I believe sleep is under-rated by those who get enough of it. For years, that was me. I'd crawl into bed and ten minutes later I'd be long gone into dreamland, only to awaken with the morning alarm clock. Even in The Baby Years, I had no trouble falling back asleep after the baby alarm went off during the night. Then I began to notice (horrors!) that two or three times a year I just couldn't sleep. I'd spend the night solving all the world's problems, one after the other, in a brain that simply would not stop zipping around. I knew better than to complain about it too thoroughly though. Not too much sympathy was wasted on me.
The last couple years have been different. It must be the magic of the late-40s and the nasty M word staring me in the face. Slowly the balance of sleepy nights has shifted to the place where now I treasure the rare occurence of a full night's sleep. In the past few weeks, I haven't had one. Not even one.
This is getting old faster than I am. I've been falling asleep just fine most nights, but not sleeping deeply. Then I'll wake up in two hours. And fall back to that mostly asleep place (but not restful). And wake up in two hours. Repeat as necessary to get through eight hours. The herbal sleep aids aren't helping noticeably, other than that I'm (perhaps) sleeping more deeply in those two hours. So my brain has been getting foggier and foggier, I've been getting more headaches, and now I think I'm coming down with a cold--first time in several years. I'd really like to sleep.
My other peri-menopausal symptoms are quite light but they do exist, so I'm assuming that the sleeplessness is related. I REALLY don't want to go on Hormone Replacement Therapy. I'm not sure what young guys talk about at work (nor do I want to know!) but the guys my husband works with are busy comparing their wives' menopausal symptoms. So Jim comes home with a brochure for ProMensil. The guys assure him this is the answer to my problems! Of course the local natural health store doesn't carry it.
Anyone out there tried ProMensil or any other natural form of HRT? I could use some advice or testimonials. Thanks.
About Me
- Valerie Comer
- Valerie Comer’s life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary Christian romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie grows much of her own food and is active in the local foods movement as well as her church. She only hopes her imaginary friends enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters. Valerie is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner. She has been called “a stellar storyteller” as she injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances.
5 comments:
maybe I'm premenopausal....
I tried Estroven for PMS. It worked all right, but I'm really bad at taking meds/vitamins on a daily basis.
Melatonin has helped my daughter sleep.
I went through a period of insomnia several years ago, and it turned out to be allergy related. I had my meds changed and have slept fine ever since. It's probably not allergies in Canada in February, but are you sure it's menopause that's causing your sleep issues?
haha Hanna! and hugs...
EJ, quite quite certain. I have a doctor's appointment Friday morning though.
Uh, well this probably isn't helpful... But DH has had a horrible time sleeping due to his back for years. Now that we have our new foam mattress he's sleeping sweetly (like out in ten minutes, which is really strange for me, not used to it yet) and long. Maybe you can trick menopause into thinking it's comfortable? *shrug* It's not a drug-based idea, and I'm sure there's a way to make a foam mattress that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars like ours did (not even name brand, and it was ridiculous!--but worth it, yanno).
I hear you, Karen. A new mattress is on our list somewhere. **Eyes list in fear and trepidation...
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