hormonal imbalances and sleep loss - can you help? sm
Posted By: tired typer on 2008-06-30
In Reply to:
Hi, ladies. Five weeks ago I began experiencing severe middle insomnia for the first time in my life. I will sleep for 3 hours, be awake for 3 hours, and then maybe sleep for another hour before it is time to get up. I also cannot nap no matter how tired I am because I tried that several times. Ambien CR no longer keeps me alseep, nor does Lunesta, and I am not big on having to take a sleep aid every single night for sleep. I have tried melatonin, which also has not kept me asleep. I have been told I have hormonal imbalances (am nearly 44), am on no HRT, and wonder what anyone might suggest for sleep until I can get myself squared away on some hormonal therapy. My poor husband...He has been a saint through all of this, but I am not sure how much longer I can work, keep up with the house, etc., with missing so many hours of sleep each night.  Pretty desperate here.
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Anyone find as you get older you get a more interrupted sleep pattern and sleep less and wake up
more at night. Any suggestions for this.
Hormonal H@ll!
My hormones are giving me a rough time too, although I've had a lot of extra stressors in the last couple years also, so I'm not sure what is what.
I have been having restless leg syndrome on and off, except it is my whole body (not just legs) and I often have that feeling during the day too. It drives me totally nuts when I am working. I can hardly stay in my chair! I think the fact that our job forces us to work as fast as we can (for the whole shift) doesn't help.
What an oxymoron anyway ... work as fast as you can while remaining seated.
Anyone else with RLS? Any good suggestions for relief?
Hormonal effects?
You know, I am way past menopause and I (along with 2 of my aunts in their 80s) have never had any symptoms. One aunt had surgical menopause at 20 something, nothing. I know this is not the same with each women but I never went thru menopause and know the ovaries just withered and died. Last year (age 63) my doctor even was amazed at the moistness on the exam. I have no explanation for that except I just don't feel my age at all, except for those aches and pains that have come with some age.
does anyone have hormonal (pms) problems so bad that .... sm
you take medication for it (or even OTC vitamins)? i think i have hormonal problems. i'm 35 and definitely before i get ready to start, i'm very aggitated and can cry at the drop of a hat. sometimes i feel the need to cry and really don't know why. the only thing i can think is hormones. i have an 8 y/o and a 5 y/o, so no young babies. i really hate taking medication, (been on something and i can't remember the name of it starts with a "p"). any, my life is pretty good, so i think it's hormones and tired of it. it all started after having my kids. thanks for any info
tried hormonal creams?
myself, i'm meno or post menopausal; but now that i've tried these creams for my hot flashes, i see that they can also be used for PMS symptoms. i got my online at either drugstore.com or vitaminshoppe.com. What seems to be working best for me is the Progest (Emerita) or Progestacare (Lifeflo).
yes, I think mine are hormonal too
I am really awaiting menopause with bated breath. Apparently my mother had migraines too which disappeared after menopause but her migraines lasted just a few hours about once in two years, probably because she never faced a computer screen in her life! Mine started after the use of birth control pills about 14 years back which was apparently the trigger for this and the prescribing doc never asked me if I had a family history of migraines and my mother never told me she had them since they were so rare. So I get them every month without fail and now I have a sort of fear psychosis and probably get them due to that. Sometimes I manage to put it off for a week or two with regular use of painkillers but am not sure if the painkillers will cause more side effects in the end! Thanks for all the detailed advice. I have noticed those things your doc told you about and already know to avoid them, those fast moving objects and flashing lights. I cant take three days off work each time esp since I work from home, so I have to bear it and keep typing, like today. Thanks again.
Hormonal problems can occur...
if the blood supply to the ovaries is damaged during the procedure. This can supposedly lead to an estrogen/progesterone imbalance. There is a condition called post tubal ligation syndrome, although its exact cause is still debated. There are many who complain of worsening cramps or bleeding after having a TL.
Do boys go through hormonal changes as they grow up? sm
I have two boys, one is 6 and the other will be 10 in a few weeks. my almost 10 y/o has been such a good kid through his life. BUT i notice sometimes when he stays with my inlaws, especially my 11 y/o nephew, he comes back home with an attitude. my two boys usually get a long really well. but my 10 y/o spent three nights with my inlaws (two included my nephew) and he has been so cranky with me and his little brother. i didn't know of boys have hormonal changes like girls do.
I wouldn't call it hormonal
I would just call it typical. I would often see small changes in my children's attitudes when they had been around other children. Not to say all other children are bad, I have one niece that was a wonderful influence on my kids.
I am also guessing that it is a hormonal thing..nm
nm
Sleep....beautiful sleep.... nm
.
You don’t need less sleep
you just sleep less and I just tell the younger ones to enjoy their sleep while they can. I miss the days when I could sleep 10 hours or so.
sleep
don't go to bed right after you have been doing a lot of 'mental work' reading works well to help me fall asleep, not necessarily stay there. I find when I am the worst is when I do a lot of mental activities right before bed. I just can't 'turn it off'
getting enough sleep
is one of the keys to losing weight- if you don't get enough sleep it actually makes it harder to lose weight, I think because of extra cortisol. Plus we probably eat more when we are tired and need more energy.
