Couldn't agree with Larky more! Insomnia is THE thing which gradually turned me from being a reasonably intelligent and usually articulate woman into a total gibbering idiot over the course of about a year. I just could not function on any meaningful level and every little thing became a major drama. I lost confidence in myself, became introverted and started to feel very low indeed.
I used to 'ping' awake EVERY night at about 3 or 4am feeling very hot and nauseous and then be unable to get back to sleep until about 5 or 6 when I could physically feel my body temperature reducing, by which time it was almost time to get up anyway. No really bad sweats - just heat.
I tried eating various things to see if that would settle me (even resorting to ginger wine at one stage!
) but more often than not, I just couldn't face eating or drinking in the middle of the night.
I finally decided it was totally stupid to keep on like this, went to the doctor's and came away with a week's-worth of sleeping tablets to see if they would "kick-start a normal sleeping pattern". They didn't - I STILL woke up at 3 or 4 in the morning whilst taking them and then felt like a zombie for most of the next day. Not wishing to be prescribed any more, I then left it for another 4 months before going back again, during which time I also started to experience dizzy spells. By this time, I had found this site and armed with information, I had a very productive double-appointment!
This time my GP (who is lovely, btw) started me on the route to HRT: I had blood tests to rule out any other problem, an ENT appointment to rule out any balance problems and when all results were clear, we discussed the pros and cons of HRT and pill/patches. I asked to try Tridestra (which I'd found out about here) as my periods were very infrequent and I didn't really want to to back to having monthly bleeds. My GP openly admits that she's not an expert on HRT and had never heard of Tridestra (and couldn't find it in her book because she was spelling it Try...!) but 3 months into a 9 month course, I can't believe what a huge difference it has made.
Good quality sleep has returned and everything else has got back to normal: energy levels up, concentration sooo much better, stringing-two-words-together not a problem, getting things done, much happier in myself and confidence returned.
I am horrified at the effect poor sleep had on me and my sincere sympathies go out to everyone who suffers, whether meno-related or not.