Sorry, guys - this is long!
I am 49 and have suffered from insomnia for 5 years. Night after night I had no problem falling asleep but was waking any time between 2 and 3 and then being awake until 5ish with my mind racing. Lack of sleep was impacting on my desire to exercise, my dietary choices (resulting in weight gain) and my ability to remember faces/ meeting new people and facts and figures. My grandmother had died of dementia in her 70s and I knew that sleep was a vital protector against developing the disease. I was also eager to return to work after a career break. I knew that I would need to get to the root of the problem if I was to stand any chance of having the "head-space" to return to work in a demanding job.
Over the past 5 years, a variety of different GPs at my local practice have sent me for repeated blood tests to establish whether I am menopausal or peri-menopausal. All came back negative, even when I began suffering from night sweats and hair loss. As a result, I was repeatedly asked whether I was depressed to which I replied " No, but I am a bit sad about not being able to sleep for more than 5 hours a night every night." It would, however, have been very easy to have ended up with a repeat prescription for anti-depressants.
In November, I saw a new GP who advised me that the results of the blood tests can be skewed by any contraceptives you may be taking. Why none of the other GPs I had seen in the intervening 5 years knew this, God alone knows - how many peri-menopausal women are likely to be taking contraceptives?!! (If you look at this article www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/20/ignorance-menopause-lives-women-information-symptoms it refers to the menopause not being a compulsory area of study for doctors - brilliant! )
I therefore stopped taking my progesterone only pill at the beginning of December. A blood test I had done two weeks later came back normal again but, when I had not had a period some 5 weeks later, I asked to be tested again and the new GP rang to advise that the results indicated I was MENOPAUSAL (i.e. I had past through the entire peri-menopausal stage during the 5 years I have not been sleeping without being prescribed HRT.)
I am now on day 4 of my HRT and I slept until 6am this morning (even after being out drinking at a friend's birthday celebration last night - I have not done that in years).
Nevertheless I am furious - I am never going to get those 5 years back again. My three children only remember me as a grumpy old moo and I did not have the head space to return to work and so I have missed out financially too.
How many other women, who have experienced what I have, have had the same repeated, pointless blood tests and appointments at a cost to the NHS?
How many women are on pointless repeat prescriptions (for anti-depressants and/ or contraceptives) that are not getting to the root of their menopause symptoms and are needlessly costing the NHS vast amounts of money?
How many women are being denied the opportunity to reach their full economic potential by such a fundamental failure in diagnosing menopause? With so many women now in the work place full time, the NHS and UK plc need to get to grips with this ASAP.
If you are around 40 and have started waking at 2/3 am and not being able to return to sleep, this is a recognised symptom for being peri-menopausal or menopausal. Insist on a blood test that is unskewed by any contraceptives that you may be taking (i.e. allow about a month for the contraceptives to leave your system). Even if the results come back "normal" at least you will have ruled out a possible cause for your insomnia.
Rant now over. Wishing everyone a solution for their insomnia, whether in pill form or not.