sleepless nights
Question:
I am new here, and have a few (probably redundant questions) First is sleepless nights connected with menopause…it’s 2:40 and I am bug eyed. Have cut out coffee and everything I can think of. Second, the sweats, do they come and go….haven’t had one for over a month, but used to get them daily. From the top of my head to my toes….YUCK What do you think about trying to go through all of this lousy crap without any drugs….. Thanks, in advance Sue S.
Response:
On Tue, 18 Aug 1998 02:44:42 -0400, "Sue" <kents…@gte.net> wrote: >I am new here, and have a few (probably redundant questions) >First is sleepless nights connected with menopause…it’s 2:40 and I am bug >eyed. Have cut out coffee and everything I can think of.
This is incredibly common. It bothered me until I decided to think positively about how I could use the extra time. Like you, I use it to read asm and other newsgroups, write emails and occasionally watch a film. The moment I started thinking of it in a positive way I found that some nights I have no problem sleeping. The last two have been terrible, 4 hours each and on work nights. _This_ is the real difficulty. At weekends, I sleep whenever I feel like it and overall, obtain enough. If there is any way you can do this, try it. Sleeping alone could be helpful, as well, as you won’t worry about waking your partner. >Second, the sweats, do they come and go….haven’t had one for over a month, >but used to get them daily. From the top of my head to my toes….YUCK
Well, you’ve answered this yourself. >What do you think about trying to go through all of this lousy crap without >any drugs…..
This has to be a personal decision based on your lifestyle and your medical history. I started taking HRT last November because I was incapacitated work-wise. I’m now tailing it off to see how I go. If your daily sweats return and you work in a situation which makes this totally unacceptable then maybe trying HRT for a while may be the answer (assuming there are no contra-indications for its use). It isn’t a life-time sentence, after all, but may get you through a rough patch. It hasn’t helped me with my sleep or fog though others may report differently. Best wishes Joanna
Response:
Sue wrote: > I am new here, and have a few (probably redundant questions)
Welcome to the group, Sue. Some of us may have heard the questions before, but if they’re new for you, they’re not redundant. > First is sleepless nights connected with menopause…it’s 2:40 and I am bug > eyed. Have cut out coffee and everything I can think of.
Yes, definitely. Lots of women here report insomnia, and it’s one of the "official" symptoms of perimenopause (the time leading up to the end of your periods, which can be several years.) > Second, the sweats, do they come and go….haven’t had one for over a month, > but used to get them daily. From the top of my head to my toes….YUCK
Also a recognized symptom, and one of my own least favorite. Yuck is right. You might wish to look at the following web site: http://www.oxford.net/~tishy/asm.html It’s the unofficial a.s.m. site, and packed with really useful information, including a list of peri-related symptoms and some strategies for coping with them. > What do you think about trying to go through all of this lousy crap without > any drugs…..
Well, that’s what I’m doing, and so far it’s been working out pretty well. I think it depends on you – how you feel, whether your symptoms are disrupting your life and how you sit with the various risk factors that have been associated with taking hormones and other drugs. Again, the Web site is a good place to start gathering the information you need to make an educated decision. There are also several good books out there — a favorite with some posters here (including me) is Dr. Susan Love’s Hormone Book; there are others. Meantime, a couple of suggestions you might think about: * Is it possible for you to *use* the insomnia? When I can’t sleep, I try to think of it as extra time, not for doing chores or anything burdensome, but for myself. I might read, or write in my journal, or listen to some music or just sit on the porch in the moonlight with my cat in my lap. I find these things restful and soothing even if I’m not getting the sleep I wish I could get. It sure beats tossing and turning in bed all night! In fact, I try to stay *out* of bed if I can’t sleep, because I don’t want to associate my bed with discomfort. * For the sweats: I get these with some frequency, and I’ve started keeping a clean pillowcase and a clean cotton T-shirt on my bedside table. When I wake up drenched, I get up, throw the covers back to air out the damp sheets, strip off my T-shirt and then head to the bathroom to wipe myself down with a cool, damp washcloth. Sometimes I stand in front of the open window to dry off and cool down. Change the pillowcase and T-shirt and back to bed. I’ve gotten to the point where I can do all this in the dark, and I hardly even wake up! (If you have a sleeping partner, this might be trickier; some women here have talked about setting up separate sleeping arrangments so they don’t disturb their partners during these wakeful, sweaty nights.) –Pat Kight kig…@peak.org
Response:
Hi, bug-eyes. Having had a sleepless one last night (unusual for me), I have some sympathy for you right now. Wonder if we were up and bug-eyed together? Have you checked out the web site? http://www.oxford.net/~tishy/asm.html There’s a good collection of tips and links to other online resources for all of our "favorite" symptoms there. In fact, if you don’t like the symptoms you have, you could probably shop our list of 33 symptoms and pick up some new ones… I hope you find some helpful advice here or on the web site. Regards, vlhb…@aol.com
Response:
Vlhb002 wrote: > Hi, bug-eyes. Having had a sleepless one last night (unusual for me), I have > some sympathy for you right now. Wonder if we were up and bug-eyed together?
