Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[K45]

Thanks so much Joziel - it's really reassuring to hear that you were able to switch to continous after only a few months on HRT. The 3-5 days break makes sense especially when you know your own cycle is still strong. Bleeding does seem to be the big reason why we're advised to do the on/off utrogestan in perimenopause but the bleeding is less of a concern than feeling like you're literally losing your mind!

[wenbird75]

So I have a weird problem where I don’t sleep or get an hour or two hours of sleep.

But feel absolutely wired in the am, I cant figure out. This has been a new things for me to sort out.

Hi it is truly miserable!!  How long have you been going through this?  Are you in peri or menopause?

[wenbird75]

I agree but there is a caveat...it depends on how you react to HRT as in perimenopause the stop start progesterone every 2 weeks means I sleep incredibly well just half the month and feel calm then it's the complete opposite horrific anxiety and insomnia. I'm at the point where I'm scared the utrogestan is dangerous for my mental health and damaging my brain. Is the answer less utrogestan or more and I don't know if the GPs even understand what this drug can do to your mind. Sorry for the very long post! 

That is where I am at!  Since I am still having my cycle every month, although it is not as regular, I can’t tell if the HRT is helping or hurting.   I think during this perimenopause phase, our hormones are naturally fluctuating very high and very low..  complicated by much less sleep, creating high anxiety for me, which is probably also spiking cortisol. It is a wicked bag of tricks against the body..  I feel so incredibly frustrated that the life I once had a couple of years ago. The joy I had in life, would love going to my bedroom at night to crawl in and relax and fall asleep. Seems like such a distant past and unreachable at this point.  It truly does bring on depression.   

[joziel]

wenbird I know where you're at with that because I've been there too.

It is getting better now and I can actually look forwards to my bed at night, even if things are not yet perfect. So you can get through this.

For me, I needed a lot more estrogen to get me into the 450-650pmol range. At least, I assume I'm in that range but will confirm in a few weeks after bloods are done...

[wenbird75]

Thank you so much for your kind responses and it does help a little to know that I am not alone in this.  Sure is a total game changer for a girl who has always been high energy and high functioning.  Some mornings after sleepless night I feel I have absolutely zero motivation. 

What stage of perimenopause or menopause are you at?  Do you still have periods?   I am so happy to know that things get a little better. I am hoping once I am done having my periods we can get the HRT more regulated.

[joziel]

Yes, I still have periods. Although they have become much lighter on HRT than before starting it, whatever that means. Maybe just because I'm taking a lot of progesterone (300mg continuous).

[wenbird75]

How is your sleep on a weekly basis now that your HRT is optimized?  Do you still have nights where you can’t sleep at all or is that gone mostly

[joziel]

It's very rare to have a night where I don't sleep at all now. I had a few of those a year or so ago before I got estrogen up, plus many consecutive nights of 3 hours sleep a night - very hard to function.

I'm not sure my HRT is optimised yet, I need to do bloods to see what levels are. I still have light inner tremors and I still wake a few times a night but it's mostly momentary and then I get myself under again.

I am now getting about an hour of deep sleep, split over about 3 sessions a night - which is a new record. That only started the last few days. (I've only been on my current dosage just over a week.)

I still tend to wake early and then find it hard to get back to sleep, but 'early' is now about 6.30am instead of 4am. And this morning I actually went back to sleep for almost 2 hours with that old 'I am really tired and don't want to get up' thing I haven't had in FOUR YEARS.

So yes, I go to sleep relatively easily - within about 30mins now. (Used to lie awake for hours.) I do wake momentarily still a few times a night, but it's for split seconds and I go back to sleep again. (These get registered on the Apple Watch too, which is interesting.) I am getting much more deep sleep. And my idea of 'early' is much later than it used to be. But I do still have the light inner tremors, especially when I wake early. (Somehow this is connected with the waking.)

[Minusminnie]

Joziel could your improved sleep be due to you recently coming off of thyroid medication? Just curious.

