What Is ‘Meno-Somnia’? 5 Ways to Ease Your Symptoms
Meno-somnia, or a shorthand version of “menopause insomnia,” makes it impossible to get a good night’s rest. It’s not your fault that you’re cranky and exhausted in the mornings! To help you cope, check out these five tips for easing symptoms so you can at last get the shut-eye your body needs.
To stop sweating, eat edamame.
Menopausal night sweats can lead to menopause insomnia. Why? They leave 80 percent of women restless, which can block you from reaching the deepest levels of REM sleep. To dodge trouble, enjoy a handful of dry-roasted edamame two hours before bed. The crispy soybeans’ phytoestrogens offset the plunge in estrogen responsible for flushing. The pay-off: Research in Menopause finds you’ll cut hot flashes by up to 84 percent.
To quiet snoring, gargle with lavender.
Your risk of snoring, which causes mini awakenings, rises with menopause. Yet many women who don’t think they snore actually do! The fix: Gargle with one cup of water infused with two drops of lavender essential oil before bed. Linalool in the oil mimics estrogen, and daily exposure to it may offset hormonal shifts that trigger snoring. Plus, some lavender lovers believe that gargling with lavender eases cold and flu symptoms — an extra win!
To calm your mind, nibble on this gummy.
For nearly 25 percent of women, menopause boosts levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This can lead to racing thoughts that block sleep. To tame tension, eat a CBD gummy or capsule before bed. Research from the journal of Neurotherapeutics shows that CBD is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder when it is consumed during an episode.
To try: Cornbread Hemp Gummies (Buy from Cornbread Hemp, $35.99). Another one we love? The CBD/Melatonin Softgels from the Wellness Collection (Buy from the Wellness Collection, $100). Though more expensive, the product contains “nanoemulsion technology” which helps your body absorb more of the CBD than many other brands on the market. The small dose of melatonin will help you sleep through the night, while the CBD will help you feel calm.
To nix pain, sip cherry juice.
When inflammation-taming estrogen levels dip, joint pain flares. So much so that achy joints may keep menopausal women from sleeping. But University of Delaware research shows sipping tart cherry juice at night calms inflammation, while the Sleep Foundation says its melatonin may help you stay asleep once you drift off.
Dim the lights.
Turn down the lights about two hours before bed nightly, and you’ll boost sleep-triggering melatonin production by more than 71 percent, finds research out of the University of Colorado. This will in turn help improve your quality of sleep.
A version of this article originally appeared in our print magazine, Woman’s World.