<snip> I don’t know about Sue, but a check of some of my posting times will find me right there with you, bug-eyed and bushy-tailed in the middle of the dadgum night. Some nights I read, some nights I watch TV, sometimes I come here, sometimes I search the Web for medieval art. — -~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-*~~-*~~-*~~- -Grey- -~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-*~~-*~~-*~~-
Response:
Grey wrote: >sometimes I search the Web for medieval art
I assume you’ve tried these two URLs (okay, so I’m teaching my grandmother how to suck eggs): http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/ http://orb.rhodes.edu/ Regards, vlhb…@aol.com
Response:
Vlhb002 wrote: > Grey wrote: > >sometimes I search the Web for medieval art > I assume you’ve tried these two URLs (okay, so I’m teaching my grandmother how > to suck eggs): > http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/ > http://orb.rhodes.edu/
Those were two I hadn’t seen! Thanks a bunch–I’m almost looking forward to the next bout with insomnia! — -~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-*~~-*~~-*~~- -Grey- -~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-~~*~~-*~~-*~~-*~~-
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Sue wrote: > I am new here, and have a few (probably redundant questions) > First is sleepless nights connected with menopause…it’s 2:40 and I am bug > eyed. Have cut out coffee and everything I can think of. > Second, the sweats, do they come and go….haven’t had one for over a month, > but used to get them daily. From the top of my head to my toes….YUCK > What do you think about trying to go through all of this lousy crap without > any drugs….. > Thanks, in advance > Sue S.
Hi Sue: Insomnia was one of the exacerbation of symptoms I suddenly got last year and the most disturbing, but finding out how common it is made me feel a lot better. First, if you can use either chamomile tea or warm milk (my tummy says no to both) you could try these. Another suggestion my also-peri menopausal neighbor made, which I do is to take calcium supplements at night; my trainer says to take them with magnesium which I have also been doing (600 mg calcium, 400 mg. magnesium). A third suggestion is to try valerian herb; I am pretty drug sensitive and have had no reaction to it except that it may be helping you sleep. The tincture works faster than the pills. Sometimes I take a second dose when I wake up in the middle of the night. I also have prescription sleeping pills, but try to limit their use to once or twice a week; actually as my exacerbation of symptoms has been waning, I have gone two weeks without using them at all, which is cause for celebration for me. The other thing (this is *not* a joke) is if you have a pet, a dog or cat, try to get them to sleep on you; this is relaxing (for me) and the purring and kneading sometimes help me sleep. A suggestion I saw on a sleep web site was that when you wake up, go into another room, do something quietly for 20 minutes or so (like read) and then go back to bed. Finally, my late Mother said "if you can’t sleep, then just rest, and your body will get the benefit of the rest." I don’t know if that’s true for everyone but sometimes I think it helps me. Best wishes, RuthJ
Response:
One trick that has helped me is to keep a damp washcloth beside the bed at night — when I wake (normally with a flush), I alternate putting it across my forehead or spreading it over my chest. It feels wonderful, especially when the breeze from the ceiling fan hits it! I dampen the washcloth with water containing a drop of lavender oil (from the health food store) — it’s really potent, so a drop per 16 oz bottle of water is sufficient. According to the literature, lavender is specific for calming — seems to work for me. Mary
Response:
****************************************************** Catherine Browman <fake_addr…@nowhere.edu> wrote in article <fake_address-2105971612070…@news.yale.edu>… > In article <19970521185801.OAA01…@ladder02.news.aol.com>, > simsa…@aol.com (SimsaraZ) wrote: > > Hi all: > > Just curious if any out there has had difficulty sleeping due to a felling > > of suffocation and not being able to breathe. I find just before I am > >….
Yes, I have had that many times. I don’t know what causes it. Evelyn
Response:
I get sleepless nights becuse I am hungry, but I have also developed mild asthma since I started the menopause. I have just read of a link between PMT and asthma and in Britain the national asthma association produce a leaflet on this, so it can be related to hormonal changes even though no oe has suggested a link with the menopause. One of the most common allergies is to dustmites and there are a lot of those in bedrooms, bedlinen. OI course, I could be wrong, and it could be psychological, or homonal, but if it was an allergy to dust, you would feel panicky and restless if you cant breathe. One web site also suggested a link between menopause and low blood sugar and asthma. best wishes edda.
Response:
For someone feeling a sense of suffocation in trying to go to sleep, I would recommend you consult your MD promptly. Can you sleep in upright or with several pillows? If so, you might be having early congestive heart failure. This is not stopping of the heart, but an accumulation of extra fluid in the system that can back up into your lungs. There are other medical conditions that can cause the same feeling. If you’re cleared medically, then maybe it can be a symptom of menopause. Elizabeth Heimlich
Response:
In article <19970521185801.OAA01…@ladder02.news.aol.com>, simsa…@aol.com (SimsaraZ) wrote: > Hi all: > Just curious if any out there has had difficulty sleeping due to a felling > of suffocation and not being able to breathe. I find just before I am >….
This sounds as if it could be sleep apnea. There is a Usenet newsgroup you might be interested in. I think it’s called alt.support.sleep_disorders. There’s a machine–different forms are called Cpap, Dpap, Bipap–that sleep clinics recommend for sleep apnea. From when I lurked on this group months ago. Cathe (real email "brow…@haskins.yale.eedu" except replace the "ee" in "eedu" so "edu" has a single "e") [Note: Haskins, a non-profit speech research lab, is *not* part of Yale.]
Response:
Hi all: Just curious if any out there has had difficulty sleeping due to a felling of suffocation and not being able to breathe. I find just before I am about to doze off for the night and I am extremely tired, I am awakened by a frightening feeling of not being able to catch my breath almost like I’m being suffocated. This has just happend since I’ve become menopausal. Has anyone else experienced this? This only takes place during the sleep cycle. PLEASE HELP!!! THANKS
