Hot flash or sleep disruption, might just be a chicken or the egg problem
Not all women with menopausal hot flashes will complain of poor sleep, many do, and it's just now being revealed as to whether sleep disturbances trigger the hot flash, or the hot flash triggers the sleep disorder. So the chicken or the egg!.
Poor sleep is common however and, we need 7 hours of sleep, approximately, but more and less can be associated with many health complaints.
Lack of sleep can cause disordered thinking and weight gain two of the worst consequences of lack of sleep! It turns out that newest research says that if you have HF you don’t get bothered sleep unless the HF are bothersome.
Moderately to severe HF was independently associated in a graded manner with severity of insomnia symptoms and objected measures of night time wakefulness and sleep fragmentation. This means that if you have hot flashes that come frequently each day, they will plague you at night and break up your sleep.
Of course, not all gynos agree on what goes on with sleep in the menopause. Two lab studies showed no problem with sleep in symptomatic women and then sleep disorders should not be attributed to menopause, but other disorders.
Actually in some studies the brain wave sleep disturbance was followed by a HF, rather than caused by the hot flash: a chicken or the egg problem! Treatment: with various hormones, including estrogen and progesterone can improve sleep.
Other medications can work to produce better sleep in those having hot flashes, escitalopram being one, but the degree that sleep is improved may be modest. Exercise daily does improve sleep, and the morning exercisers less difficulty with their sleep.
If you want to understand care that can help your sleep improve, call Women's Health Practice, 217-356-3736.