SPEAKER_01 0:13

Hello and welcome to another episode of Empower Your Menopause, the podcast where we bust mist, challenge outdated health advice and empower women to thrive in midlife and beyond. It's James here and Julie, and today we're going to address a topic, well, I guess like all of them really, but it's critically important. Another topic that's critically important throughout the menopause journey. So if you're waking up exhausted, you're tossing and turning at night, or you're feeling like your sleep has completely betrayed you in midlife, you're not alone. And no, it's not just about getting older, it goes much deeper than that. So in this episode, we're going to break down why your sleep goes hairwide hairwire during perimenopause and menopause, and why it matters more than ever for your long-term health. And most importantly, we're going to give you some tips, hopefully, on how to fix it. So those simple practical strategies are going to help keep you uh your sleep preserved, help you wake up feeling rested rather than wondering how you're supposed to function for on four hours of sleep without a bucket of caffeine being thrown in as well. So if you're tired of being tired, stick around. Today we've got you covered. So, Julie, why don't you just go over the main talking points that we're going to go through today and give us some background information on this?

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Yeah, sure. And I, you know, I can relate to this because I've had these issues through my own menopause journey. You know, we always say, I used to sleep fine. What the hell happened? Um, all of our internal regulators are shifting. And when that happens, everything is affected from sleep to metabolism to mood. And so um the main players, of course, are our hormones, estrogen and progesterone, primarily, um, because when they drop, we wake up more often, we've got more stress, so cortisol levels are higher, we're we're our circadian rhythms are thrown off, our cortisol rhythms are thrown off. Um, and blood sugar is more difficult to regulate because, of course, estrogen has some protective effects on that. So when we're on that roller coaster with estrogen and progesterone, our insulin levels and our blood sugar levels can get onto the same roller coaster ride. So I know a lot of women complain about waking up in the middle of the night feeling absolutely ravenous. So that can be, that can be a factor for sure. But it isn't, I mean, I think the important thing for people to realize is it's not just about willpower, you know, just getting that advice to just go to bed earlier. You know, that's really not helpful because it is a biological thing for us. So now so it's important to have a strategy. So we can go into those, um, I think a little more deeply, because there's a lot of detail.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yeah, there's a couple of things there that really stick out for me from what you just talked about. The one is your estrogen and progesterone, once again, coming to the fore and being responsible for so many different things, regulating so many different uh bodily functions in a woman beyond just sexual function. And it always interests me that people tend to talk about estrogen, particularly as being a sex hormone. And for those of you who aren't watching live, I'm doing the air-inverted commas when I say a sex hormone, because it's almost like a master hormonal regulator for women because it does play into so many different things. You know, bone health, sleep in this case, blood sugar management that you just talked about, and I think the second thing, then, based on that, is this idea that you know balancing hormones, people say, Oh, you're not we can help you balance your hormones, it's an almost impossible task, and it's a promise that we shouldn't really make as health coaches, because the endocrine system, the system that works on hormones, that regulates them, builds them, sends them to places where they do their jobs, is a really, really complex system, and it's not about just sort of like, oh, we can boost estrogen and therefore everything's gonna be sorted out, or we can sort of like regulate your blood sugar and everything's gonna be sorted out. It all plays together, and I think it's really important to just keep reiterating that as much as possible. The hormonal journey goes beyond sex hormones, and even your sex hormones do so much more than just regulate your your your sexual function. So let's talk about some of the disruptors then. So I guess the most common one that we tend to come across is hot flushes and night sweats, right? Your body's internal temperature is off, and I just think it's worth clarifying there. This there's a little change in language here of flushes and flashes. In the UK and Europe, Australia, we tend to use flushes in America for many many years. Flashes was used. That language is now changing because hot flushes aren't a flash, they aren't over in a momentary second, as as you'll know, they can last for many minutes. So uh hot flushes and night sweats are really really challenging at this point in time. Your temperature regulation again, estrogen plays a role in that, it goes absolutely hairwire in menopause. So, we're going to talk about some things as we move on, like environment and temperature that all play a role in this. So things like having cooling mattresses. My wife and I, for instance, we've got a split um blanket on our bed that can heat one side of the bed and then not the other, depending on which one of us is cold or hot during the night. So having things like that that can help regulate things. You can buy specialist mattresses that can add cooling elements in. You've got lighter sleepwear. There is some uh menopause-friendly sleepwear now, which can help wick away sweat during the night and things like that. Things like breathable bedding, so making sure that your bedding's really high quality cotton, things like that. Having a fan uh by the bed can also help there, and then