Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Alternative Therapies => Topic started by: prestige on February 04, 2020, 08:51:08 AM
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Hi ladies,
I really need some advice. I'm not on any hrt, and the one most stressful ailment I currently experiencing is lack of sleep.
I would say at best I get an hour and that is about all. I'm at the stage where I may have to resign from my job, as I can't really perform properly on such little sleep. I also have to drive to work, so understandably hubby is really worried I may have an accident at this rate!
I do all the usual recommendations, no screens 2 hours before bedtime,no alcohol and no heavy meals etc. I also have very good sleep hygiene. Please can I ask you ladies to recommend something that has worked for you.
I'm practically on my knees at the moment....
Thank you :'(
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Gosh that sounds horrible.
Have you seen your GP at all. I experienced this for over a year during peri but my cause was night sweats. If that is not your problem it might be another cause your GP can help with.
I do occasionally go through sleepless periods now but I do certain things that help. One is physical exercise, even just a walk helps. Also anti histamines. The old fashioned ones that make you sleepy like prition. These I take for just two or three nights and that gets me back into a normal sleep pattern.
Hope that helps.
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Thanks for the speedy response Shadyglade!
Yes, its pretty terrible at the moment. I don't suffer from night sweats, just a total lack of sleep.
I have been to my GP a couple of months ago and he did give me a strip of 10 sleeping tablets, but I'm not sure he will prescribe them again if I go back to him. To be honest, he has suggested taking antidepressants in the past, but I'm really don't want to go down that route.
I'm sitting here feeling really terrible and very weepy. Lack of sleep makes everything seem like you are in a fog.
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Don't write of ADs prestige. My lack of sleep ended up with a total mental breakdown so I ended up on them anyway.
I don't like taking any medication at all but sometimes it's necessary. You don't have to be on them for ever. In my case it was only six months but it was long enough to get me back in a safe place.
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Morning! Lack of sleep is difficult to live with and the patten hard to break. I dropped off for 35 mins then was awake until at least 3.30 this morning. But I know what is keeping me awake :-\
Do you practice relaxation therapy? Starting from the toes: stretch, hold, relax. Work up the body in all the muscles groups tensing, holding, relaxing. It focusses the mind.
Some people think that they don't sleep much but in tests in sleep labs. actually doze more often than they realise. Do you lay there thinking "I must sleep?" I used to: then realised that I was coping in the day time in a very busy responsible job and hadn't fouled up.
I relaxed more and can now say 'ah well'. Are you able to drop off in the evenings, don't knock it, go with it!
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I'm so sorry to hear that Shadyglade. That must have been awful for you.
I just have a phobia about taking medication and I worry about coming off them in the future. I know if I start taking them, I will start to have anxiety issues about when to come off them. I know it sounds pathetic when you write it down. Alternatively, I can't survive on 1 hours sleep if at all a night, I end up being a total basket case :'(
I can't seem to be able to make a decision this morning. I phoned in sick at work this morning, but feel really guilty for doing this. Work is pretty manic at the moment, but I really couldn't face going in on such little sleep.
All I know is that round about 9 pm this evening I start to feel anxious about not being able to sleep. I will do all the right things but then get really annoyed at not being able to nod off.
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Morning! You are self fuelling the anxiety. Very easy to do .......... >:( :-\.
What's the worst: to rely for a while on appropriate medication or to not sleep? Once I find a medication that works for me I go with it. Knowing that it works as designed means that I never need to take more than prescribed.
Your GP or Practice Nurse can monitor how you are/not coping ...........
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There are clean medications that have fewer side effects and are not addictive. You really need to break the cycle otherwise it will just get worse.
Another thing that helps me is listening to the radio on my phone, if I wake and can't get back to sleep. BBC Sounds app is great for this. Listening to a drama or a documentary is distracting and absorbing. Many a time I have fallen asleep this way.
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Hope you have a better sleep tonight.
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Hi Shadyglade,
Much better night sleep - thank you for asking.
I was in quite a bit of a state yesterday. So much so that I rang the surgery and by some miracle got an appointment that morning. I saw a different GP who just listened to me talk. Well, I say talk it was more whimpering than talking ;D
Anyway, I rambled on about being literally frightened out of my wits of taking something that could be potentially additive. I did say it was a total irrational fear...but I fear nonetheless.
She has prescribed a small strip of sleeping tablets (apologies, I don't have them with me, so I can't recall what they are called) and a months supply of Mitrazpine. The deal is that I will take the sleeping tablets jut to end this vicious cycle of not sleeping. Once I have come of them and I'm still having issues, then I will take the Mitrazipine at night and go back to see her in a months time.
Just having a plan in my mind, made me feel a lot better and I left her office feeling a little bit lighter (if that makes any sense).
