Menopause Insomnia

With menopause, a number of symptoms raise their ugly heads. Some of these include hot flashes, night sweats, and problem with concentration, joint pain, mood swings, weight gain, and the dreaded menopause insomnia.

In fact, insomnia during menopause is quite common and considered among the most annoying of symptoms. Menopause insomnia can show itself in a number of ways from having trouble getting to sleep to waking several times throughout the night. No matter how you look at it, insomnia leaves a person feeling tired and drained.

For women going through menopause, insomnia is made worse by another common symptom known as night sweats. With this, it is common to fall asleep only to wake with the heart pounding and sweat pouring down the skins. The other side of menopause insomnia is the problem of falling asleep and then waking two to four times. What makes that even worse is that the woman lays awake for half an hour each time, desperately trying to get back to sleep.

Many times, the reason for insomnia is due to the body’s inability to maintain a consistent temperature, which is cased by the change and fluctuation in estrogen and progesterone levels.

To improve the issue with insomnia, several things can be done. First, it is important to get the night sweats and hot flashes under control. For this, a number of natural remedies such as Black Cohosh and red clover are sold that help significantly. In addition, you can check with your local health food store to see what other natural potions are available.

Second, certain teas have ingredients that promote healthy sleep. These would include peppermint and chamomile. The goal here is to find a tea that is soothing, tastes great, and contains no caffeine. Other natural remedies to include melatonin have shown to help with menopause insomnia. The reason here is that as a person ages, the level of melatonin naturally found in the body begins to decrease. Therefore, by increasing the levels, sleep is improved.

A woman struggling with insomnia might also consider any of the following to help sleep:

· Kava Kava
· Skullcap
· Valerian Root
· Hops
· Calcium Carbonate
· Passion Flower
· Inositol
· Magnesium Oxide
· L-Taurine

Finally, if you are personally dealing with menopause insomnia, remember to cut back on caffeine and completely eliminate it after 12:00 noon. Do not drink alcohol prior to going to bed (even wine), develop a set time for going to bed, never watch television in bed, keep the temperature in the bedroom five degrees cooler than normal, and do not exercise less than five hours prior to bedtime.