Marley's Health Advice
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Marley's Health Advice

Hey! My name is Marley and this is my health advice blog. Maintaining your health is easy when you are young. However, as you get older, you may develop illnesses and disorders as a result of your lifestyle choices. When I hit the age of 50 years old, I suddenly realised that I had a lot of problems which I had been ignoring for a long time. I decided to visit my doctor and seek help. Over the past year, I have worked closely with my doctor to improve my lifestyle and my health. I hope my blog inspires you to do the same.

Marley's Health Advice

Is Menopause Affecting Your Sleep?

Grace Henderson

Most older women have some menopausal symptoms. These may be mild in some people and more severe in others. If you think you might be starting to go through menopause, then you may wonder if some of the physical and psychological symptoms you're having are caused by this change in life.

For example, you may be experiencing problems sleeping that you've not had in the past. How might menopause affect your sleep, and what can you do about it?

How Menopause Affects Sleep

If you're menopausal, you may find that it is really hard to get a good night's sleep. You may have the odd night where your sleep is disrupted, or this may be a fairly constant thing for you at the moment. For example, you may have one or more of the following symptoms:

Night sweats

Night sweats are a common menopausal problem. You may wake up one or more times in the night feeling very hot and sweaty. Your sweats may be so bad that you have to change your night clothes or even your bedding.

Insomnia

If menopause is affecting your sleep, you may find that you are suffering from insomnia. This may be down to changing oestrogen levels, which affects your natural body clock. So, for example, you may find it hard to get to sleep. Or, you may wake up in the middle of the night or at an earlier hour than normal and find that you can't get back to sleep.

Anxiety

Menopause can affect your moods. This may be down to lower progesterone levels. If you are depressed or anxious, then you may find it harder to get to sleep and to have a good quality of sleep when you do actually manage to drop off.

Whatever the reason for your sleep disruption, your lack of sleep is also likely to affect your life during the day. You may feel tired all the time and find it harder to cope.

What to Do if Menopause Disrupts Your Sleep

If you aren't sleeping normally and think you are about to start the menopause or are going through it already, then talk to one of the GPs at your medical clinic. They can check if your sleep problems are menopausal or whether they have another cause.

If the menopause is the issue, then your GP can help. For example, they may suggest medications or hormone replacement therapy that can address some of the symptoms that affect your sleep. They can also give you lifestyle tips that may help.


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