As well as being a frustrating symptom of menopause, hot flashes can have some unpleasant side effects of their own - insomnia being one of the more physically debilitating ones. Experiencing a hot flash during the night not only affects how you feel, it interrupts your sleep patterns and has a longer term impact on your health.
My grandma used to say she had "eyes like saucers" when her hot flashes were keeping her awake at night - I think she meant she was suddenly wide awake and unable to get back to sleep - but we certainly got the picture.
A girl friend of mine once suggested to me that the reason women wake during the night is so they can "keep the fire going", referring to a state of affairs during our ancestors time thousands of years ago. Personally I'm not so sure, but even Shakespeare wrote about it in Macbeth where he enlists the services of a physician to treat his wife's insomnia: "Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Race out the written troubles of the brain; And with-some sweet oblivious antidote cleanse the stuft bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon the heart."
How HRT Has Impacted Insomnia
So even though we have suffered from insomnia for hundreds of years, it seems to have been getting worse more recently. The reason behind this could be related to women having stopped using hormone replacement therapy after the tests told us that the risks far outweighed any potential benefits. The sudden withdrawals lead to recurrences of menopause symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats and problems sleeping.
A lot of women are now going through a whole heap of menopause symptoms again, that they had once thought gone for good. But the good news is that there are other solutions to the age old condition, and many of these are now showing to be very effective at not only treating the symptoms, but in protecting our health as well.
Although it's fairly common, particularly for menopausal and post-menopausal women, insomnia and sleeplessness isn't a "one size fits all" problem, but with a few simple approaches, it's fairly straightforward to determine which treatment would be best for you.
The first approach should be to consult with your health care practitioner or doctor and review your medical history. This can help narrow down your options and make your decision easier. For some women, some form of hormone replacement therapy may still be the best short term answer.
How Aging and Insomnia Interact
As we enter our early fifties, we all start to experience disruptions to our normal sleep patterns. Depending on which of the 5stages of sleep is impacted determines how serious it is. The first two stages, transitional sleep and light sleep are known as Non Rapid Eye Movement stages or NREM.
Stages three and four are known as deep or Delta sleep, and these are the most restful - these are the stages we need to get to quickly and remain in longest. Stage five is known as REM or Rapid Eye Movement. This is when we dream and take up about 20 percent of our sleep time.
As we age, particularly as we reach 50, we spend more time in sleep stages one and two, which means we tend to sleep lighter and are more prone to wake up prematurely. This has a knock on effect which makes us get tired earlier at night, and wake earlier in the morning. But we still have many options for improving our sleep.
The first thing you need to do is figure out your sleep pattern and where the problem lies. Some people have difficulty falling asleep, while others will have problems staying asleep. Your problem may be that you're being woken by experiencing a hot flash, or it may be that you wake up, and then have the hot flush. So make some notes for reference.
The Role of Natural Herbal Remedies
While there are some very specific herbs for menopause, not all herbal remedies are everything they claim to be - so tread carefully. Over the counter sleeping medications can help for a while, but these should be viewed as a short term solution to help you start sleeping properly again. Your aim is to create a new sleep pattern (like your original one when you slept right through the night), rather then rely on drugs to make you sleep.
How To Stop Hot Flashes From Disrupting Your Sleep
If your hot flashes are causing your insomnia, you need to find out what is triggering them. For some women it's having a dream in the middle of the night that brings it on, for others it could be something as simple as a "spooky" noise like the heating system switching on. Rather than treating the symptoms with sleeping pills, look for the triggers and manage those.
You have to find out what your body needs and work with it to get back into your normal routine.
In many cases, the solution can be as simple as changing your diet or your routine. Allocating 30 to 60 minutes last thing at night to winding down and relaxing can be time well spent. Relaxing in a darkened room is a great way to unwind and help your body produce its sleep hormones like melatonin. Don't do anything stimulating before bed - like exercise, or hot showers.
Diet is also very important - what we eat has a huge impact on how our body works. Some speciality teas for example can induce hot flashes, so choose carefully and do a bit of research. Believe it or not, carbohydrates also increase your sleep hormones, so if you're on a low carb diet you may want to make a few exceptions in the evening. And warm milk can be a great help to induce sleep, but I'd recommend a non-dairy alternative like soy milk.
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