Many women experience sleeplessness and insomnia during menopause and peri-menopause. It is a common result of the decreasing hormone production we experience as we get older. It can be a real problem when you are lying awake for hours during the night and not getting the rest you need to function at your best.

Here is the catch 22; you need adequate sleep in order for your body to produce the optimum hormones for your body to function at its best. Without enough sleep your pituitary gland, otherwise known as the master gland, won’t properly send the signals to your other glands to produce the correct amounts of hormones. Not only can this affect your sex hormones, but the glands that control your metabolism. So if you aren’t sleeping because of less hormones,  continuing to loose sleep will further deplete your hormones leading to a vicious cycle of sleep loss. Not only that but the reduction in metabolism can lead to weight gain.

What can we do? We’ve got to get you sleeping better, that’s for sure.

Steps to take.

• Reduce or eliminate caffeine. Try to limit your caffeine intake to one cup per day before 1pm.

• Get some daily exercise. Exercise is wonderful to help control stress, the enemy of sleep. Exercising also release endorphins, which help to relax the body

• Minimize the use of artificial light in the hours before bed. Light suppresses the production of melatonin which is a hormone produced at night to control our sleep/wake cycle.

• Boost your hormone levels with herbs that are menopause friendly like red clover and others.

• Take herbs that help promote sleep, but be careful that they are the right ones for your constitution. While Valerian is often used for sleep, if it is too hot an herb for you it can have the opposite effect and keep you up instead of sending you to sleep.

Try any or all of these suggestions and see if your sleep doesn’t improve. Let me know how it goes!!

For an herbal consultation to see what herbs might be right for you call me at 310-367-1564 to set up an appointment. In addition to in person consultations, I also offer herbal consults via Skype.