Insomnia and menopause
Posted , 11 users are following.
Hi just lookin for reassurance really that symptoms I am experiencing are the menopause the main one been chronic insomnia to the point where I thought I was dyin of a serious illness as I really could not sleep at all this has been goin on just over 2 years now and I have to take sleep medication every nite to get about 4-5 hours rest and am always awake around 4am before this I never ad a problem with sleep I also suffer brain fog and struggle to remember things I do still ave periods but before they lasted around 5 days now they only last 2 and are heavy and full of clots is all this normal in menopause drs keep tellin me I'm too young I'm 41 😞
2 likes, 16 replies
mabel91872 michelle14134
Posted
Did you try melatonin? It has been helping me sleep otherwise U just st can't function
gailannie michelle14134
Posted
Michelle,
I was 42 1/2 when these things started happening to me. Mine even included several nights of drenching sweats. But all of this are very normal symptoms of the rock and roll of perimenopause. Periods change, our brain suffers, insomnia happens.
What your periods suggest, is that you are producing plenty of estrogen, however clotting often means your are lacking in your progesterone production.
While I'm obviously not a doctor, and can only share from all my personal experience and reading, there are many experts that would suggest that you consider some progesterone for a month or two. You can buy an OTC cream, and apply it for the last 14 days of your cycle. It often has a calming effect, and for this reason it's often suggested that you apply it at night before bed.
You are not menopausal. That requires a full year of no periods. But you are shifting from your fertile days to something that is getting you to the point of menopause, termed perimenopause. And your doctors are dead wrong. You are not too young for this. In many ways, you are the perfect age. Perimenopause can generally last for 10 years. With the average age of menopause at 52 1/2, this puts you right in the correct time frame.
Now, please don't think that this is hopeless. There are plenty of things you can do to help your body at this time. Eat really well, get in bed before, or by, 10pm. Take a good multivitamin, drink plenty of water, exercise a little, and make sure you find some quiet down time for yourself. Do everything you can to help support your body, giving it all the good things you can. After my completely failed attempt with hormone replacement during this time, I did recover and my system ran pretty smoothly for the next 8 years. Periods tapered and slowed, until they finally quit at 52 1/2.
I know how uncomfortable this can be. Most of us do. But it's all part of the transition to the next stage in life. Good luck and come back as often as you need.
Toddpodd gailannie
Posted
michelle14134 gailannie
Posted
Thx ever so much for ur response Gail Uv been so helpful it's just so reassuring knowing that others have been there and know what ur goin thru, do symptoms get worse when in the menopause then or does it get easier than in peri, did u suffer insomnia did it get better?
gailannie michelle14134
Posted
Michelle,
Each women is very different. Some women can go into menopause with relatively strong ovaries that continue to produce enough estrogen/testosterone to meet our needs. And our adrenal glands produce progesterone. Just not enough to create periods. I believe I was one of those women, however I didn't run blood tests at that time. It took me several years to get far enough into deficency to have some very unpleasant meno symptoms. Early into meno I developed frozen shoulder and chronic muscle and ligament pain. And then later, I started waking earlier in the morning. And yes, at times the insomnia was pretty bad. And then vaginal atrophy, painful sex, and dryness set in. I didn't have any energy or spark for life anymore. Not a lot of fun.
But I never had hot flashes or night sweats, my symptoms were much more non specific, until the vaginal stuff started.
michelle14134 gailannie
Posted
Ye that sounds pretty much like me no energy and lost my zest for life just scared it will never get any better been 2 years already 😞
metamorphed gailannie
Posted
just reading this and wondering did energy and spark for life return and did you take oestrogen at all when the meno symptoms really kicked in. I too had frozen shoulder and some really bad muscle and tendon pains, missed a few periods around that time but they then returned every month and didn't have many aches then. Then this month the aches have returned and starting that sore shoulder thing again. So sometimes don't know what's going on.
gailannie metamorphed
Posted
It's amazing isn't it. And when you have those lesser known symptoms, it's hard to connect the dots to menopause. I saw a dozen doctors for those problems and not one of them asked about menopausal status, or if I was taking any estrogen. It wasn't until 3 1/2 years after my final period that the vaginal atrophy, dryness and painful sex set in. OF COURSE THEN everyone knew I was estrogen deficient!!! And within a couple weeks of vaginal Estrace, ALL THE MUSCLE AND LIGAMENT PAIN WENT COMPLETELY AWAY. (Huge bonus) So don't tell me those aren't connected. They certainly are, and women themselves will tell you this, but you don't find it in the literature.
