Menopause Relief and the Types of Insomnia
To choose a wise course of action you need good information; it is not enough to take some pills and hope it goes away.
One of the main symptoms of menopause is insomnia, and this is a signal that your body is sending to try and get your attention; Hey! I need some help, do something!All too often, we just blunder along, hoping for the best, while we become more and more fatigued.
What are the types of insomnia? oPrimary insomnia occurs when there are no contributing physical or psychological conditions at the root.
Usually, this is caused by poor sleep habits such as drinking coffee at night, using alcohol to induce sleep, going to bed with unresolved issues that are stressful, leaving the light or radio on, etc.
These poor habits disrupt our natural internal sleep clock and cause insomnia.
oSecondary insomnia occurs when there is an underlying physical cause such as a psychological or physical illness.
This would include medications, obesity, diabetes, fibromyalgia, perimenopause, menopause, arthritis, etc.
When treating secondary insomnia, it is advised to treat the underlying cause and, at the same time, help the insomnia.
Menopause relief from insomnia Many women who have never had trouble sleeping find that during pre-menopause and during menopause, they wake up easily and have difficulty falling back to sleep.
This is partly because the internal sleep clock has been disrupted.
This internal body clock is called the Circadian rhythm.
This is from a Latin root, meaning about the day.
In the past, people slept many more hours because their day followed the daylight and nighttime patterns.
So, our bodies are basically set to follow this pattern and when it is disrupted, we need to reset it.
Hot flashes disrupt this body clock by raising the bodies temperature at random times.
Our circadian rhythms are closely tied to temperature and thus the hot flashes cause the internal clock to wake us up.
What can be done about these two types of insomnia? oPrimary insomnia.
There is a lot you can personally do about this type of insomnia.
As we age, our habits often need to change as well.
The bedtime routines of the past may no longer work as they once did.
The soft music you used to like at bedtime might now sound irritating, or the night light might keep you awake.
Keeping the bedroom quiet and free from activity can be very helpful as well.
Many people have office equipment or exercise equipment in their bedroom.
This might be fine, but if the fax machine goes off, or your partner is cycling away at night, you may consider relocating the equipment, or changing the times they are used.
It is obvious as well, that limiting caffeine intake before bed, watching what you eat and when you eat it, avoiding stimulating TV programs, etc, can make a huge difference in you quality of sleep.
There are numerous high quality natural insomnia treatments on the market as well.
This is a much better choice than a little wine before bed.
The wine will make you drowsy, but soon you are awake again, whereas, the herbal remedies can help you to experience a longer nights sleep.
oSecondary insomnia.
If you are experiencing menopause insomnia, there are a number of things you can do.
First, listen to your body; it is trying to tell you something.
Hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause are primarily caused by in imbalance of hormones.
This is because during menopause the ovaries begin to slow the production of female hormones.
Artificial hormone replacement therapy is not advised because of the increased risk of breast cancer.
The best way to begin balancing female hormones is by leading a healthy lifestyle.
This goes a long way to resetting the internal clock and bringing peace of mind as well.