Print

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

[shakilla]

Hi all,

I'm currently on 100mg oestrogel and 2 tablets utragestan daily.  The thing is my sleep has gone back to how it was when I was first peri menopausal. I'm literally getting 4 hours sleep then I ping wide awake and can not get back to sleep. All my other symptoms are fine no sweats anything like that. The sleep is really getting me down I'm absolutely frazzled by it.

[K45]

Have you tried magnesium glycinate or melatonin?

[CLKD]

What time do you ping awake, it could be the cortisol hormone 

[shakilla]

I take magnesium gylcinate. Melatonin didn't work for me but I'm wondering if the dose was too high.
The doctor prescribed me zopicline but I still pinged awake.
Clkd, that's interesting. Could be as I feel really anxious at moment. I've started dating again 2 years after leaving a very abusive relationship and thinking about it now its started at the same time as I started dating.
How do you lower cortisol?

[CLKD]

Well done on getting out!  There is ongoing support to access. 

Does the new romance know about your history?  If the anxiety is relative to this then a short term anti-anxiety medication will help.  My GP gave me Valium which I would take 5mg the night B4 an event that I was unable to get out of; then in more recent years Propranolol.  Don't know how to stop the cortisol surges the the beta-blocka helped.

My gut doesn't recognise the difference between excitement and anxiety 

[shakilla]

Thank you. He does know that it was bad relationship but i dont want to tell him what happend as im scared he"ll judge me for staying in it so long. . He is being supportive. But I just feel so anxious. Like a constant dread that something bad will happen. 
I think I will try some sort of medication. I've just become really wary about any medication now uve gone peri because I'm always scared something will knock me off kilter. But I cant keep carrying on with no sleep.

[chopsuey]

Cortisol is a stress hormone, so can be lowered through relaxation methods - breathing exercises, yoga, meditation etc

However, being in a new relationship is bound to stir up lots of emotions, fears and anxiety if you have been in a very abusive relationship before that. Well done for getting out of it, however it will no doubt have left its mark on you psychologically.  Did you have any kind of therapy after you came out of it? You can access CBT type therapy through the NHS Talking Therapies, which can be helpful for dealing with anxiety. Good to hear that the new man in your life is being supportive though.   

Regardless of whether or not you choose to take any medication, I think it would be helpful to talk through your thoughts and experiences with someone trained in psychological therapy, as medication does not deal with the underlying issues and as you say, can cause issues of its own.

[CLKD]

'Staying in it for so long' - I think that is a common mis-conception, from the outside many can say 'get out now' but there R 1,000s of reasons why it's necessary to remain. Children; pets; cultural expectations; money issues ......... 1 has to feel safe enough to flee as that is the most dangerous part of getting out, if the partner realises!

Half a day at a time.  Be kind to yourself, trauma may be buried as part of the relief at being away.  Similar situations may well trigger certain issues.  Nice response from chopsuey ...... there is a kick start for 'call Angela' in public places, i.e. Pubs. U may find that is a start to accessing therapy when U feel ready shakilla.  Or through your GP or MIND Charity. 

U need to feel safe, validated for the over all situation and be ready to move forwards at your pace.  Let us know how you get on. 

Look at yourself in the mirror and say "I did this, my time to move forwards " ......... 

Could it be dreams that pop U awake?  Anything that I have guilt about causes me to jump as I'm dropping off to sleep  .   

[shakilla]

Thank you so much for your kind words and support really means a lot. My way of coping has been to just try to Bury it deep and carry on. But its obviously not working and I think it is time to look at therapy and start working through the trauma.
Really needed this, you've helped me a lot.

[CLKD]

I buried issues from early childhood: my parents shouted at each other continually because each wanted 2 B right!  they began over the tea table and often muttered or shouted until bed time:  into my 30s    and venting with a stranger who couldn't tell me 'that couldn't have happened due to X Y Z' really allowed me to empty my brain  .......... journalling helped to, pouring thoughts onto a page that no1 else would read. 

If the 1st therapy doesn't seem to be helping then find another person.  [read my previous thread about ask Angela too].  A government initiative for those in trouble to ask for assistance i.e. in pubs. though not all staff have been trained 

[shakilla]

Thank you Clkd. Drf seer the benefits of talking to someone who doesn't know you. I've heard a lot about journelling and getting it all put of your head and on paper.  I'm going to give it a try. Feel like I needed this to get me out of just being stuck in my head all of the time. Thank you.

[CLKD]

Morning.  I'm a great one for putting the World to rights in my head, conversations etc.. 

[joziel]

There are some natural supplements which are really effective at lowering cortisol but first you really want to do a 4 point saliva test to check if it is high. The symptoms of low and high cortisol are very similar and if you take cortisol lowering supplements when your cortisol is already low, it will make it worse. Furthermore when you know what times of day your cortisol is too low/high, you can target those times.

Medichecks.com do a 4 point saliva cortisol test.

If your cortisol is high, you can take zinc, ashwaganda, Alpha-GPC and Seriphos (the latter especially good) about 1hr before your high cortisol times.

You can also take another dose of all that when you wake in the night.

My sleep stack at the moment is:

All the above around 6pm.
Magnesium l-threonate, inositol and glycine around 9pm.
Melatonin (5mg) and l-theanine at 10pm.
Utrogestan around 11pm before bed.
When I wake in the night: More melatonin and l-theanine and Seriphos, plus a tiny dose of 2.5mcg T3 (thyroid med).

But also make sure your estrogen is high enough. I am sleeping so much better since getting mine up. If you are on 100mcg patch, get your bloods tested to be sure you are absorbing it. Most women in peri-meno need between 450-650pmol to be symptom-free although some need higher. (I'm around 800pmol.) If you need to increase estrogen, you might need to go private as GPs can often refuse more than the licensed dose.

[CLKD]

I used Bachs Rescue Remedy mouth spray with success.

[Ms_london76]

I take one progesterone at night and been adding an edible gummy. With cbd, cbn and thc.

Varies from night to night, one night I slept 6hrs straight while last night 4.5hrs before I had to pee and would fall back asleep.

I used to take melatonin, already taking magnisium glycine. Trying to have a proper sleep routine works too