Sudden, severe insomnia – please share your stories!

[HotToast]

I've suddenly started suffering from really terrible insomnia and I really need to chat about it and hear some other experiences!

It started 2-3 weeks ago with frequent waking in the night and early morning waking – but I was at least still getting some sleep so although it was frustrating, it was manageable, and I told myself it was a little phase that would pass. Then suddenly it got dramatically worse and for the last three nights I have gone to bed, only to lay wide awake literally all night long until morning, feeling strangely wired, although desperate for sleep, if that makes sense. The only sleep I've had has been after about 6am, when I've finally managed to drift off for an hour or so.

I am feeling seriously alarmed by this. There is nothing going on in my life that could account for it and I haven't suffered from insomnia before really apart from a blip in my teens. The only thing that I can think that would be causing this is changing hormone levels – I'm 42. But I don't have any other signs of peri yet. I spoke to a doctor on the phone this week and he wasn't particularly helpful. He dismissed the idea that it was hormone related because my cycles are still regular (but what else could it be?!) and said to try over the counter meds for a couple of weeks to see if that sorts it. I've tried Nytol – which doesn't seem to work – and have just started taking a magnesium supplement; too early to tell if that will help.

My question basically is, has anyone experienced a similar sudden onset of insomnia? If so, how long did it last and did you find the cause? What if anything helped? Should I press my GP on the hormones thing? I don't know what to do and am starting to panic. I have two DC (8 and 6) and I really can't function on an hour's sleep a night. Help!!

@HotToast hope it works🤞🤞 I'm going to try and bore myself to sleep by folding some laundry. I've just been lying in bed unable to switch off for several hours so I may as well do something 🙈

Insomnia kind of crept up me gradually in the past 6 months. It was accompanied but slight mood swings. Prior to this, nothing.
Initially, I’d go to bed feeling tired but wake at about 2am every night then feel sleepy around 6am when I had to get up for work.
I’d sleep well the following night due to exhaustion from having been at work on no sleep

I could predict which night I’d sleep.
Magnesium Glycinate made a slight improvement but I know I’m menopausal so got myself started on hrt.
First night on it I slept like a log and it’s been more or less the same since.
It’s been a month now. I should have done it sooner but prior to the insomnia there were no other symptoms.

Try a different doctor. Get them to take blood tests if you still have periods.

I’m awake now due to having been up with family visiting btw !

@Squirre poor you 😓
@Relaxandunwind thanks for giving me hope!

After years of sleep deprivation with small children, it feels incredibly unfair that so many women then have to deal with this. Among other things, I'm dreading what this will do to my face; the bags under my eyes this morning were something else. Nothing like insomnia to turbocharge the ageing process. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Sheer terror, whether conscious or unconscious, will stop you sleeping and will mess with your parasympathetics

I'd try seeing a kinder GP or going private for tests to check out your hormone levels

Have you considered a few hypnotherapy sessions?

Are you sure you're not pregnant? I got terrible insomnia through both pregnancies.

I get it now too but that's stress and anxiety. I try to get as many hours (mins) as possible by trying to focus on audiobooks rather than the 3 million things I worry about.

@HotToast Did you manage to sleep at all?

One thing I forgot to mention is that fasting/decreased calories can also cause insomnia as it raises your cortisol levels, which is naturally rises from 3am to 7am. So make sure you have a decent dinner, with plenty of fats, carb and protein.

Good luck phoning the GP today.

@Bestyearever2024 thank you. I will try everything if it continues!
@Kipperthedawg no, definitely not pregnant. That's one thing I can rule out. 😅
@Carrythelight good morning! Well I took two phenergen that I bought yesterday after it was recommended when it became clear I was just going to lie awake again. They took a couple of hours to kick in but then I did sleep after that. Pity you can't take that stuff indefinitely. Hope you slept OK too?

I wonder if I should bypass the GP or just pay for an appointment at a menopause clinic or similar? If anyone's got any thoughts on that do let me know. Thanks again so much for all your support, ladies. 😘

I'd ignore the doctor saying it's not hormonal because you have regular periods. I do too but for the two weeks before a period I get horrendous insomnia. Hormonal insomnia is actually quite common. Sympathies, it's a bitch😅

@Devilsmommy thank you. I'm so glad I posted about this because it helps just to know that this is common. I do tend to get health anxiety and immediately look for the worst, most sinister explanation. If it helps others I will post here about what happens and what if any treatment I find/anything that works. ❤

Update: Apparently my surgery does have a female GP who specialises in women's health, woop! So I've booked an appointment with her. It's not until the 20th but at least it's in the diary. I wish there were brilliant women's health clinics accessible to every woman in every part of the country, this is what we need and deserve.