you know, either hot baths or cold showers, depending on which side of the temperature uh gauge you might be on on any particular day. Obviously, the hot baths are very, very relaxing, but the cold shower is very, very cooling, so choosing those that are appropriate. Um other sleep disruptors are probably overthinking anxiety. I wonder if you just wanted to touch on that one a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Oh, yeah, absolutely. This is one of my favorites. Like your brain won't shut off, right? The hamsters are running on the wheel, and all of these weird thoughts come up in the middle of the night. You don't even know where they're coming from, really. But when we're constantly stressed and we're not managing our stress very well or regulating our stress very well, this cortisol cycle um gets completely flipped upside down because ideally, cortisol will will cortisol levels will rise early in the day, and that gives us energy to face our day, and then it tapers off as the day goes on so that we can get into sleep. But when we're on this constant stress cycle, cortisol levels are all over the place, and that's not fine, not fun because cortisol will preferentially cause you to store fat. When you're constantly stressed, your body will kind of shunt circulation and attention away from other body functions because it's really focused on dealing with the stress. So it means we don't digest our food as well, it means we um we have this these elevated levels of cortisol. So in menopause, we're already preferentially storing more body fat to help us with estrogen. And the adding cortisol to the mix really doesn't help. And when you don't have a good way to de-stress, it doesn't just magically turn off at bedtime when you lie down to try to go to sleep. But you know, and then it's not that your brain is broken, it's really trying to protect you. But when we tend to finally stop as we're ignoring all of these other things that are going on during the day, that subconscious mind kind of does a does a brain dump on us. So without having a way to navigate through that, all of those thoughts are just gonna come sort of out as soon as we as soon as we do stop and and we're relaxed in bed. So some of the things that you can do are um using journaling as a as a sort of stress management technique, maybe doing some yoga or something to unwind meditation, breathing exercises. Something I found really helpful is to have a pen and pad next to my desk, uh next to my desk, next to my um on my nightstand, and do a brain dump either right before I go to bed or if I do happen to work, wake up in the middle of the night to just whatever's on my mind, write it down. Because especially since brain fog is a thing at this time of life, a lot of times we wake up worrying that we're gonna forget something important that maybe has popped into our mind during the evening. So having that available and using pen and paper or pencil and paper and not your phone to make those lists is is important because it really doesn't that blue light from your phone really doesn't help with the sleep cycle or the stress cycle. So I, you know, and and diet, diet plays into this a lot as well. And uh, James, you want to talk about that?

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Sure. Um I mean you talked there about sort of like stress and the challenges that has on things like digestive function as well. So again, it's this layering upon layering of things that can have an effect, right? That we kind of need to start unpicking and and moving backwards. So if you are stressed out and you're going to bed, you're already compromising your digestion there inherently, anyway. Cortisol, as you said, can preferentially help store body fat. Also, the other uh place that oestrogen is actually made when um your ovaries stop making it is obviously in your adrenal glands, and therefore there's a challenge there as well, just as an addendum. Um but beyond that, things like the timing before you go to bed, when you eat your last meal, are really really important. You probably need two or three hours to get to start digesting your food before before you go to bed. And so thinking about that would be would be one thing from a practical point of view, timings, etc. And we're going to go into that when we talk about strategies in a moment, but also what you're actually eating and drinking in that time before bed. So the classic one is you know, a late-night sugary snack usually comes about because we've not eaten consistently during the day and therefore we're going to bed or hungry before we go to bed. So anything with any sugar in it, you know, particularly I find many clients report that if they go out and have a meal and they have a meal that's late and then they have dessert at the meal, that can be a challenge for them because that is sending their blood sugar levels hairwire just before they go to bed. So you've got those blood sugar crash uh rises and falls there. There, you've also therefore you're relating back to that previous one, which means that you've got the night wake-ups that are going on as well. And then, of course, our good old friends, caffeine and alcohol, right? Those two stimulants. Now, there's a school of thought that you know you should avoid caffeine during menopause, etc. etc. etc. It's not strictly true. Like all things, there's a continuum on the quality of coffee that you can have. There are some studies that will show that caffeine will increase things like hot flushes down the line, and there's some studies that show that it can help with some menopausal symptoms as well. So I don't think banning caffeine is probably the answer, or probably what we're looking for here. But certainly keeping it out of the later part of the day where it's more likely to keep you up at night would be one thing that I would be thinking about suggesting for anybody who's who's challenged by this. So maybe you know, keep your coffee to that early morning uh routine whereby you're waking up, cortisol levels are