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[Shopaholic]

Hi all, im 52 and having been going through peri/ menopause for a few years now. I started hrt with evorel patches but after a year were no longer effective as moods and sleep worsened. So GP then prescribed me oestrogel 2 pumps daily along with utrogeston daily and was told the utrogeston acts as a sedative and would help with sleep.Have been on this a few months now and still no improvement i feel utterly exhausted. I cant actually go off to sleep even though so exhausted .Dont want to be around family and friends due to feeling so negative. Now having to take sleeping pills so i can function and keep the little sanity i have left. So if anyone has any thoughts or advise it would be much appreciated

[Flossieteacake]

Hello Shopaholic and welcome. I am so sorry you have insomnia. It is such an awful thing not to be able to sleep. I am wondering if you need a tweak to your HRT. I get periods were it takes me ages to sleep but I do not go through a whole night without any sleep. I am sure other members will be along with some advice for you.

[CLKD]

Hi.  It's common.     I have used an anti-histamine in the past, less addictive than sleeping pills.

Do U wake in the night to see whether you have gone to sleep, I used to  .  Some find that having a notepad and pen by the bed to jot down issues that might wake them helpful, out of the brain and onto the pad! 

R U able to delegate chores around the house? 

[Dotty]

Sounds like you need to increase the Oestrogel x

[Shopaholic]

I do have an appointment coming up with GP and was wondering whether to ask about increasing the oestrogel but so worried about making things worse but thankyou

[sheila99]

Insomnia is a symptom of oestrogen deficiency. For most people utro helps with sleep but for a few it makes it worse. I would increase oestrogen but if it doesn't help try a couple of months on a sequi regime so you can see if you're OK when not taking utro.

[discogirl]

hi shopaholic

i am 4yrs post meno and started hrt last august. i had chronic insomnia anxiety and tinnitus. all of which are meno symptoms.  id always slept well so the not sleeping bit was hard.

i started on patches then in nov moved to gel. i slowly increased the gel and i am now on 4 pumps a day and my sleep is so much better.

 a couple of people and one lady in particular really really helped me and she still does. so stay connected to MM and keep talking to us!

so for me i needed more estrogen. but please do the increase slowly.

i take the utro before bed vaginally.

take care and it will get better it just takes time and patience.

take care and all the very best xxx

[Mary G]

Shopaholic, insomnia is one of the many symptoms women experience at menopause but it is often overlooked and some women don't even realise it's connected to diminishing hormones. 

Good levels of oestrogen should help plus the right dose of progesterone but this may not be enough.   I use melatonin for migraine prevention but it's an excellent sleep aid and definitely worth a try - you will have to buy it online.  The average dose is 3mg but I take 1.5mg now otherwise I would never wake up!

It's really important to find a solution to insomnia because it badly affects your mental and physical health.

[KaraShannon]

I'm still having sleep problems.  But I've had them so long now and I have a lot of noise where I live so it's hard to know which is the bigger problem (though I think once upon a time I'd sleep through anything).

Strangely when I use vaginal estradiol I seem to sleep like a log that night.  They say it doesn't get in the blood stream but it has this effect every time.  I find the patches, evorel sequi, help all symptoms but not with sleep.  Anxiety is probably a big issue with me too though.

[Shopaholic]

Hi and thank-you all for the advice its been very helpful and reassuring.I find talking to the Gp daunting but now feel i have more information and questions to ask. X

[Honeybee2]

I had horrendous insomnia … AWFUL
My insomnia has only improved recently when I increased oestrogen. I increased slowly starting on 1 pump of oestrogel about a year ago  increased to 2 pumps a few months later then changed to Evorel 50 without using the gel the last couple of months  But still suffered terrible sleep issues early waking with palpatations and feeling too wired to get back off to sleep ,but my insomnia has only improved when adding in 1 pump of gel to top up the patch which I tried very recently  so lack of oestrogen seemed to be the case for me plus my night sweats have eased and palpatations x
Hang on in there sending you a hug