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[seraphina]

I still can't get that Zopicolone is addictive - I stop and start it as I wish. It is worrying since I've read all the differant posts.
BUT to the topic, even with the zopiclone!!!! I have awful sleep/ flushes, dreams, ect. wake up at 4 in the morning waiting to get up. So I don't cope. I doze. I never really sleep.

[Jemima]

Hi all,

disturbed sleep is a new symptom for me.......Im waking up in the night feeling 'ill'.......hot chest....and back sometimes.....numb limbs....tingling bottom!! (thats an odd one surely?) and feel sick and lightheaded....i try to stay calm and go back to sleep and i usually do....but then it repeats again a little while later....had two attacks of it last night (early hours) and got up ultra early thinking it may be because i needed food?

It is reassuring to read your posts - I feel like Ive joined some kind of club.....where do I pick my badge up from?

Jemima x

[Bette]

I think it's adrenaline surges caused by hormone changes, Jemima. It can be exacerbated by low blood sugar so I kept a banana or biscuits by the bed so that I could eat as and when.
Bette x

[Jemima]

Thank you Bette - that makes sense - I shall get some of those breakfast biscuits....and nibble on one in the night - or maybe some ribena......might make less crumbs! 

thank you x

[Skylark]

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.

[Jemima]

hi girls,

when i wake up in the middle of the night its usually with a headache (thats what initially wakes me) then i go all 'jittery and trembly' inside....my muscles twitch too....last night it happened three times and today ive convinced myself Im having 'seizures' and this isnt menopause at all!!

Jem *going slowly insane....

[Astolat]

Taking HRT helped me get over the insomnia, but now that I'm weaning myself off it the sleepless nights and night flushes have started up again.
At the moment I've just resigned myself to it, relax and go with it; I read for a while or listen to the radio until I'm ready to nod off again. I sleep well for the first two hours but after that I'm awake again - usually nod off around four or five in the morning. Not good when you've got a long day to get through, but for me, the more anxious I become about not being able to sleep, the worse it gets.

Might try some of those night time Kalms

[coops]

Hi i was on patches it takes about 6mths so doc says but everyone is different don't give up yet cos it's suppose to better than taking tablets hope you feel better soon 

[frazzled]

 :(Another nite of not sleeping. Been yrs since i have
had good sleep. Take zopiclone too. 28 has yo last me
bout 3ts but even then only manage bout 3-4hrs. Get so
fed up i cld cry. No-one seems to undetstand how lak
of sleep makes u feel. Get depressed to which doesn't
help.

[san]

At the moment I've just resigned myself to it, relax and go with it;

The sleep experts say this is the key to breaking the habit of waking. They say stressing about it just adds fuel to the fire

[Taz2]

Did anyone watch this http://www.itv.com/tonight/?  It was interesting how lack of sleep affects the body. I have always had problems with sleep but have settled on being in bed for five hours a night now. I manage to get to sleep quickly, which is good, and only wake around three or four times during the five hours for roughly ten minutes at a time. Once or twice a month I do have nights where I only sleep for around a couple of hours but they are getting fewer now. Last week I was ferrying my son home from one of his gigs and actually got home at 2.15. By the time I got to bed it was 3 and then I couldn't get to sleep for a while and was back up at 6. I am sure that this is not doing my body any good and was the main cause of me developing fibromyalgia. I always feel like a swimmer who can never quite get down to the bottom of the pool!

I find it hard to actually go to bed - finding things to do all the time. This reminds me of when I was younger and I would put off going to bed for ages - even tidying my bedroom! It can play havoc with relationships too. I have not yet met anyone who is awake as much as me - especially more mature men who seem to need that doze on the sofa!

Taz x

[san]

Thanks Taz. I missed it but will see if I can watch it on catch up.

I think lack of sleep has a massive effect on the body. I remember my mum use to say that by laying down she was resting even if she couldn't sleep. It was around the time she was going through Meno.
Trouble is I'm a fidget so end up pottering if I can't. OH has learnt now to sleep through my owl moments 

[silverlady]

I saw the it Taz and it was interesting, they did not seem so keen on sleeping pills, but I think if someone is really suffering from insomnia, then they should not be made to feel guilty if they do take them even if it is a few times a week. Not being able to sleep for some is dreadful and is not good for the body and mind.

Its not always about worry and anxiety stopping you able to sleep, so will be watching next week to see what they come up with.

Taz you are not the only one who is not good at sleeping, OH is always saying that they should invent a pill so that you do not have to sleep, thats why we have seperate rooms also because of the snoring when he does finally sleep

silverlady x

[cutey1]

I find that since I cut down on coffee (only 1 mug a day now) and caffeine drinks plus not drinking alcohol - only one glass of wine now and again, has helped!

But.........we did have friends round for dinner last night, we have not seen them for a few years, and I stupidly had a coffee at a ridiculous time.......wham!!!!......1 o'clock this morning I was sooooo wide awake and had to play a game on my phone until I felt sleepy, then woke at 7.45 this morning with a very fuzzy, cotton wool head! 

Sometimes it is good for my body to remind me what I am doing to myself sometimes!  So sticking to my only 1 mug earlier in the day too!

[Taz2]

It might have been the stimulating company as well Cheeky. I am bad in that I tend to get really restless around 10 pm and go out to the local pub for my glass of wine. It is usually lively and chatty in there and I get back around 11.30ish wide awake. My natural going to bed time seems to now be 1 a.m. - sounds daft but it works for me.

Last night I was at one of my son's gigs and got in around 1 but then I wasn't ready to go to sleep till gone 2. However, I made the mistake of not getting up on time this morning and am sitting here feeling really sleepy and thick-headed. Like a hangover without the alcohol. Yesterday I still got up at 6.30 despite not going to bed till 2ish (friends round for the night) and felt great!

Here's to a sleepfull night for everyone tonight!

Taz x