Hey @HotToast . My insomnia passed after about five weeks. Health anxiety exacerbates insomnia.. you get into a spiral of anxiety which raises cortisol and makes sleeping almost impossible. I think my issues were part of a vicious cycle - stopped breast feeding, had a few nights of insomnia possibly due to fluctuating hormones, panicked and looked for medical reasons, raised my cortisol and activated my amygdala into a frenzy, obtrusive thoughts about dying and leaving my baby motherless, more cortisol, less sleep, more anxiety etc etc. I needed a reset. Sertraline and a few sessions of CBT which I paid for privately.

@80schildhood hello, that's really interesting to hear. I'm so glad it passed eventually for you without dragging on too long. It's almost inevitable to spiral into stress and worry in the middle of the night when this is happening I think. I really admire people who have managed to conquer that side of it. Once anything sinister is ruled out I'm sure I'll feel much better. I woke at one point last night drenched in sweat which makes me think this is even more likely to be peri as aren't night sweats a textbook symptom? Anyway, I have a floor to clean now...it'll be that much more enjoyable now that I'm not so tired.😂

This was my first symptom of peri at age 43. In addition I'd wake up with a racing heart! No way of going back to sleep after that.

After a year the night sweats started. Only then did I connect the dots. Started HRT at 44.

Even with HRT unbroken sleep is not guaranteed, so I use magnesium as well. And then PRAY that I stay asleep.

@SoftPillowAllNight I'm so sorry you've had this experience too, I have had the racing heart as well. Despite being a common thing it all feels very alarming when it happens to you. Tbh it makes me seethe that so many women are left to suffer with this indefinitely when treatments don't work for them. I think a lot more work needs to go into women's health issues during peri/meno, to put it mildly!

By the by, has anyone found a magnesium supplement that they really rate? I've started taking one by a brand called 'Health & Her' but I picked it at random; there are so many magnesium supplements/other natural sleep aids on the market that I found the choice a bit bewildering.

For anyone still here, I have a theory to pose: do you think there's a link between stress and peri? As in, could extreme stress trigger the start of it? A couple of months ago, I experienced a period of extreme stress and emotional distress caused by an argument with a family member. For the next couple of weeks I was incredibly upset. I got over it but the more I think about it, the more I have a gut feeling that going through such extreme emotions actually triggered the start of peri in my body. A quick google has brought up articles that suggest there could be a link but there's very little medical research on peri as a whole. Anyway, it's just a musing and it might all be purely coincidental but wondered if anyone else had noticed a connection between a period of stress and then symptoms starting. 🤷‍♀️

I dont know about starting your menopause but extreme stress will make your hormones such as cortisol go out of whack and effect your adrenaline

@Bestyearever2024 good point. It's easy to see how insomnia can become a vicious circle, even if it didn't start because of anxiety. What a delight mid-life is; I don't know about you but I can't even drink alcohol any more to take the edge off!

Absolutely the same

Totally empathise with you !

Hi @HotToast , how are you getting on now? I'm experiencing similar and am nearly 45, so wondering about peri...
Hope you're doing better x

@UnspeakablyKnackered hi there, I'm so sorry you're experiencing the same, it's so awful, isn't it? Well, I have been taking Phenergan ( an over the counter antihistamine/sedative) every night since the first week it started, which puts me to sleep. A GP told me it was OK to do this for up to a couple of months - I'd definitely recommend this as a short term fix if you're desperate for some sleep as it's not addictive and there are no particular side effects other than slight grogginess first thing.

I was taking a full dose each night for a while but now I've dropped it to half, which still seems to work. Last night I tried going without, full of optimism that I'd sleep now and the insomnia might have passed, but it hadn't. In the meantime, I have a form to get bloods done to test my hormones, but the GP said that because women's hormones are constantly in flux, the results may not indicate peri, even if that is the cause of the problem. So basically, I have to at some point be brave enough to stop taking the sedatives and assess the insomnia, and if it's still an issue, I'll be asking for HRT as that's really the only plausible cause as far as I'm concerned. The exact same thing happened to two older cousins of mine at a similar age. It absolutely sucks. I think that GPs in general are a bit blinkered about the symptoms of peri and seem to only consider it as a cause of symptoms like this if you're a textbook example - over 45 and your cycles are irregular. But insomnia seems to be very common as a first sign of peri and I think it has to be one of the most debilitating and upsetting symptoms of all. Definitely get yourself to your GP for some advice if it continues @UnspeakablyKnackered if you haven't already and feel free to share how you get on!

progesterone is the hormone that's linked to sleep and the average age for it starting to drop is 35 so despite what your doctor says it's could easily be the cause. I went through peri fine but post meno was horrendous with my sleep becoming so light any noise or even rolling over would wake me. Then it started to take ages to fall asleep combined with waking after a couple of hours. By time I got to waking for the night between 2-3am 4 or 5 nights a week I was demented. Within 2 and half weeks of starting progesterone things were SO much better, I could fall asleep and stay asleep

I had this. It was hell on earth. It was peri and hrt helped hugely.