I know how you feel though- I was able to lose 70 pounds but now have come to a dead standstill where I keep gaining and losing the same 5 pounds and never going below that. I still have at least another 30 pounds to lose. Its very frustrating!
Sleep MD
You can find this at walmart. I'm going through the same thing, and I don't want to take anything strong because it just makes me fuzzy the next day. Sleep MD works pretty well. Give it a try. 
I always sleep better when I have our 7 yo between us
Hey, Unreal.. I also nursed her until she was 3 years old. Really unreal, huh? I sleep much better when she sleeps with us. She has a 20 yo brother who slept between us until he was at least 7, then always would bring his sleeping back in and sleep on the floor next to our bed. We continue to have a strong bond with him even though he is grown up and now out of our home. And no sicko hanky panky going on in our bed either. Country MT, your son will be closer to you for the rest of his life because of the close, loving bond you are forming with him right now. It will make all the difference in the world when he goes through those teen years, believe me.
i used to sleep like that :)
I'm thankful for people like yourself that take these animals in. My family (and extended) growing up always got their animals from the pound. All our's and our daughter's have been abused, rejected and/or abandoned. It is so rewarding to see them happy and your friend looks happy too!!
Have you tried Sleep MD?
You can buy it otc in drug stores and Wal-Mart. It works pretty well and has "natural" ingredients - not sure what's in it but you don't have that foggy feeling when you wake up.
sleep
Are you stressed about something? Try putting on some soothing music at bedtime and do conscious meditation, deep breathing to relax yourself and let go of the stress. Other than that, there are herbal preparations that help.
I NEED my sleep!
I've gotten by on less than 8 hours of sleep, but it's not a pretty sight. I'm like a zombie and can barely keep awake in the afternoon. But I really like to sleep, too! I like the feeling of drifting off, and I love the feeling of waking up after UNINTERRUPTED sleep. And there's the rub! Hubby snores, and he wakes me up. Or, because he goes to bed before me, he's already snoring when I come to bed, and that keeps me from falling asleep. Ear plugs don't do it for me. Now that I have a son in college, I've taken to sleeping in his room when he's away, and I get much better sleep. I've been able to train myself to sleep less in the past, perhaps just 5 hours a night. But I couldn't sustain it longer than 2 or 3 weeks before I'd just crash and burn. I think some people can do it, but I'm not one of them.
sleep
I think more important than how many hours you sleep is what you do with the hours you are awake. I can be very productive, or waste a lot of time.
These are associated with sleep,
not having attacks or strokes. Go back to your fly by night medical degree license.
Perhaps you should consider a sleep study for him...nm
I'd rather sleep on the floor
nm
All the below, plus maybe get a sleep study
Doctor sent me to sleep study because of my drowsiness and foot swelling and surprise, I needed CPAP. It's much easier to stay awake now. I do take the occasional power nap but it's not more than once a day anymore!
Sleep problems
Since I got in menopause I don't sleep anymore unless I take Ambien CR and my doc doesn't really like giving it to me. Says I should only take it every other day. Didn't take it last night and did not sleep AT ALL. Feel like crap today.. I think part of it is this profession, all the stress, etc.
8 Hour Sleep - sorry
should say 8
PAY NOW AND SLEEP ALL NIGHT
Once back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, I bought kitchen appliances from a big company. I had two cards for the big company, a regular charge account and a revolving credit account. I bought them on revolving credit. Someone screwed up and every time I sent a payment they sent it back and said I had no balance. I called and told them I had one. They said they would look into it. I would pay the next month. They sent it back. I drove to the big city 300 miles away (we lived in the sticks) and brought my paperwork from when I purchased them and the papers from delivery. Twelve months or so later they found out I was right and billed me. They wrote off the interest because if I had not told them they never would have found out. I still am glad that I did it. I was worried for all that time about that and after it was settled I could sleep all night!
Sleep apnea?
Came on gradually for husband, just got more and more tired until he was falling asleep when seated at work during the day.
Sleep apnea-
just had a young 39-year-old niece that died with that. People do not take it seriously enough. Hubs has and uses continuous positive airway pressure each night. His brother had accident, ran off the road when he fell asleep, does not use a machine. Oh well....Could also be narcolepsy- that is not good diagnosis either.
I sleep before I work...
so I get up at 4 and work early a.m. I know it's not as much bonus for the night shift (which ends at 6 a.m.), but its been worth it not to be so tired. I still have to tell my kids "no, we can't stay up, Mommy has to work in the morning," which stinks, but it's worth it for them not to have a grumpy mom.
