Tiredness 12 Nov Written By Claire Horn So this was the symptom that came up on our Facebook group as the 3rd most common symptom of Peri/Menopause. Many of you have said how can I beat the tiredness that I feel on a daily basis. Firstly, it's always our hormones or should I say fluctuating levels of hormones. When we are perimenopause and after the menopause (which is when you haven't had a period for 12 months)We need hormones to function properly. You will be amazed that pretty much every part of our bodies and brain need hormones to function properly. Check out the image I have attached.We can try as many forms of natural remedies,and techniques and some of them do work for many individuals and some of us it doesn't work for. We need these hormones that are gradually disappearing and without them we then end up getting annoying and frustrating symptoms.Estrogen reacts with other hormones that affect sleep, such as melatonin. Melatonin levels decline with age, affecting sleep patterns as we get older. However, declining levels of progesterone and estrogen interfere with the secretion levels of melatonin, so they can exacerbate changes to our usual sleep cycles.Progesterone has a naturally restful effect on the brain's pathways, so having less progesterone could make our brains slightly more active at times when we are accustomed to resting.Progesterone also plays a part in stimulating breathing and can affect how much our muscles relax. This may cause our breathing to become slower and our throats to become 'baggy,' contributing to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a relatively common condition where the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breath rate and flow. However, sleep apnea also has other known contributing factors, like obesity or heart defects.Here are a few things you can try if you haven't already !Cut caffeine altogether, or limit your caffeine intake by having your last caffeinated drink before lunch.Limit alcohol.Eat your last meal early in the evening, as digestion will keep the body awake. A light carbohydrate or protein snack before bed could help you stay asleep by regulating blood sugar and preventing wakefulness due to hunger. It may also be useful to have a snack near the bed for nighttime waking. But keep the snack light if you do not want your digestive system working too hard when you're trying to rest! Examples of light snacks include milk, oatcakes, banana, and peanut butterKeep your bedroom for sleep and sex only, so ban screens and other devices that may be overstimulating.Keep your bedroom dark and cool to enhance restful sleep.Enjoy a relaxing bedtime routine.Limit screen time before going to bed.Wear natural fibres whenever possible to help regulate your body temperature.Have you tried relaxation techniques and Yoga?Exercise is great for a good sleep. Also take magnesium an hour before you go to bed.CBT is a good way to train your brain to become more relaxed, the more you stress about not sleeping the more you won't be able to relax and drift off easily.For some women, replacing the hormones that you are losing really helps reduce the systemic symptoms caused by the menopause and helps reduce the symptoms that inhibit decent sleep. (it worked for me. I am on the patches so the hormones go through your skin (transdermal) gradually throughout the day. You don't get too much, think of it as when you take the patch off the hormones stop. It's as simple as that. Some women go on the patches and then stop because they say it's stopped the annoying symptoms. This means that it's more than likely the symptoms will come back again because their hormone levels start fluctuating and lowering again.This is a good little trick.....If you are lying awake, fretting about being unable to get to sleep or go back to sleep, get out of bed and leave your bedroom.Do something calming in another part of the house without any technological stimulation or caffeine for about 20 minutes. Then, go back to bed.Keep doing this until you fall asleep. You may be tired the next day, but this will help retrain your body into a different sleep pattern and change your circadian rhythm—the natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours.As well as Magnesium look at taking Vitamin B1Vitamin B1 (thiamine) has neurological benefits and helps in the following:convert food into energyenergy productionbrain functiondigestionuse protein in the bodyVitamin B1 deficiency can result to: tender muscleseye painsirritabilitypoor concentrationprickly legspoor memorystomach painsconstipation,tingling handsrapid heartbeatThe RDI for women in the UK is 0.8 milligrams, Vitamin B1To start my day I always without fail have a little cold exposure. I make sure I have a cold shower for at least 5 minutes. If you are going to try this its easier if you build the time up gradually and then after a couple of weeks you will be like me and can walk straight into a cold shower. There is nothing better than the feeling during and after. It totally gets you going for the day. There are more benefits as below but as you can see it gives you a higher level of alertness and thats what is need to beat the tiredness you are feeling.Reduced stress levels. Regularly taking cold showers imposes a small amount of stress on your body, which leads to a process called hardening. ...Higher level of alertness. ...More robust immune response. ...Increased willpower. ...Weight loss. I really hope this helps?Love Claire x Claire Horn http://www.atominteriorstyling.com
