I am 50 and perimenopausal.
The biggie for me is insomnia. I work 3 days a week; on the other two, I often have to see the family (2 DSs, 12 & 14) and DH) off to work- and take to my bed for a 2 hour sleep catch-up! I do this because I have Things To Do and as such, know I'll be better off functioning reasonably well through a shortened day (with a 10-10.30am 'wake-up') than getting up, in mortal 'pain' at 7.15am and dragging myself through the day, exhausted. Whilst recognising that tonight will be just as bad! And yes, I exercise when I can! 3 mile walk today. Hot bath, no caffeine blah, blah.
I have discovered over the past few years that I'm either In the Mood or Not to do everyday stuff. As in - willingly (and sometimes happily and with enthusiasm!) able to take tasks on, or not. If I wake utterly NOT in the mood, I just can't start, be it cleaning, shopping, sorting, organising. I must add that I do the barest necessary so the house is clean enough and there's food on the table, but if there's anything else that needs doing- nah, if I'm not in the mood. I mean, not 'don't really feel like it' aka 'Princess', more 'can't face it', just can't start the task; so insomnia really affects my day to day functioning!
I have found, interestingly, when I try to sleep that I actually can't switch off. I try and adopt relaxation techniques as I lie in bed at 1am, 2 am, but it's almost as if my conscious splits; one half trying, the other observing, criticising and hijacking. Part of me is going 'om' as I focus on progressive relaxation; the other is going 'yeah, right, do yer worst- but what did Michele mean when she said that to Sharon today?'- which is maybe better than the catastophising it does by 4am, still awake. What if?...
The tragic thing is, on keeping a 'sleep diary'- I find that it's the evenings when, to put it bluntly, I've got hammered (3/4 bottle wine over an evening) when I wake at 7-8am having had what feels like a great night's sleep! Eight complete hours sleep! Imagine!
Just venting here, sorry!
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Menopause
Insomnia! Screwing with my life!
12 replies
Erebus · 14/01/2014 19:08
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