5 Tips To Help You Sleep Better During Perimenopause and Menopause

5 Tips to Help You Sleep Better During Perimenopause and Menopause

Perimenopause and menopause can be massively disruptive to women’s lives. Did you know that there are possibly over 60 symptoms associated with this period in women’s lives? Whilst most of us know about hot flashes and mood changes, we are generally in the dark about a lot of the other symptoms. Luckily, thanks to people such as Davina McCall, we are becoming more educated, and more symptoms are starting to be recognised. One symptom that affect lots of women during these transitional stages is the disturbance of sleep. We hope that are 5 tips can help you to sleep better during perimenopause and menopause. 

1. Try to Keep Cool

Hot flashes affect many women during perimenopause and menopause. Hot flashes occur because of decline in estrogen and progesterone. These hot flashes can lead you to waking up drenched and even needing to change your bed clothes and sheets. As you can imagine, such occurrences can create havoc with our sleep. Whilst HRT is very effective at relieving this symptom there are other practices that you can put in place to help.

• Use a low tog duvet.

• Consider separate duvets if sharing a bed with a partner who has different requirements.

• Avoid eating spicy foods.

• Keep away from products containing nicotine.

• Avoid alcohol.

• Sleep with a window open.

• Invest in a cool gel mattress.

• In Summer, consider using an air conditioning unit.

2. Lower Stress Levels

Stress can easily affect anybody’s sleep and arguably even more so during the perimenopause and menopause. Indeed, a lot of women find that they can feel more easily stressed during this transitional period. Luckily there are several coping strategies that you can put in place to help yourself.

• Exercise is your friend when it comes to managing stress. Try to find something you and enjoy as this will help you stay committed.

• Staying connected to family and friends can help you to manage stress. Sometimes just talking it out can bring stress levels down.

• Limit alcohol, whilst it can be tempting to drown your anxieties, ultimately it will worsen stress.

• Embrace the great outdoors. Indeed, nature is a great healer.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Whilst you might be used to acting like a super woman, remember you don’t have to do it all!

3. Stick to a Schedule

Sticking to a sleep routine is essential if you’re having problems sleeping. This includes sticking to it at the weekend when you might be tempted to throw it out of the window. Having a sleep routine can help your body to be primed for better sleep.

4. Learn to Meditate

Years ago meditation was thought to be the preserve of the few. However, thankfully meditation has become mainstream. Without a doubt, it can be a great tool for your perimenopause and menopause survival kit. If you’ve never meditated before then using an app such as Calm can be a great place to start.

5. Consider HRT

HRT is often considered the gold standard for treating symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. For those women who want to take it and can take it , HRT can literally be life changing. Whilst HRT did go through a period of bad publicity it is now considered safe for most women. If you want to talk about HRT then you should book an appointment with a doctor.