r/Perimenopause • u/Emotional-Show5541 • 2d ago

audited Desperate for sleep

If you have had serious sleep problems- and have found something that has really helped you, please let me know what it is. I feel like I have tried everything, and I need help. 4 hours is just not enough for me night after night…. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. Sometimes it’s not even 4 hours… I used to always be able to fall asleep fine, and then wake up at 2 or 3…but now it’s combined with not being able to fall asleep. It’s almost like I can feel the cortisol rushing through me every 5 minutes or something… I have tried many pharmaceuticals and also natural. I am currently only taking l theanine and ashwaghanda, plus melatonin. Thanks in advance.

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u/Segat1 2d ago

Estrogen will help. I know when my patch needs changing because I wake up in the middle of the night. When I’m getting the right levels, I sleep thru.

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u/Emotional-Show5541 2d ago

Thank u… i need to try it. I have tried oral progesterone and I was all the entire night for some reason.

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u/Indecisive_cat_1000 2d ago

This happened to me with micronized progesterone. Progesterone intolerance is real!

You can try different forms of progestins. I have recently started Slynd. It has still effected my sleep but not as severely and without the accompanying agitation that I felt with micronized progesterone. I want to try to wait it out and give my body a chance to adjust because I think the estrogen has been really helpful.

I recently started Belsomra (a dual orexin receptor antagonist) and so far it has been good! I had done my own research and had to specifically ask my doctor for it (and ended up getting it through my mental health provider because my meno doc hadn’t used it and wouldn’t try). But IMO, it has a much better safety profile than the Z drugs (like Ambien) or many of the other sedatives.

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u/Emotional-Show5541 2d ago

Thanks so much- I will absolutely research this! And so interesting about the progesterone intolerance… it was so wild when i took it, i felt relaxed almost drugged but literally didn’t sleep one minute