Items Tagged With Menopause

Many women going through menopause often experience insomnia, an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night. This is a normal side effect of menopause and is usually caused by symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes.

I Am Not Sleeping Well at Night. Do I Have Insomnia?

Symptoms of insomnia can include one or more of the following:

• Difficulty falling asleep.
• Waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep.
• Waking up too early in the morning.
• Non-refreshing sleep (feeling tired upon waking and throughout the day).

Will Drinking Alcohol or Warm Milk Help Me to Fall Asleep?

Alcohol may help you relax and fall asleep, but it should not be used as a sleep aid because it has a rebound effect. It can disturb your sleep later and can cause you to awaken in the middle of the night.

Milk contains a substance called tryptophan. The body uses tryptophan to make serotonin, a chemical in the brain. Serotonin helps control sleep patterns, appetite, pain, and other functions. Milk does not contain enough tryptophan to change sleep patterns, but drinking a glass of milk before bed may help you relax.

How Is Insomnia Treated?

There are many steps you can take to get yourself sleeping soundly through the night. Here are some tips.

• Do not nap during the day.
• Exercise daily. However, be sure to avoid vigorous exercise 3 hours before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol and nicotine throughout the entire day.
• Keep your bedroom cool to prevent night sweats.
• Do not go to bed until you are tired.
• Take a warm bath or shower at bedtime.
• Do not watch television, eat or read in bed. Do these activities in another room until you feel sleepy.
• Follow the same bedtime routine each night.
• Avoid using sleeping pills.

When lifestyle changes such as these fail to remedy insomnia, talk to your doctor. There may be other options that can help. He or she may be able to prescribe temporary medicine to help you sleep and get you sleeping regularly. In addition, your doctor can rule out other conditions that may be causing your sleep problem. For example, if depression is causing your sleep problems, your doctor may prescribe an antidepressant.

If your insomnia is a result of menopausal symptoms, you may also want to talk to your doctor about taking hormone therapy (HT) for a short period of time. HT may help alleviate symptoms that are causing your sleep problem.

Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Women's Health Center

Menopause  Menopause Sleeping Disorders 

A 48-year old woman came into my office a few months ago. She was complaining of fatigue and a sense of depression. In addition, she was concerned that her weight had begun to "shift" to her middle and her desire for sex had become negligible. Her periods were irregular and infrequent. I saw her and attributed her symptoms to menopause. We discussed the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy and she elected to try it. We also discussed the benefits of calcium supplementation.

The patient returned for a follow-up visit a few weeks ago. Although she had no problems with the hormone replacement and had started taking the calcium supplementation, she was still feeling fatigued and depressed. Based on her symptoms and physical exam, I ordered a few tests, including a thyroid screen (TSH). The results came back showing she had hypothyroidism.

According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), millions of women with unresolved menopausal-like symptoms, even those taking estrogen, may be suffering from undiagnosed thyroid disease. While symptoms such as fatigue, depression, mood swings, and sleep disturbances are frequently associated with menopause, they may also be signs of hypothyroidism. A survey done by the AACE showed that only 1 in 4 women who have discussed menopause and its symptoms with a physician were also tested for thyroid disease. The thyroid plays a role in regulating overall body metabolism and influences the heart, brain, kidney, and reproductive system, along with muscle strength and appetite.

The case presented above illustrates how the symptoms of hypothyroidism can be attributed to menopause. While the issue of menopause needs to be addressed, it is also important to remember that the incidence of hypothyroidism increases with aging and can co-exist with other conditions.

As patients, you should be aware of the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism and let your doctor know if you have concerns about your thyroid function. If you are a woman experiencing symptoms of menopause, do not hesitate to discuss them with your doctor. If you feel that the symptoms are persisting despite appropriate therapy, it may be worthwhile to have your TSH checked. A blood sample is all that is needed to make the initial diagnosis of hypothyroidism and treatment is easily achieved with thyroid replacement therapy. Remember that a simple blood test may be the key to improving your quality of life in the menopausal stage and for years to come!

VitaDocs Medical Reference from MedicineNet

Menopause  Menopause Symptoms  Thyroid and Menopause 

What Are the Symptoms?

Not all women experience symptoms with the onset of menopause. If menopausal symptoms occur, they may include hot flashes, night sweats, pain during intercourse, increased anxiety or irritability, and the need to urinate more often.

Call Your Doctor If:

• You experience bleeding again after menopause. Among other possibilities, bleeding may be a sign of uterine cancer, so you should see your doctor.
• Your symptoms are causing problems or interfering with your daily life. Your doctor may be able to prescribe medications to help relieve your symptoms.

VitaDocs Medical Reference

Menopause  Menopause Symptoms  Understanding Menopause Symptoms 

You have this incredible best friend named Hannah. And you have been through it all, together - marriage, pregnancy, parenting, job promotions, job loss, spousal problems, maybe even divorce. There isn't anything that you and Hannah haven't shared in your lifelong friendship. You couldn't be closer if you were sisters.

Then one day you meet Hannah for lunch. You're wearing this brand new blue sweater and you can't wait to get her opinion on it. But when you ask her how she likes it, she says it's nice -- but comments that she likes you better in pink.

KABOOM! In an instant, your best friend turns into the wicked witch of the West! You're feeling hurt beyond belief, immediately convinced she's always been jealous of you, and, totally certain that the only reason she said you look better in pink is because you actually look better in blue! Within moments you work yourself up into believing she was never really your friend at all.

What's going on? It's just your brain -- on menopause! A time when everything can seem topsy-turvey, when you cry at the drop of a hat, when every single molehill looks like a mountain, and, yes, a time when even a seemingly innocent comment from a good friend can leave you screaming mad or unbearably hurt.

Menopause Hormones Affect the Brain, Too

But what's happening, and why? In a word, the answer is "hormones."

"The constant change of hormone levels during this time can have a troubling effect on emotions ... leaving some women to feel irritable and even depressed," reports the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Indeed, while everyone thinks of hormones as the chemicals that drive our reproductive system, in truth, there are receptors for both estrogen and progesterone throughout our body.

When these hormone levels begin to decline, as they do in the months and years leading up to menopause, every system that has these hormone receptors registers the change, and that includes your brain.

And while most of us can recite chapter and verse about what happens to our uterus or ovaries around this time (including problems like irregular bleeding or declining fertility), we hear very little about what happens when the hormone receptors in our brain begin running on empty!

What does happen? A disruption in an entire chain of biochemical activity, which in turn affects the production of mood-regulating chemicals, including serotonin and endorphins.

The end result: Mood swings, temper tantrums, depression, surprising highs followed by equally unexpected lows -- and none of it seems to make any sense.

"Your ovaries are failing and trying to keep up estrogen production. Some days they overshoot it, other days they can't produce enough," says Darlene Lockwood, MD, assistant professor at the University of California in San Francisco.

Each time your hormones do a little dance, your brain chemistry has to compensate. When the change is small, that compensation occurs quickly, and you hardly notice any symptoms.

But when it's more dramatic, an entire range of unexpected behaviors can come alive: You burst into tears when the bakery is out of rye bread. You weep uncontrollably during a greeting card commercial. You find that one minute you're loving your son's new girlfriend and the next you have an overwhelming urge to push her face into a cream pie. And nothing seems to make any sense.