, you can have a sound sleep in this way, in case your sleeplessness is related to hormonal imbalance.
Handling Insomnia
In general, for insomnia, don’t start putting yourself on sleeping pills. It is definitely not a healthy option. It may give you temporary relief but is harmful in the long run. Your first default step would be to visit a physician and take his/her opinion on your condition. You may get worthwhile suggestions to soothe your conditions with or without medications. There are some herbal medicines also available for this problem. You can take their help too. Some of the sleep inducing home remedies are drinking warm milk and having carbohydrates. The most important thing is to keep a check on your lifestyle – eat right, exercise regularly and keep your mind relaxed.
