Many, many women experience disrupted sleep as hormonal patterns change. Here we share quotes and results from our on-site short survey on sleep.
Quotes from women
I agree with alcohol sensitivity. I crave it before my period and it makes me 3 times worse when I do drink before bed.
My sleep has definitely been affected. I will wake up and not be able to fall back to sleep for a few hours, or waking up multiple times a night. A lot of people I know seem to wake up at 3 am and not be able to fall back to sleep. The good news is that it is temporary; my sleep has improved over the past few months, and I am able to fall back to sleep fairly quickly if I wake up.
I’m frustrated that I can’t seem to get anything to work. My doctor is now prescribing a patch. This has cost me many relationships, sleep, self esteem.
The loss of sleep has been awful. Attempting to use sleeping pills just lead to other side effects (heart palpitations). Muuuuuch more research needed in this area. It made it really, really hard to work and I lost a great deal of respect, which was devastating to my career.
Data from on-site sleep survey
Of the women reporting, forty-nine (49%) percent are still getting a regular period, about eleven (11%) percent have an IUD, eleven (11%) percent have skipped periods and another twelve (12%) percent are through menopause – their final menstrual period was 12 months ago or more.
TYPES OF SLEEP DISRUPTION. Approximately forty-four (44%) percent are waking up after being asleep for 2-4 hours and then struggle to get back to sleep. Ten (10%) percent wake several times but get back to sleep easily. Seven (7%) percent wake very early in the morning and are awake for the day.
A LINK TO PERIODS? Seventy-two (72%) percent of women don’t see a link between their sleep struggles and the timing of their period. Ten (10%) percent report poor sleep the 1-3 nights before their period. Another ten (10%) percent struggle with sleep for 4-6 nights before their period. And seven (7%) percent for the 7-10 nights before their period.
WHAT HAS WORKED? When we ask women about what they’ve tried that’s worked, here is what we learned. Twenty (20%) percent find that going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time has helped and another sixteen (16%) percent have been helped with a melatonin supplement. Another twenty (20%) percent report that nothing they’ve tried has helped.
Note: If you are interested in supplementing with melatonin, we suggest you read up first. You can do that on our common supplements page, in three videos with melatonin expert Paula Witt-Enderby – 1, 2, 3 and in this written Q&A with her.
If you have experienced sleep disruption and want to share, you can do that here or on the disrupted sleep page where you can also learn about many possible remedies and the latest research.
