Here’s what you need to know more about sleeping hot and how menopause impacts sleep.

Sleeping hot? Women going through menopause experience mood swings, hot flushes, and insomnia. It’s when her ovaries stop producing hormones like progesterone and estrogen.

About 80 percent of Australian women experience menopause and disturbed sleep. Hot flashes and sweating can lead to sleep difficulties which affect daily routines.

What is menopause?

Menopause is a period where all women experience as they age right around 40 or so. It happens when she can no longer release eggs or undergo menstruation in a period of 12 months. Furthermore, menopause happens and comes in three stages.

Perimenopause

Perimenopause usually starts when a woman hits 40 years old. She will experience a range of symptoms in a span of three to 10 years. 

In fact, symptoms include:

• Need to urinate often
• Reduced libido
• Anxiety and depression
• Insomnia
• Hot flashes
• Physical changes in the reproductive system
• Light or heavy periods

Menopause

Menopause happens when it’s been a year since a woman’s last period. Likewise, it occurs to women ages 40 to 55. Ladies get to experience low levels of estrogen which leads to health problems like:

• Increase the risk of cardiovascular disease
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis
• Poor urinary and bowel movements
• Risk of Alzheimer’s
• Weakening vision

It’s possible that women experience early menopause (occurs at the age of 40 years old). Meanwhile, premature menopause (occurs before turning 40 years old) may also occur. Factors contributing to early and premature menopause

• Primary ovarian insufficiency
• Heavy drinking and smoking
• Chemotherapy for cancer
• Genetics
• Other damages to the ovaries

Statistics on Australian women and menopause

• One percent of women experienced premature menopause
• 60 percent experienced moderate symptoms of menopause
• Around five percent of women undergo severe symptoms of menopause

Postmenopause

Postmenopause takes after the menopausal period of a woman. Above all, menopausal symptoms ease throughout these years.

How menopause impacts sleep

The symptoms of menopause affect sleep due to the changing hormones in the body. Progesterone drops during menopause, known to be the body’s natural sleeping aid. In short, progesterone is a calming hormone. Low production of the hormone can cause light sleeping or total restless nights. What’s more, women experienced stress, anxiety, and depression during menopause. This leads to the creation of cortisol which blocks the receptors of progesterone. Meanwhile, when the body creates extra estrogen, it ruins a good night’s sleep. But, low estrogen causes hot flashes and affects 75 percent of Australian women.

How to sleep better during menopause

Sleep disruptions due to hot flushes can be bummer to a good night’s slumber. While many women sought hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or anti-depressants to doze off, it’s good to practice these easy, natural remedies for improving sleep.

Invest in cool mattresses and pillows. Some beddings bring out the cooling effects in sleeping. Examples of cooling beddings are those of latex or hybrid beds with cool comfort layers made of gel or organic substances. Cooling pillows are innovative technology made from gels or liquid matters.

For bedsheets, you can choose the ones that are made of breathable cotton or linen. Ditch fleece sheets to prevent overheating throughout the night.

Sleep Solace products enhance your daily zzz’s with cooling foams and fabrics, plus, pocket spring technology to reduce heat from your body while you’re experiencing menopause.

Keep bedroom well-ventilated. Make sure your bedroom temperature is low and cool. You can have the fan or AC on to your comfort level. You can also try opening the doors to improve airflow.

Additionally, you should check your bedroom design and how well the air will flow to it. Construction workers and contractual companies suggest keeping ox or exhaust fans to pull air from the other room.

Practice doing a bedtime routine. How about some meditation exercises before going to sleep? If you think stress and hot flushes are keeping you awake, drench the thought and tackle the issue at hand. Worrying about it won’t solve the problem.

Also, try taking a bath to cool you down. Drinking tea like chamomile and valerian root helps you back to slumberland.

Keep track of what you eat and drink. Ditch caffeine and alcohol – it’ll keep you up all night long and add more stress to you. If you need to drink, drink plenty of water to help cool your body down during the night.

Avoid fatty and sugary food – they’re culprits that make your hormones go haywire.

Exercise regularly. Exercise will help reduce menopausal symptoms like weight gain, depression, and weakened muscles. It also induced healthy periods even at a time like menopause. Exercise eventually will tire you out by nighttime and encourage deep sleep.

Remember – don’t do any exercises two to three hours before bedtime. The adrenaline rush will only interfere with your sleep.

Consider therapy. HRT is one reason why many women turn to treat their moderate to severe hot flashes. It replaces hormones with lower levels (especially progesterone) to relieve menopausal symptoms and prevent osteoporosis.

Not all women can take HRT, though. The treatment is not suitable for individuals who have a history of cancer, liver disease, blood clots, and untreated high blood pressure.

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