Another early, perimenopausal morning start . . . advice please?

[harveythehorse]

Every month, for 4-5 days, I wake super early. This morning it was 4am. I'm going to bed at around 9.30pm (falling asleep at 10pm) and not drinking caffeine or alcohol. I take magnesium and yesterday did 20,000 steps (fairly standard). I realise it's perimenopause (I have other symptoms too) but does anyone have any advice as to how I can combat this? I usually wake up at 6am so am used to fairly early starts but 4am really is making the day a challenge. Any advice much appreciated.

I had a chat with my manager and basically said they’d get more from me if I knew I could go home early for a nap if needed or start late during the worst of it.

hrt helped me.

I had exactly the same. That and lots of anxiety. None of the usual hot flushes though. I went on HRT 7 months ago and it has really helped.

Thank you, I'm self-employed so that helps. Great to hear your manager was so supportive.

I've been hesitating about going on HRT but wonder if that might be the answer. I want to avoid any medicine with Premarin so will need to investigate more fully.

Thank you - seems to be HRT may be the way forward.

Sadly hrt did not help my early morning waking (it helped a lot of other things though). What has helped most is getting early morning light (10 min within 1 hour of sunrise) and if possible being outside later in the day.

I'm always out early (horses) and definitely thrive in the early morning light . . . but I never go for an evening walk so this is something to explore. Thank you

Mine got earlier and earlier, hrt didn't help so I got zopliclone from the GP and when they ran out I acquired them from elsewhere. My job involves a lot of driving and it just wasn't safe on so little broken sleep.

As far as I know Premarin is not used in Uk or Ireland in HRT.

I've been googling this morning and the results seem inconclusive - I need to investigate further and speak to a GP about it.

I am awake 4 am most mornings. I started getting up and going to the gym. Otherwise I was just sitting in bed staring at my phone. Helps with the aches and pains and makes me sleepier at bedtime.

Same here op. I can wake up any time from 2am. I go out walking/running to pass the time until I have to get everyone up. I'm so tired. I have gave up trying to get a gp appointment for some hrt.

HRT definitely helps me with this issue. I fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow and stay asleep all night. I get up at 6am for work and I'm asleep until my alarm goes off. Today for example I wasn't working. Dog wanted out at 7am so she woke me up. I let her out and went back to bed and was asleep until 9am. It was bliss.
GPs do not prescribe Premarin now. This is an old HRT associated with more risks than the ones we use now. GPs prescribe 'bioidentical' oestrogen made from yams and bioidentical progesterone for most women. I am so glad I'm on it as it helps my mood, energy levels and presumably my bones, heart and hopefully my brain!

Thank you all for your advice, it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one up in the middle of the night! I will research all of these suggestions xx

I take magnesium glycinate but take it in a morning rather than a night now and that helped me sleep better for some reason.

Agree with magnesium glycerinate high strength which helped/helps me a lot. I have layers of natural bedding to put on and off as I need, including a cotton babies blanket.

I listen to audiobooks and podcasts in the night. This is contrary to most official advice [from men] which is to get up if you can't sleep. I find, even if I can't sleep, I can rest and relax by listening to something. And strangely I find listening to comedy before getting up can help me to wake up. This is combined with a Lumie alarm clock, a second radio alarm, half an hour after the Lumie and a fabulous DH who brings me tea.

I sleep much better with HRT but practically speaking I also play an audiobook when I wake up in the night (through earbuds). Always asleep again within 15 to 30 mins as it stops my mind whirring.

I also just allow more time in bed than before, so aiming to get 8 hrs usually means I can get closer to 7, with the gap.

Seems like you have a lovely relationship, however, I'm not entirely sure you've understood my post. I don't need any help in finding things to wake me up . . . I would absolutely LOVE multiple alarm clocks but need none. Thanks though

I need total silence when I sleep which makes me sound like a princess but I am a very light sleeper (which doesn't help this at all!)

Premarin hasn't been used for years in HRT.

Oestrogen is made from yams now.

I get 6-7 hrs a night now I'm on HRT which is brilliant. I take high strength (450mg elemental) magnesium glycinate at about 6pm, no food after 6 either.

I am out like a light and sleep like the dead for 6 or 7 hours. I sleep better now than I have since I gave birth.

And if I do wake up, I am so sleepy I get back to sleep really easily.

You could try setting a timer which you can do on the Audible app so it would fade after a while. I set it for 15 minutes but often drift off before. It might not be that you will sleep while it's on but it might relax you enough to send you on the way after it turns off.

The information I've found says that it is still in use which is partly why this is all such a minefield (and even more tricky to navigate when running on so little sleep). Your experience makes me very keen to start taking it!

Me too. I am a huge audiobook listener. I have tinnitus which is okay during the day. But silence at night it is fairly loud. So I play a book or a play to fall asleep to. I also turn it on when I wake up in the night. Then I listen to that instead of over thinking things.