Sleeping has been one of the big challenges for me since I didn’t even know I was in perimenopause.
I have experienced it all: Not been able to fall asleep; falling asleep fast but waking up a few hours later and stay awake; or falling back to sleep half an hour prior to the alarm clock starts to buzz. Often being completely torn apart the next day. Sometimes the only sign of sleep deprivation being a light head and not being capable to focus properly.
Unfortunately this is pretty common after 50, and it has such an impact on our lives that I would put it in the top 3 most disrupting symptoms we can experience at this stage.
That is why I have researched for some years now, gathering science based information I will share with you. Hoping it can help improving your sleep.
I will show you step by step how you can improve your sleep quality, with easy to follow tips and why they matter. At the end of this post you will have an overall view on the subject sleeping. And will be able to use a set of tools to address this problem right a way.
Why does sleep matters
First of all lets understand why does sleep matters so much. What happens when we sleep?
– One of the main tasks of the brain during sleep is processing information and consolidating memories.
– It also clears out toxins accumulated during the day. Which helps maintain cognitive function.
– Heart rate and blood pressure decrease during non-REM sleep, allowing the heart to rest. Muscles relax, and energy consumption drops, enabling the body to repair itself.
– Sleep promotes the secretion of growth hormones, which aid in tissue growth and repair.
– Hormones, such as ghrelin and leptin, get regulated, helping control hunger.
– It helps the immune system to become stronger, reducing inflammation and helping the body fight infections.
If this tasks are not completed, that is if we are not sleeping enough or have poor quality sleep, it directly influences your mood, decision making and memory.
Various study’s have linked long term sleep deprivation to a greater risk of depression, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart attack and stroke, increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and obesity.
How many hours do we need to sleep to prevent this diseases and function at our best?
According to research, adults should have at least 7 hours of sleep per night to keep the brain function at its best and get the most health benefits.
Only after I have read the research out there, was it clear to me what a big impact sleep has in our lives, both short as long term, affecting our health in every possible way.
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What changes after 50, to cause sleeping problems?
So why do we start to sleep worse over time? What happens after 50 that causes this problem?
Science gives us a few answers to this:
– Declining of estrogen and progesterone levels play a big role on this matter. This has both direct and indirect effect on sleeping.
The direct effect is due to the specific brain chemicals that help to promote sleep. So, lower hormone levels leads to increasing sleep problems.
– Hot flashes and night sweats are an indirect effect of hormone decreasing. This being one of the most stated cause for sleep deprivation through perimenopause and menopause.
– Sleep apnea and restless legs are also symptoms related to hormone levels causing massive sleep disruption.
– Anxiety linked to stressful life events. Work problems, family stress, life transitions, health problems, etc. Keeping day life out of our heads during the night can be really hard, even impossible at times.
– Ageing process. This is common to both women and men as the sleeping pattern will change along with age. We tend to feel sleepy earlier on the evening and wake up earlier on the morning as well.
Practical step-by-step tips for a better sleep
Luckily for us there is a lot of data from studies and medical research out there that we can use to improve the quality of our sleep.
I will be focusing on the non medical part of the data, please consult a doctor before taking any medication.
-Wake up at the same time everyday
First and, to me, most important step of all starts in the morning. This may seem odd, but it has helped me the most getting my sleep routine into place.
Setting the alarm clock for the same time every day (even on the weekend) helps setting our circadian circle. Witch will determine a lot of functions on our bodies, including when we will be tired and set to sleep at night.
It was a bit of a struggle to me at first, but the benefits I received over time make it all worth it.
-Stop drinking caffeine drinks in the afternoon.
This is coffee, but also green or black tea, energy drinks and many soft drinks that have stimulants in it.
Stop drinking stimulant drinks soon enough, so that the body can process the nutrients that keep you awake by the time you go to sleep. This will be different for everyone, as we have different tolerance for each compound. Try and see what works for you, and when you find the formula that works, stick to it.
-Avoiding alcohol before bed.
The research is pretty consistent here, alcohol will make you feel sleepy at first, but will stimulate the brain later on.
It will reduce the REM stage, witch is when the memory and emotional processing is taken place, leading to lack of focus and fatigue the next day.
-Eating early
The food you eat and when you eat it can determine the quality of your sleep as well.
Big meals, spices, and difficult to digest food will put a stress on your system, and therefore making it difficult for your body to enable a good night sleep.
Try and eat your last meal at least 3 hours before going to bed. This allows your body to digest your dinner soon enough, so that it can concentrate on sleeping, and do the recovery it is supposed to.
-No training after dinner.
Late workouts can be disruptive of sleep as it will raise the heartbeat, contrary to what we want before going to bed. But, it works for some people, it is something you have to try and find out what works for you.
-No social media at least 1 hour before going to sleep.
This is a well researched area. Social media before bed can be problematic at two levels: the blue light sending a message to your brain saying it is time to be active, therefore disrupting your circadian rhythm.
On the odder hand, the content you are seeing keeps your brain engaged and awake.
-Reading a book in the evening.
This has becoming my favorite part of the night routine I have adopted. Choosing a book on your favorite genre, and just loose yourself on the ups and downs of the characters in it. How long you read is entirely up to you. It can be 10 minutes, it can be 1 hour or it can be different every night depending on how tired you are.
– Going to bed 8 hours for the alarm clock goes off.
You will have to do some reversed math here: count 8 hours back from your set time to wake up.
Even if you don’t sleep 8 hours. It includes the time to read, to meditate, to accommodate: whatever you need to do to come down and feel sleepy.
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Making your own plan on how to improve sleep
How to turn all this information into an easy step by step plan?
Most important, taking back your sleep quality is a process, not a single action.
You don’t have to do all at once, in fact, that would be counterproductive. Because then you don’t know of all the measures what are the ones that really made a positive difference, and which ones you can skip because they just don’t work for you.
Consider your lifestyle and your preferences, and begin with the thing that will cause the least friction on your life. This will be different for each one of us.
Is it the early dinner, because you have kids and it could fit the family schedule anyway? Or the reading at night, because you just love reading, but weren’t prioritizing it?
Or skipping the evening wine glass because it was already on your list due to all the health benefits?
Along the way it will become clear to you what brings you the most results, and with every improvement it gets easier to take the next step.
My personal journey
My personal journey on this matter is long, with some wins, but a lot more set backs. I belong to the group of people who always needed a lot of sleep to function. The lack of sleep that comes along with being a parent to small children was the most difficult thing I had to comply. Unfortunately short after the children were old enough to sleep the hole night, perimenopause kicked in.
There were times were I was just too tired to even think about modifying my routine. And there were times were I did all at once, having mixed results. Right now I try to follow my sleep routine the best I can.
But life happens and there are days were it doesn’t goes according to plan. And that’s life, right?
Consistency matters a lot, but consistency isn’t perfection: it means somedays will be closer to the goal, some days will be further away from the goal, and the most days will be something in between.
Most important is that you keep going, trying to improve your life, step by step, knowing that the journey will not be perfect and that’s ok because imperfection was never the goal anyway.
Do you have any questions?
Want to share the one thing you make to improve your sleep?
Would love to hear from you!