I would like to thank you and CLKD for being there for me yesterday. I had literally hit a wall and was feeling very desperate. OH was brilliant, but unless you have been through it, I'm not sure how much you can "feel"how that person's pain.
So a big online hug from me :clapping:
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Great news. :)
Do keep in touch though, especially if you need help.
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When peri hit i had many nights of zero sleep and was so desperate i ended up in the doctors begging for help.
Help came in the form of antidepressants and benzos. Mirrazapine was one of the drugs i was on and it had very serious adverse effects for me and nearly destroyed my life.
I give you my experience not to frighten you but to make you aware that these drugs do work for some but there is a lot of us out there whose lives were destroyed by these drugs. Google mirtazapine side effects and withdrawal and you will see a sample of the hell some suffer.
I eventually went on hrt and was able to sleep. I weaned off it and have been off close to six months and still sleeping ok touch wood.
If your insomnia is from meno then hrt may be a better option.
Either way i am so sorry you are suffering so badly. I hope you get relief soon.
Xxx
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Alua197 - how did you become reliant on the medication that you were prescribed?
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OMG Alua197 that sounds pretty awful. Glad to hear you are now on the right track with HRT.
Unfortunately after various attempts with HRT, I decided it was not for me. It came with a long list of side effects, so it felt (from my own personal perspective) silly to continue down this route.
I have been taking a quarter of the sleeping tablet prescribed and this helps me nod off and get about 7.5 hours sleep. This in turn has completely turned my mood and I feel I can now function not only at work....but at home too.
In terms of taking antidepressants, I feel we are all very individual and its very had for a GP to even predict how it will specifically affect each patient. Its a route I'm afraid I will return to if the sleeping tablets don't do the trick.
Once again, thank you ladies for responding to my SOS email. I'm so glad this board exists as it was a life saver for me earlier this week.
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Sleep deprivation is used as a torture method, no wonder humans suffer when they don't get enough zzzzzs!
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Insomnia really is torture, it has been the symptom which has plagued me most & is the most difficult for me to control, still not discovered the sweet spot!! x
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Hi Foxylady,
I'm really interested to know what things you have tried that have either been totally useless; or been slightly successful?
HRT is not an option for me, so I'm looking for natural alternatives.
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Hi Prestige
Oh I felt for you following your post, lack of sleep is the pits.
My story briefly, I went on HRT when I was 37 due to early menopause. Came off it when I was 55 as I was told by consultant this is what I had to do as I had been on it long enough. This was 3 years ago and sleep since then has been virtually non existent. MyGP prescribed Pregabalin to help me relax and hopefully sleep. Some nights I don't have such a bad night, others I don't sleep. Like last Saturday, took two Pregabalin, went to bed around 10.30, still awake at 12, so got up and didn't go back to bed until 3am. I had to be up for work at 5.30 so not enough sleep to function for a days work!
I spent most of the time I was awake during the night in tears, it makes me very emotional when I can't sleep, I feel sick, and totally drained.
So I can totally understand where you are coming from and I hope now you've been and sought help it works for you.
I am at the point now I need to go and speak to someone/GP in the hope they can help but I am putting off going because I seem to have so many issues going on it's just too big a problem. I rang my surgery and they told me it's one appointment for one condition, and it's a 10 minute appointment! So the way. I am shaping up I'm going to need their full days slots🤣🤣. Oh the joys of it all x
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Hi prestige, unfortunately as HRT not an option for you it has been the only thing that seemed to make some improvement to the insomnia.
Prior to diagnosis of peri I tried the lady magnet, valerian, monteray cherry liquid, I'm struggling to remember everything else. I started on anti depressants for the flushes before I started the HRT as GP unsure which HRT to prescribe for me, less than a week between starting both so difficult to say whether it worked or not. The flushes came back with avengance as did some other symptoms so I think the increased dose of HRT will do the trick (so I'm hoping). I've also lost a few stone to reduce the symptoms and risks from HRT as well as general health benefits. Let us know how you get on. x
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Hi ya honey have you had your thyroid Free T3 And Free T4 taken.
Insomnia and waking is a huge symptom of thyroid.
Thyroid disease
An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) can cause sleep problems. The disorder overstimulates the nervous system, making it hard to fall asleep, and it may cause night sweats, leading to nighttime arousals. Feeling cold and sleepy is a hallmark of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).
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Hi Penelope, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 18 years ago been stable on 100mcg Levothyroxine all that time, yearly bloods. My thyroid symptoms were the opposite of my meno symptoms, other than working 12 hr shifts slept all the time I was off and no periods for a year. Thanks though for highlighting it though.
On the plus my sleep the last few days has been so much better since change in HRT patch & dose. x