[K45]

Hi Wenbird, I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this too. It is a horrific time with so many hormonal changes and you end up mor knowing whether you are coming or going! Sleep is even more important at this point in our lives and does seem to have a big impact on mood. I was really low last week and was ready to throw in the towel with hrt but after a few nights of better sleep on antihistamines and high dose vit D3 my mood has come back up & everything feels less overwhelming. I've decided to keep a diary of my moods/sleep on and off the utrogestan so I will have a better picture of whether things are working or need changing.  I've also swapped tv for reading which is settling my mind more before bed. I don't think there's a magic bullet to sort sleep out but lots of things combined that might make it easier. Melatonin is another option that might help? Hope you're week is going Ok & things improve!

[joziel]

Minusminnie, I don't think so - because the entire reason I am on thyroid medication, is because of these symptoms. It was a trial to see if starting thyroid meds could help them. Which it didn't at all.

I had these symptoms for nearly 3 years before starting thyroid meds and they continued the same regardless of what I did with thyroid meds, so no - I don't think coming off the thyroid meds is the reason I'm sleeping better, or I wouldn't have been sleeping with these symptoms for 3 years before I started them...

[Minusminnie]

I see it was just a passing thought on my part …take no notice of me !

[wenbird75]

It's very rare to have a night where I don't sleep at all now. I had a few of those a year or so ago before I got estrogen up, plus many consecutive nights of 3 hours sleep a night - very hard to function.

I'm not sure my HRT is optimised yet, I need to do bloods to see what levels are. I still have light inner tremors and I still wake a few times a night but it's mostly momentary and then I get myself under again.

I am now getting about an hour of deep sleep, split over about 3 sessions a night - which is a new record. That only started the last few days. (I've only been on my current dosage just over a week.)

I still tend to wake early and then find it hard to get back to sleep, but 'early' is now about 6.30am instead of 4am. And this morning I actually went back to sleep for almost 2 hours with that old 'I am really tired and don't want to get up' thing I haven't had in FOUR YEARS.

So yes, I go to sleep relatively easily - within about 30mins now. (Used to lie awake for hours.) I do wake momentarily still a few times a night, but it's for split seconds and I go back to sleep again. (These get registered on the Apple Watch too, which is interesting.) I am getting much more deep sleep. And my idea of 'early' is much later than it used to be. But I do still have the light inner tremors, especially when I wake early. (Somehow this is connected with the waking.)

Thank you so much for all of your time. Sharing this with me. Sounds like our experience is quite similar.

Can you telll me more about the light tremors?  Does it feel like light muscle twitching?

[wenbird75]

Hi Wenbird, I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this too. It is a horrific time with so many hormonal changes and you end up mor knowing whether you are coming or going! Sleep is even more important at this point in our lives and does seem to have a big impact on mood. I was really low last week and was ready to throw in the towel with hrt but after a few nights of better sleep on antihistamines and high dose vit D3 my mood has come back up & everything feels less overwhelming. I've decided to keep a diary of my moods/sleep on and off the utrogestan so I will have a better picture of whether things are working or need changing.  I've also swapped tv for reading which is settling my mind more before bed. I don't think there's a magic bullet to sort sleep out but lots of things combined that might make it easier. Melatonin is another option that might help? Hope you're week is going Ok & things improve!

Ugh I’m sorry it’s truly a rough time of life! 
Do antihistamines help with sleep?  What do you take?

[joziel]

Yes, the tremors feel exactly like light muscle twitching.

Well, when they were at their worst a few years ago they actually felt like the bed was moving under me because I was shaking so much and it was in my core as well. I mean, the bed seemed to be moving and at first I thought my husband was scratching himself lying next to me. Then I thought... is he having a w*nk?!?  But it went on and on with exactly the same rhythm and not even a slight pause 

So then I sat up in bed quickly to catch whatever he was doing..... AND HE WAS FAST ASLEEP 

At which point, I realised THIS WAS ME. 

Anyway, the tremors are way better now. They feel like a light buzzing or fizzing and are mostly in my feet and calves, although I do occasionally get them in my hands during the night.