Peri/ menopause thread with advice when waking up at 4am every morning. Insomnia advice requested!

[Kneehighsocks]

Yes- waking up now at 4am to 4.30am EVERY morning. It is relentless and needless to say it is not helping with the rest of life/ perimenopause suitation.
have read that this is not an uncommon symptoms.
Please can we have a thread where advice is posted that is not HRT related.
So far I have

• magnesium- what dose, when to taken it, where do you get it from?
• exercise- when during the day and how much?
• reset you life rota- e.g just get up and live a 5am- 9pm life ( does this actually give you a full nights sleep)
• just get up and sleep on the sofa !

Not here for a discussion- can people just post stuff as getting desperate!!!!! (HRT not an option presently)

Magnesium glycinate before bed, I take two tablets. From Amazon - Nutravita.
I have a good sleep routine, so bed every night at 10pm, read a book for a while, and sleep.
No alcohol, as that was affecting sleep.
My bedroom is clutter free, and I have a couple of plants to clean the air. My room is aired every day.

Hi girls. Very good @DustyLee123. I have been a naughty woman , should go to bed early, instead of looking at my apps.
Anyway, early this year, like you, awake around 4-5am. Started eating early and no food or drink 8pm. Camomile tea, some herbal sleep tea or a banana. Someone suggested Lavender pillow, fragrance. I tried it, but irritates my nose.
Put some soft music, low not high..
Sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't.
I think it is one of perimenopause symptoms.

When I go through these phases I go to sleep later, like 1am. Then I'll sleep though. Yes I'm tired but not as crazy tired as if I'd woken at 4 and not gone back to sleep.

Magnesium does work - or did for me. I must get some more.

I'm waking at the same time.

I'm trialling mirtazapine tomorrow.
Banana at night.
Drop of clary sage oil on my pillow.

Cortisol lowering : ashwaganda at bedtime.

Thorne adrenal cortex in the morning.

HRT sorted this for me.

Magnesium in form of spray (on soles of feet) sorted it for me- alongside hrt. So debilitating. Hope you find something that works for you soon x

You've said that HRT isn't an option at the moment.
If this is because of cancer or serious other conditions which prohibit using HRT your drs should refer you to a menopause specialist who may be able to offer support.
Apologies if you've tried that and drawn a blank.

If it's not for medical reasons, HRT is usually the best option.

No booze and avoid sugar or high Carb food in the evening. A walk in the day helps, even 20/30 mins walk after dinner helps me sleep

I found that eating dairy at night seemed to aggravate my sleep, so that’s another thing to stop!

I discovered the Nothing Much Happens bedtime stories website/podcast a while back and now tell everyone about it - it’s amazing. She reads a gentle story (light on plot, heavy on detail) in the most soothing voice imaginable and I listen to it before I go to sleep and when I wake up - my brain has now made the connection between her voice and sleep, and I go right back over. Took about 2-3 weeks to make the connection so stick with it, but honestly - game changer for my perimenopausal insomnia.

Adding solidarity as this is me. I’ve also started having the most horrendous night sweats. I’m taking magnesium based on what I’ve read on MN and I have an HRT appointment.

Periods are getting irregular.

I am only 42 and this has been a steady increase of symptoms over the last 2/3 years.

Have you tried going to bed later?

You've not said what time you go to bed.

I am on hrt and still get this. The thing that helps best is getting early morning light, make sure you go outside as early as possible, it helps to reset your circadian rhythm. I find when I have been indoors all day I get less deep sleep and wake up early.

Huberman Lab has a lot of science based podcasts on how to improve your sleep.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3TxjF2mZy9S9I9GL5eZ8sq?si=fYMAuG-GTAyoUMquW3mNBQ

I used to get this, I ended up taking a flask if tea up to bed with me, decaf of course. I was just wide awake. I tried everything, exercise at different times of the day, no alcohol, different supplements, no processed foods, you name it I tried it. I used to fall back to sleep just before my alarm went off.
The only thing that worked for me was HRT, sorry if you didn't want to hear that but my understanding is that's it's a hormone deficiency and very common in the menopause. HRT stopped all my symptoms

This is me. However I'm also going to bed around 9.30pm as I'm so knackered so I figure I'm perhaps getting enough sleep although it does take a couple of coffees to get going.
I take Nutrition Geeks magnesium glycinate before bed and it hasn't been the silver bullet everyone talks about but I think it helps with my racing mind.
I take HRT although that's done nothing for my insomnia to be honest.

Does anyone get the racing heart along with early waking? That and this knot feeling in my stomach which makes me feel a sense of dread!

I take phenergen - it’s available over the counter 2 x 25mg tablets and ill sleep all night

I started eating my evening meal earlier (7pm ish rather than 8pm) and also having a lighter evening meal.

making sure I walk outside helps - this is harder to do in the winter when it’s pitch black and lashing with rain!

plus magnesium glycinate (after it was recommended here ) has helped. I use Barefoot Nutrition form Amazon.

I started using an eye mask recently and that has helped too.

I do sometimes wake up at 4am but usually get back to sleep again quickly now.

I take 2 X magnesium glycinate before bed, bed usually at 10pm, read for half an hour, then sleep.
I do usually wake up at 2am ish for a wee but generally go back to sleep until 6:30am ish. DH's snuffling quite often wakes me up so we're working out a plan to sleep separately sometimes so I can have a few more settled nights.
Walk outside a lot, keep your sleep routine consistent, avoid too much sugar, alcohol, caffeine during the day. Exercise a few times a week.
If I wake up and can't get back to sleep, I read my Kindle on dark mode for a bit and that usually sends me back off. Or, I listen to Radio4/world service on very low volume if DH is away.

Take some zinc with the magnesium to aid absorption. i normally get up have a wander around downstairs a drink of water etc and then go back up helps more than lying there fretting I’m not getting enough sleep! Apparently a green tea with honey is good just before bed.