Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Menopause

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Hormonal insomnia-did yours get any better on HRT?

33 replies

BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 07:24

My insomnia is awful-the worst symptom of menopause by far for me. Multiple waking and early waking when I used to sleep so well. Dread going to sleep now and impacts everything.
Really hoping HRT would sort it especially after reading Progesterone helps sleep.
Just started last week so very early days but no change as yet. Was wondering if upping my estrogen would help. Or adding testosterone would. Will carry on at this level and see if it improves but wondering what success others have had when changing doses/levels?
Have obs tried Melatonin, magnesium etc..

OP posts:
CrystalMaisie · 01/10/2023 07:27

It did for me, almost from day one. Coill and oesteogel one pump I started on, and slept all the way through the night for the first time in years. Still do, on 2 pumps now.

Hennahelp · 01/10/2023 07:28

Fixed it for me the same week. I use patches and had a mirena cool fitted.

Heatherbell1978 · 01/10/2023 07:29

I started HRT in January (tablets) and haven't had the life changing change to my sleep I had hoped for. Been battling with insomnia for a few years. What I have found is that I sleep a bit better on the oestrogen than on the progesterone for some reason and I have the occasional decent night of sleep as opposed to hellish sleep every night. I also take magnesium which is supposed to help. I'm on the second lot of tablets to trial at the moment but wonder if the spray or gel may be more effective.

Original poster
BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 07:39

I’m on two pumps and Utrogestan 100mg , I wonder if the coil releases more progesterone?..

OP posts:
Heatherbell1978 · 01/10/2023 07:42

BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 07:24

My insomnia is awful-the worst symptom of menopause by far for me. Multiple waking and early waking when I used to sleep so well. Dread going to sleep now and impacts everything.
Really hoping HRT would sort it especially after reading Progesterone helps sleep.
Just started last week so very early days but no change as yet. Was wondering if upping my estrogen would help. Or adding testosterone would. Will carry on at this level and see if it improves but wondering what success others have had when changing doses/levels?
Have obs tried Melatonin, magnesium etc..

In my experience you need to give 3 months trial each time so I'm on my second lot of tablets after giving the first lot a bit more than 3. It's been quite deflating as I've heard story after story of an overnight change to peoples sleep/mood/other symptoms and I've not had that. Some symptoms are better though (hot flashes) but the insomnia was the only one really impacting my life.

Original poster
BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 07:44

Yes so disappointing! And waiting 3 months each time to see change for me will be hard. I’m so impatient

OP posts:
Slavica · 01/10/2023 07:48

I am in peri, and one of the most disruptive symptoms has been insomnia starting about a week before my period (difficulty going to sleep and inability to go back to sleep if I wake deep in the night). With short cycles, averaging 22 days, it had been torture.

My gynecologist prescribed 200 mg utrogestan starting day 14, which I have chosen to take vaginally. It's still early days for me, but I have been sleeping much, much better. I still wake up on occasion, but go back to sleep within 5 minutes. So, I am not on full HRT yet; the progesterone component has so far managed to take care of my sleep problems (and hot flashes the week before my period, but I don't find them as disruptive).

Sparehair · 01/10/2023 07:55

The HRT helped a bit but not massively.

The thing I found made a massive difference was alcohol. I wasn’t a really heavy drinker but even a couple of small glasses ( I like it really cold so pour small) early evening could mean I didn’t sleep as well that night, particularly in terms of intermittent waking.

Also have you tried coming off all screens for an hour or two before bed and reading instead? Scrolling my phone till I went to sleep was really not helping at all.

it could also be becoming a bit psychological- like you are expecting to sleep badly so you do. Outlive ( book) has a section on this. Basically if you wake during the night they suggest getting up and reading till you feel tired again.

Original poster
BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 08:00

Dont drink alcohol so no change needed there and yes done the no screens stuff. I can get back to sleep when I wake at night usually but I’d just love to sleep through or be woken up by my alarm again!

OP posts:
GoodVibesHere · 01/10/2023 09:06

HRT didn't help my insomnia at all. I was desperate for it to work. I took it for three hopeful months but gave up, as the HRT as brought intolerable side-effects whilst doing nothing for my insomnia.

HRT helped ease my itchy dry skin, but that wasn't enough to outweigh the side-effects of mood swings sore boobs and weight gain, for me. So I carry on living with sleep deprivation which has sucked the life out of me. I don't fall asleep easily, and when I do I sleep fitfully, restless and sweaty, and I'm usually wide awake at 3-4am for an hour, and then start my day at 5:30am. It's changed me as a person. I have always had anxiety, but now have some level of depression too. I have switched to part-time work to help me, but this brings it's own difficulties and a bit of money worries.

I started on magnesium 3 weeks ago but I'm not seeing any difference. It's expensive so I don't think I'll buy more when it runs out.

