MY RELATIONSHIP WITH sleep dramatically changed during my forties. I could no longer stay asleep all night long. Then, instead of effortlessly falling back to sleep as I did in my younger years, I would toss and turn for hours while my brain hyper-focused on solving problems. Just when I thought my sleep challenges couldn’t get any worse, the night sweats kicked in. Trouble falling asleep, small noises waking me up and nightly hot flushes left me an insomniac. So, I set out to find new tools to discover what the menopausal body needs to get a consistent, restorative night’s sleep.
REGULATE YOUR TEMPERATURE
As the sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone start to decline,the drop in oestrogen levels initiates hot flushes, especially at night, because the sharp decline in oestrogen signals your hypothalamus to turn up the heat. These highs and lows of oestrogen can be extreme, leaving you drenched multiple times at night.