Sleep apnea
For the 1000th time, I have transcribed a report on someone with sleep apnea syndrome who tried CPAP once or twice and then gave up and is still complaining of falling asleep in the day time or any time. Let me give you a heads up. I had it so bad for over 15 years, I thought I had MS because I couldn't physically function and it finally got to the point where I was hallucinating. I had to work 2 hours and sleep 3 and work 2 and sleep 3 around the clock. I now have right heart failure because out of every 60 seconds, I only breathed for 22 seconds. I've been on CPAP for almost a year now and I cannot tell you how the quality of my life has changed. Don't let ANYONE you care about give up on CPAP. It is dangerous to do so. I have not slept one minute without it since I got it. It all depends on how much you want to live with it or how quick you want to die without it. I'm still in good shape and can do anything I want now, but I have created a heart problem because I ignored the signs.
Sleep apnea
My sister and I live together. We are both overweight and are on CPAP. She is also on oxygen. The doctor told me my sleep apnea was life threatening, that I stopped breathing 90 times in one hour. I would rather learn to live with CPAP than die without it.
Sleep paralysis
It sounds like you have sleep paralysis. I've had it for as long as I can remember. It was really frustrating until I learned more about it. It's a sleep disorder and is a form of narcolepsy. I find that for me it happens most often if I'm lying on my back or take a nap during the day, so I avoid naps and sleep on my side. I will occasionally still have problems but not nearly as often.
I don't think it has anything to do with UFOs, myself! If I were you, I'd talk to my family doctor. I know it can be really frightening. Not being able to scream or move is very upsetting. Good luck to you!
Not sleep around with, my husband
This guy was from a good background, his father was mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, his family -aunt physician in Birmingham, mother specialized teacher, his uncle nuclear physicist, we are not talking low class- but he chose to live the life he did- no one made him do this- he was a loner who wanted to travel and he did. We were married for 4 years and he had some mental issues but this like any other kind of illness is not what he brought on himself. And blame myself, no I don’t- likeable guy and my family liked him also.
Anyone ever get those spells when you just cannot get to sleep. I
just drag around then feeling tired.
Think this is sleep paralysis
I am not sure of the name but yes, I have had that happen to me, except no noise. I felt like I was awake, could not move, totally paralyzed and scared because I knew some kind of horrible creature was behind me but I could not run, turn or do anything else. This has probably happened 3-4 times and I hope never again. I totally understand where you are coming from.
I'm an OWL - I always sleep with one eye open
ROFL!
May be you should be evaluated for sleep apnea.
or information on proper sleep hygiene. It is not normal to be that sleepy half of the way through the day if you are sleeping well at night. Sleep apnea is a very serious condition that can cause other health problems. Good luck.
I can't sleep either. Take Tylenol PM nightly. SM
Exercise does help. When I exercised 45 minutes a day, slept like a baby, but I have felt too much stress to exercise! LOL!
Thanks, I am sleep deprived enough without having a baby to add to it. nm
!
Sleep is over-rated. LOL. I am lucky if
x
Poor sleep schedule.
I haven't really had a good night of sleep since I had kids 11 years ago, but man am I tired! I can't decide whether to just give up and work all night and try and sleep while the kids are at school during the day or maybe start a sleeping pill, and I'm not a big medicine person. Right now I sleep from about 2-3 a.m to 6:30-7:30 a.m. I do go to the kids school every so often during the day so I'd hate to be all tired for that but I'm so tired I'm starting to get that drunk feeling. Anyone with kids work nights and sleep during the day? Can you wake up enough to participate in school activites? 
Noisy, no, sleep like a baby with it being
in the room right across the bed from me. It is very, very quiet. I read in the paper about young person who had recently gone in with family buying restaurant, about to open and he didn’t make it, died in sleep from sleep apnea. This is not cosmetic but life saver. If I had to (and no insurance) would scrimp and save every penny I could get in order to have this life saver. Taking medication for the sleepiness is only a bandaid on a major pumper.
Sleep apnea and hip pain
I am going to look into a chin strap and see if this helps with my hip pain. There are times at night I just cannot sleep due to the pain. Thank you for the info. Please, please, please . . . . if anyone suspects having sleep apnea, or knows of someone who may have it, please try to get them to look into it! It is a very serious thing.
All 3 of our cats and our 120-pound dog sleep with us in the bed
I couldn't imagine having it any other way. Our 3 cats and dog our like our kids. In fact, one of my cats is sleeping in my lap right now.
Anyone else not expecting much sleep for the next 6 days??(sm)
I needed to get up at 4:45 this morning...so I woke up at 3:00 so I could worry for the next hour and 45 min over whether I was going to get up in time!! Does anyone else do things like this??? There is a lot of work right now at my company and I have a ton to do before Christmas, and things at the school to attend. I wish there was a shot the doc could give you so you could just miss a week of sleep once a year or so and still be alert!!
google sleep paralysis
nm
Does anyone ever go through periods where you dont sleep well and keep
waking up all night. I hate that. Anything that helps other than pills?
sorry wrong thread - goes up with sleep
OOPS!
(((don't feel bad we sleep with our kids too))))
comes to mind and fires, we just have a better peice of mind sleeping with them. they have gotten so big my hubby sleeps with one and I sleep with the other!
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