Newgirls · 01/10/2023 09:13

Hrt transformed my sleep. I still wake in the night occasionally but do some calming yoga things and doze off

leaving a stressful job also helped!

Roselilly36 · 01/10/2023 09:18

I think HRT made my insomnia worse. I also have MS though and that plays havoc with my sleep too.

Original poster
BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 09:28

@GoodVibesHere did you up your dosage and it still didn’t work? Thinking maybe there’s a right level that might be different for everyone instead of the ‘average’dosage? That sleep pattern you describe is exactly as I do which is totally new to me this year and yes it does really make life difficult.

OP posts:
CambridgeLass · 01/10/2023 09:30

Hennahelp · 01/10/2023 07:28

Fixed it for me the same week. I use patches and had a mirena cool fitted.

Same here. Still not ‘normal’ but now getting 5-6 hours instead of 2.

iamthattree · 01/10/2023 09:41

Hrt didn't help me with sleep or anything else - it made me feel very ill in many ways.

The things that helped me I'm sure you've already tried but magnesium glycinate, ashagwa (probs not how you spell it!), lifting weights.

Also I got one of those speaker headband things which you can wear in bed and have an audio book or podcast. I find those really help with getting back to sleep after the 3am wake ups as they occupy my brain enough to not get into the anxiety spiral but not stimulating enough to distract.

Sorry, I know it can be annoying when people tell you to do things you've already tried. And it sucks balls.

Sortmylifeout52 · 01/10/2023 09:49

HRT hasn't helped my sleep at all.
I've tried all types and doses since 2019.

I've now got a fibroid which I'm sure the HRT has fed. So in addition to poor sleep, I've got cramps, bleeding and menopause symptoms!

Hrt just isn't the silver bullet it's made out to be sadly.

I take amitriptyline for nerve pain and that helps my sleep.

Abra1t · 01/10/2023 09:50

YEs, it's helped my insomnia enormously over the four years I've taken it and it's rare for me to have a bad night now. Sometimes I wake early, but I just read on my ipad and usually drop off again for another hour or so.

Sortmylifeout52 · 01/10/2023 09:52

@iamthattree what ashwangandha do you take please?

Original poster
BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 10:15

@Abra1t can I ask what combination/dosage works for you?

OP posts:
GoodVibesHere · 01/10/2023 10:18

BelleBoyd · 01/10/2023 09:28

@GoodVibesHere did you up your dosage and it still didn’t work? Thinking maybe there’s a right level that might be different for everyone instead of the ‘average’dosage? That sleep pattern you describe is exactly as I do which is totally new to me this year and yes it does really make life difficult.

No I didn't increase my dose as I was concerned that might increase the HRT side-effects which were really bad. I couldn't wait to come off HRT, it was awful for me. So sadly I feel I'm stuck with insomnia and this half-life I'm living.

itsmeafterall · 01/10/2023 10:25

Took a couple of weeks for me to sleep through (bliss!) and then I started dreaming again (wonderful!).

It's been transformative. Give it time.

Sortmylifeout52 · 01/10/2023 10:25

@GoodVibesHere what side effects did you experience? Did you try other types of HRT?

GoodVibesHere · 01/10/2023 10:48

Sortmylifeout52 · 01/10/2023 10:25

@GoodVibesHere what side effects did you experience? Did you try other types of HRT?

The side effect for me was an awful PMT effect, i.e. sore swollen boobs (okay, I could put up with that), awful headache, very irritable almost depressive bad mood in the run-up to my 'period'. Along with period cramps which I've never had. I've never ever had PMT in my life so this was totally new to me. It made me a horrible unpredictable person in a depressed anxious state. I also put on weight, which they say isn't HRT-related but I don't believe that.

So I gave up the HRT and now put up with the peri-menopausal insomnia which is hideous, the night sweats and the anxiety, inability to make decisions and general lack of confidence. I'm a bit of a mess.

PocketSand · 01/10/2023 11:15

According to my GP the rules around how much progesterone is needed has changed. I am currently on 4 pumps of oestrogen gel and used to take 100mg Utrogestan tablets. This has been changed to 200 mg Cyclogest pessaries. The increased progesterone dose has completely cured my menopausal insomnia. I now sleep through the night and on the occasions I wake I easily fall back asleep.

Oakiedoakie · 01/10/2023 11:52

When I started hrt I was on 100 mg utrogestan nightly and initially this helped my sleep a lot, but I think my body got used to it and it wasn't as helpful after a while. I am now on a higher dose of 200 mg nightly due to increasing the oestrogen also. Again initially, this really helped. I am now struggling a bit again with insomnia. I do wonder if I could take a sleeping aid occasionally with the utrogestan. I know it has a sedative effect but sometimes it isn't enough. It has seemed to help with the early morning waking though, touch wood.