And yes, something is going on for you. You're not crazy or just whinning. This is real, and those hormones affect every single cell in our bodies. And boy, sometimes we don't like this change.
metamorphed gailannie
Posted
yes, it's awful isn't it? Doctors think I'm making it all up. I have learned to keep my mouth shut now as I did tell one that I actually knew when I was experiencing a drop in oestrogen and they basically told me I was not near it because of no sweats and the regular symptoms, I am very aware of how I feel at this stage. How were you gailannie in the 3+ years before the atrophy set in? Were you feeling anyway better. I feel that I am on the express train to menopause, everything is happening so quickly for me and already feel dryness and a sort of pulling and think I may need estrace sooner than later. No, we don't like this change!
gailannie metamorphed
Posted
I remember thinking while I was in early menopause, "Oh it's so nice to feel level and steady." I was obviously not missing the ups and downs of the cycle. But I can't say that I missed having periods, they really never bothered me. And while I was calm and didn't have some of the normal meno stuff, that chronic pain was enough to kill me. It was constant and horrid.
Remember I didnt have a really tough menopause. The bad stuff has come in the years following the last period.
metamorphed gailannie
Posted
gailannie metamorphed
Posted
I am in the process of trying to figure all this out. I saw a very expensive endocrinologist who specializes in HRT. However, she has a strick protocol which includes using the patch. While many tout the patch as the most bio-identical way to replace estrogen, it didn't work at all for me. I literally hate it. While my blood levels did come up and my FSH went down, it felt really off. So I am currently trying a different delivery method. And yes, I will need progesterone, as I have a uterus. And that also will be a trial and error until I find a delivery method that feels right. So far, a vaginal route for progesterone seems to work best for me.
But I'm not giving up, as these hormones change everything about how I feel and look. I'm not ready to give up on sex, but when the painful sex, atrophy and dryness set in, there really is nothing you can do to restore those tissues except hormone therapy. I know women talk about coconut oil, vitamin E, etc. but that really isn't going to solve the problem when our tissue is actually lacking estrogen.
Lotti1966 michelle14134
Posted
Michelle,
I am here to 2nd what gailannie has said. I believe I started perimenopause around 42. Horrible anxiety, hot flashes, erratic periods, clots, etc.
Had a hysterectomy last year and have been miserable since.
Back aches all the time, shoulder nerve pain, low energy, feelings of sadness, anxiety, dizziness, crazy legs at night. Sleep? Hah!! If I wake up twice I've had a great nights sleep.
Everyone says it gets better, just waiting.
This forum has saved my life though. At least I don't think I'm dying every day now
Wishing you the very best??
HopeAgain michelle14134
Posted
5 years before I went through menopause I could not sleep. I tried every sleep aid. I tried 6 Benadryl. I could go to bed and be perfectly sleepy and calm and would lay there all night long. I was getting maybe 1 to 2 hours of sleep a night for the last 2 years. It was awful. There were nights where I never slept at all. Finally I am on hormone replacements and am beginning to sleep
jennifer06039 HopeAgain
Posted
I just turned 41, live here in the states and almost overnight started with the insomnia. Last night I took 2 klonopin, 2 Temazapam, 2mg of melatonin, an ambien and still NOTHING! My state loves to shove tons of pills at you without addressing the real problem. I just lay there all night long amd nothing happens. Finally got a couple hours around 9a.m. after calling sick into work. I'm waiting on my blood work to start HRT because.....I just can't with this for the next 10 years. Hope Again, how's your sleep been now sine taking the HRT?
anetta94863 jennifer06039
Posted
don't do that with the benzodiazepines! Do not mix so many. They are dangerous.