Tiredness 12 Nov Written By Claire Horn So this was the symptom that came up on our Facebook group as the 3rd most common symptom of Peri/Menopause. Many of you have said how can I beat the tiredness that I feel on a daily basis. Firstly, it's always our hormones or should I say fluctuating levels of hormones. When we are perimenopause and after the menopause (which is when you haven't had a period for 12 months)We need hormones to function properly. You will be amazed that pretty much every part of our bodies and brain need hormones to function properly. Check out the image I have attached.We can try as many forms of natural remedies,and techniques and some of them do work for many individuals and some of us it doesn't work for. We need these hormones that are gradually disappearing and without them we then end up getting annoying and frustrating symptoms.Estrogen reacts with other hormones that affect sleep, such as melatonin. Melatonin levels decline with age, affecting sleep patterns as we get older. However, declining levels of progesterone and estrogen interfere with the secretion levels of melatonin, so they can exacerbate changes to our usual sleep cycles.Progesterone has a naturally restful effect on the brain's pathways, so having less progesterone could make our brains slightly more active at times when we are accustomed to resting.Progesterone also plays a part in stimulating breathing and can affect how much our muscles relax. This may cause our breathing to become slower and our throats to become 'baggy,' contributing to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a relatively common condition where the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breath rate and flow. However, sleep apnea also has other known contributing factors, like obesity or heart defects.Here are a few things you can try if you haven't already !Cut caffeine altogether, or limit your caffeine intake by having your last caffeinated drink before lunch.Limit alcohol.Eat your last meal early in the evening, as digestion will keep the body awake. A light carbohydrate or protein snack before bed could help you stay asleep by regulating blood sugar and preventing wakefulness due to hunger. It may also be useful to have a snack near the bed for nighttime waking. But keep the snack light if you do not want your digestive system working too hard when you're trying to rest! Examples of light snacks include milk, oatcakes, banana, and peanut butterKeep your bedroom for sleep and sex only, so ban screens and other devices that may be overstimulating.Keep your bedroom dark and cool to enhance restful sleep.Enjoy a relaxing bedtime routine.Limit screen time before going to bed.Wear natural fibres whenever possible to help regulate your body temperature.Have you tried relaxation techniques and Yoga?Exercise is great for a good sleep. Also take magnesium an hour before you go to bed.CBT is a good way to train your brain to become more relaxed, the more you stress about not sleeping the more you won't be able to relax and drift off easily.For some women, replacing the hormones that you are losing really helps reduce the systemic symptoms caused by the menopause and helps reduce the symptoms that inhibit decent sleep. (it worked for me. I am on the patches so the hormones go through your skin (transdermal) gradually throughout the day. You don't get too much, think of it as when you take the patch off the hormones stop. It's as simple as that. Some women go on the patches and then stop because they say it's stopped the annoying symptoms. This means that it's more than likely the symptoms will come back again because their hormone levels start fluctuating and lowering again.This is a good little trick.....If you are lying awake, fretting about being unable to get to sleep or go back to sleep, get out of bed and leave your bedroom.Do something calming in another part of the house without any technological stimulation or caffeine for about 20 minutes. Then, go back to bed.Keep doing this until you fall asleep. You may be tired the next day, but this will help retrain your body into a different sleep pattern and change your circadian rhythm—the natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours.As well as Magnesium look at taking Vitamin B1Vitamin B1 (thiamine) has neurological benefits and helps in the following:convert food into energyenergy productionbrain functiondigestionuse protein in the bodyVitamin B1 deficiency can result to: tender muscleseye painsirritabilitypoor concentrationprickly legspoor memorystomach painsconstipation,tingling handsrapid heartbeatThe RDI for women in the UK is 0.8 milligrams, Vitamin B1To start my day I always without fail have a little cold exposure. I make sure I have a cold shower for at least 5 minutes. If you are going to try this its easier if you build the time up gradually and then after a couple of weeks you will be like me and can walk straight into a cold shower. There is nothing better than the feeling during and after. It totally gets you going for the day. There are more benefits as below but as you can see it gives you a higher level of alertness and thats what is need to beat the tiredness you are feeling.Reduced stress levels. Regularly taking cold showers imposes a small amount of stress on your body, which leads to a process called hardening. ...Higher level of alertness. ...More robust immune response. ...Increased willpower. ...Weight loss. I really hope this helps?Love Claire x Claire Horn http://www.atominteriorstyling.com
