The Trouble With Hormones and Women’s Sleep
In the past, doctors and researchers believed that hormones were not important for sleep. However, now we know that this is not true. There are three main hormones which can affect sleep: estrogen, progesterone, and melatonin. When these hormones are in balance, barring other factors, women will have a healthy sleep cycle. If there is an imbalance of these hormones then women may suffer from insomnia or other sleeping disorders.
How Hormones Affect Women in Different Times of their Lives
Hormones regulate mood, appetite, sleep and sex drive.
Puberty: During puberty, girls start to grow breasts and hips and their bodies get curvier. Hormones also cause a girl’s moods to change – they can be happy one minute, then sad the next minute without any apparent cause. This is because hormones are responsible for regulating moods, appetite and sleep patterns during puberty.
Pregnancy: During pregnancy there are many changes happening in the female body – from the growing uterus to increased blood flow through the placenta. Hormones play a role in this too as they control appetite, mood swings and sex drive during pregnancy. And after giving birth some women experience post-natal depression.
Menopause: This is the time in a woman’s life when her reproductive hormones, estrogen and progesterone, start to decline. This can lead to changes in mood and body temperature as well as other physical symptoms.
Perimenopause: During perimenopause women experience a lot of hormonal changes. These changes can cause: irregular periods, hot flashes, insomnia, night sweats and mood swings. Hormone replacement therapy can help abate such symptoms.
How to Fix the Problem By Managing Your Hormones
Stress is a major factor in many of the ailments that plague us today. It can lead to depression, anxiety, and even obesity.
The key to managing stress starts with managing your hormones. There are two types of hormones that need to be managed: the stress hormones and the sex hormones. Stress hormone levels are usually high when you are feeling stressed and this can lead to weight gain or poor sleep patterns. Sex hormone levels affect your moods, energy levels, and sex drive.
The following tips will help you manage your stress and keep your hormones balanced:
- Exercise regularly
- Eat healthy foods
- Get enough sleep every night (7-8 hours)
- Avoid drugs and alcohol
How the Estrogen Cycle Affects Your Sleep Patterns
Estrogen is a hormone that is responsible for regulating sleep patterns. It helps in the regulation of the menstrual cycle and plays an important role in the development of female secondary sex characteristics.
The estrogen cycle can affect your sleep patterns in different ways. The major changes in the estrogen levels throughout a woman’s life can lead to shifts in her sleep pattern, from feeling more sleepy during ovulation to feeling more alert during menstruation.
What Can You Do To Ensure You Get Quality Restful Sleep?
There are many ways to ensure that you get quality restful sleep. One of the first things that you should do is to stop using your phone and other devices before bed. The blue light from these devices can disrupt your sleep cycle and make it more difficult for you to fall asleep.
Another thing that you can do is to avoid caffeine before bedtime. Caffeine will keep you awake and make it harder for you to fall asleep at night. You should also try not to drink any alcohol before going to bed either as this can also disrupt your sleep cycle.
One of the best ways that you can improve your sleep quality is by making sure that the temperature in your bedroom is comfortable at night time. You should try not to heat up or cool down too much, but instead keep a constant temperature in order of around 18 degrees Celsius (or 65 degrees Fahrenheit).
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)
BHRT is a form of hormone replacement therapy that uses hormones that are identical to those naturally produced in the human body. It is often used to relieve menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. Bioidentical hormones are also used to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease in postmenopausal women.
There are three types of BHRT: oral (tablets or pills), transdermal (skin patches), and intramuscular injection (shots).
Belle Vie’s expert staff will evaluate your condition and make recommendations to improve your symptons. We may suggest lifestyle adjustments to augment your hormone therapy and accelerate and magnify your results.