Sleep Matters During Menopause
- Dr. McNally, the Medical Director for the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health in New York, suggests prioritizing 7–9 hours of sleep during menopause, as sleep plays a major role during this period and serves as a biomarker for heart health.
- She explains that poor sleep during menopause is often linked to everyday habits, including alcohol use, spicy or sugary foods, large or carbohydrate-heavy meals, and the timing and amount of caffeine consumed, all of which can make it harder to get restful sleep.
- Night sweats and hormonal shifts also commonly disrupt sleep.
- As for the association between sleep and mood changes, Dr. McNally says it is complex, but overall: “Think of it as a triangle. Sleep, mood and energy are very, very connected.”
Sleep plays a much bigger role in menopause than many women realize—and according to Dr. Stephanie McNally, Medical Director for the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health in New York, it may even be a key marker of overall heart health.
Recommending that women aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night as an ideal target, particularly during menopause—Dr. McNally tells SurvivorNet that “sleep, in general—and this is a really important thing—is a biomarker for heart health actually.” Read More- Alcohol (triggers vasomotor symptoms (VMS)—the clinical term for hot flashes and sweating—and poor sleep)
- Spicy foods
- Highly processed, sugary meals
- Large/high-carbohydrate dinners (which take longer to digest)
- Caffeine timing (Dr. McNally emphasizes reviewing how much caffeine you consume and when you drink it)
“It’s really looking at what is waking you up at night, because a lot of the daytime fatigue that women have and the lack of energy is because they’re not sleeping.”
As for the association between sleep and mood changes, Dr. McNally says it’s complex: “If you break it down into a physiologic hormonal perspective, there are shifts in estrogen, progesterone. If there are life stressors, you’re going to have higher epinephrine and cortisol levels. And these stress hormones could actually negatively impact many other factors of your life.”
“So if you’re not sleeping as a root, your other mood function fatigue is all connected. Think of it as a triangle. Sleep, mood and energy are very, very connected.”
Discussing symptoms of menopause and perimenopause, Dr. McNally says those symptoms encompass “everything.”
“From mood to energy, to cognition, brain fog,” she lists. “There could be a decline in word recall or the quickness in that perimenopausal transition, [which is] very well studied.”
“It can lead to poor sleep, poor libido, poor coping mechanisms, hot flashes,” Dr. McNally continues. “And that is actually a trigger from your brain. As the estrogen declines, it becomes erratic where your brain is craving estrogen and your ovaries are like, ‘Yeah, I’m done. It’s not happening.'”
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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