[roozie]

Sorry if this is already posted up on another thread somewhere, i had a quick look but didn't see one, tho' i'm sure this area must have been covered pretty extensively by now. I just wanted to ask a couple of things:

1. if other ladies experience any kind of insomnia pattern that they feel is linked with their monthly cycle. eg. mid month during/after ovulation, pre-menstruation, etc.( Sometimes I seem to have some of my worst nights in the week or 10 days before my period, pretty much every night – just much more wakeful than earlier on in the cycle. Other times tho' it can however be much more random and strike at any point during the cycle.)

2. has anyone tried using natural progesterone cream rubbed into the skin to alleviate insomnia premenstrually? Has it worked?? Since i'm about to hit the big 40 and am probably not ovulating like a young lass any more, (which causes lower progesterone) i'm considering trying it but worried may make the problem worse if low progesterone isn't the problem. I'm going to give private saliva hormone tests a go as my GP is so unhelpful – anyonme else used these?

3. what other remedies have people tried to imrpove PMS related insomnia?

Solrry for all the qu's! Would be really interested to hear what others think about any of it and any tips to break out of this nightmarish cycle EVERY month:(…thanks.

Rooz

[Roseleb]

I definitely see a pattern. The week before my period, I sleep like hell. And someone suggested my bad two weeks of late are due to perimenapause! Hope not!

[Martin Reed]

Hi Rooz

I wrote about PMS and insomnia once before on the blog:

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/the-link-between-pms-and-insomnia/

Most of the time though, I hear of links between insomnia and menopause. Here is one blog post you may find of interest:

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/the-link-between-menopause-and-insomnia/

As for treatment options (including bioidentical progesterone cream):

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/insomnia-relief-for-menopausal-women/

Soy:

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/a-natural-insomnia-cure-for-post-menopausal-women/

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/soy-cures-insomnia-causes-insomnia-has-no-effect-on-insomnia/

Valerian:

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/valerian-may-relieve-insomnia-in-menopausal-women/

Yoga:

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/yoga-may-relieve-postmenopausal-insomnia/

Another Cream:

http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/this-hormone-may-cure-insomnia-may-also-cause-insomnia/

I hope this helps. It would be good to see other members chime in on this issue, too.

—

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The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[roozie]

Thanks for all the links Martin,. I'm def. being converted to the idea of natural progesterone cream for pre-menopausal insomnia and PMS insomnia. i'm reading a book by some Dr. Lee who's spent his life reseaching, treating and listening to women with hormonal problems (poor bloke!!). So many of the discussions lead back to the use of this cream to help balance out hormones and reduce oestrogen dominance (which is pretty inevitable as you age because progesterone becomes depleted) which is a massive culprit for poor sleep amongst other pleasant symptoms.He and his female doctor cronies present really compelling arguments for using prog cream over any synthetic hormone pill which they basically portray as the devil!! So,, think i will give the cream a try after i'm done saliva testing my hormones and will report back whether it's helping or not….

[Robskie]

I have learned so much over the last 18 months, since I became post menopausal and began experiencing insomnia.

The whole balancing act of female hormones is very complicated and isn't necessarily fixed just by using Prog Cream. In fact it can actually make things worse, because the depletion of oestrogen can also cause insomnia, and using just prog alone (without addressing the oestrogen depletion) could get that whole balancing act completely out of whack.. Even though bio identical progesterone is advertised as being “natural” it really isn't. It's not the same hormone that we naturally produce, so a lot of women actually have an intolerance to these hormones, whether they're obtained from bioidenticals or regular HRT.

I am one of those women and I also belong to a UK menopause forum where there are many women who suffer this problem. I am having a lot of problems finding a hormone treatment (whether BHRT or HRT) that will address this intolerance.

Also saliva and blood tests for hormone levels are pretty much useless because your hormone levels can change daily and even hourly. So whatever the test says today could be totally different tomorrow. You really have to try treatments based on what the symptons actually are.

I'm neither advocating nor against bio idental hormones or regular HRT. I've tried both and neither really works all that well for me. Bio identicals receive a lot of celebrity publicity, but they don't necessarily work for all women. You just have to keep trying and trying and trying again, until you find the right treatment.

[Robskie]

Something else I will add is that if you are around 40 you could very well be entering what is called “peri menopause”. That period could last for any where up to 10 years before you become post menopausal (the time after you have your last period – and you have to be 12 months without a period before you will know that you are post menopausal).

Peri menopause is a time when you may find you are having some minor bodily changes, like weight gain, frequent night time urination or irregular periods, but nothing too dramatic or worrying. On the other hand you could also start to experience more severe problems like insomnia, massive mood swings etc. Every woman is different and seem to fall into two groups – those who have a hard time during peri, but improve during post, and those who sail through peri, but begin having a hard time once they become post.

I fall into the latter group. I had very few problems during peri (which looking back probably started at around 40), apart from some weight gain, needing to pee every 2 hours at night and irregular periods, but I am having a really hard time during post which began about 2 years ago.

While you are peri you may become “oestrogen dominant” but that doesn't mean that you automatically have high oestrogen levels. They could be falling just like your progesterone levels, but may just be dominant to the progestone because the progesterone is lower, and lowered oestrogen levels can cause insomnia.

Like I said, it's all very complicated and the whole body and all the symptoms need to be addressed. Please don't just assume that using some progesterone cream will solve any problems.

[roozie]

Hi Robskie, thanks for all that. Sorry you've been having such a tough time the past few years. Hormones are an incredible bummer aren't they?! I'm under no illusion that progest cream will be a cure-all but i' m hoping it may just alleviate my insomnia pre-menstrually if oestrogen dominance is a factor. It certainly sounds preferable to artificial hormone treatment which i'd rather avoid if at all poss. I know it can be difficult to get an accurate or meaningful hormone profile as levels do fluctuate so much (even hrly as you say) but i'm hoping that taking levels every few days over a whole monbth should be quite revealing, just in case progesterone isn't an issue at all and i've been misinterpreting alot of my symptoms. However,I'm turning 40 and am, i think, in peri-menopause at the mo, so chances are i'm not ovulating every month which is causing an imbalance. No doubt as things progress and i hit actual menopause low oestrogen will become an issue too so will have to address that too! Fun and games hey 🙁

[Robskie]

Hi Roozie

I just re-read my posts and I did sound like I was giving a bit of a lecture didn't I? Sorry, I didn't mean to. I just get on my soapbox a bit when I hear about OTT prog creams etc because they usually don't do what they say on the label. A lot of them don't have any quality control and can often make your problems worse if you don't address all your hormones levels as well.

Not all prescribed hormone treatment is “artificial”. The “bioidentical” celebs have been putting out a lot of false information. A lot of what your doctor can prescribe is already approved bio identical treatment, like oestradiol transdermal patches. These are routine prescribed by all doctors and they are bio-identical. The advantage is that they have FDA approval and quality control, where compounded bioidenticals and OTT prog creams do not.

btw – I just advised today, by a respected doctor, that you are better off using blood testing, and not saliva testing, because the blood is usually stored in glass, and most saliva tests are stored in plastic, and the plastic can affect the blood and give very inaccurate results.

[Author]

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