high, you want to have a bit of a boost, wake up, etc. Fine. Having a cup of coffee, sort of like six, seven o'clock at night, can be a bit of a bit of a challenge. Um, my mum's a prime example. My mum actually goes to bed with a cup of coffee by the bed and she'll sip it through the night and then wonder why she's not sleeping through the night. It's it's quite crazy when you think about it. Certainly quite counterintuitive, but she's got by on it for years and she's happy with it, so I just let her get on with it. Then, of course, the other one is alcohol, and once again, we're not demonising alcohol, we're just highlighting the challenges that arise from drinking for women at this time of life. And one of those things is that it's a massive sleep disruptor. I had a uh one of my um personal training clients was in the gym with me the other day, 6:30 in the morning. She got up, she'd had a terrible night's sleep, and she was working out with a partner, a friend of hers, who they do a session together, and she said, I had a dreadful night's sleep last night. And the first question a friend asked her was, Did you have a drink? And the answer was yes. She'd had two or three glasses of wine quite late at night before she went to bed, and so she recognised that was that was a trigger, but obviously not as much of a trigger as to make her want to stop doing it. So here's the truth about alcohol. There's a common misconception that drinking helps you sleep better, and it's not true at all. What is true is that it can help you get to sleep better, but it doesn't help you have a solid night's sleep after that. We've talked before about the idea that sleep cycles run in around 20 minutes or so, 20 to 30 minutes, and so it can cause you to wake up for all manner of reasons, for the disruption that it causes chemically in your in your body, to the fact that the more we've had to drink, usually the more we need to get up and pee during the night as well, and therefore that can also be a challenge. So they're the things that I'd be thinking about looking at. So four things in that area of diet and stimulants. One is what time you're eating late at night, the other one is what stimulants do you have. Think about coffee and and alcohol, and then the fourth one is sugar spikes later on as well. But I guess the key takeaway here is you know, good sleep doesn't start at bedtime, it starts with what you do throughout the day, and I think that's a really good uh place for us to come into the idea of creating a routine, right? Because and I say that because what you do throughout the day is important, and I always think when we're creating a sleep routine, it's best to start from the end point, and ultimately the end point is what time do I want to get up in the morning, and then start working backwards from there because I think that's really really important. So, how we wake up is super super important from you are you hitting the snooze button on those nine-minute I think it is cycles that an iPhone gives you. I'm not sure what it is on an Android phone, but on an iPhone, I know that the um snooze alarm is nine minutes, and there are all kinds of studies that show that continually hitting that snooze alarm is bad for your sleep because it doesn't allow you to go through one of those 20-minute sleep cycles that I talked about before. Yeah, so this the um that snooze alarm is really really not your friend when it comes to waking up in the morning. Then the next thing I'd say is you're trying to get some daylight. I know that if you live in the northern hemisphere, like we do, and particularly if you live in the far region of the northern hemisphere at this time of year, that can be a real challenge because daylight is is precious. But trying to get some daylight really kicks off your circadian rhythm, it helps with that cordol rise that we're looking for in the morning to get us going, to give us that get get up and go. So that's really important, and then I'd say working back from there is really important too. So if you you know studies show that there is a Goldilocks period when it comes to uh how much we should sleep. So around nine hours, nine and above tends to be too much, seven and below tends to be too little, and so your goldilocks period is that old thing that your mum always used to tell you, make sure you get eight hours of sleep a night. It's kind of where you want to be looking at. So if you want to get up at 6:30, 10:30 should be your bedtime. So we're working backwards from the morning until the evening, and then play everything back from there. So I think that's really important. We talked to our clients about doing a three, two, one routine. I know that you're gonna talk about ditching screens in a moment, but that three just very briefly, three hours beforehand, no food to help with that digestive thing, two hours beforehand, no work, and then one hour. I know you're gonna talk about that in a second, the idea of ditching screens before bed, because that's really important as well. So look at the timings then backwards from the morning to the evening, and then you can work back using that three to one routine to work that out. And then, of course, there's the bedroom environment, right? And there are a couple of things to think about looking at here. We talked before about things like you know, bedding and nightclothes and things like that will help regulate your temperature. Trying to keep your bedroom generally at a regular temperature of around 18 degrees Celsius, I think that's about 65 Fahrenheit, is the kind of thing that you're looking at. Your body sleeps better in a cool environment, despite the fact that for many of us, a warm environment makes us sleepy. Um, so there's something counterintuitive there, obviously. But yeah, a cooler environment would be where I'd be looking to start. And then I guess a third one is sorry, the second one from an environment point of view is the actual ambient setup of your bedroom. So what's happening with with light? You know, do you live by a busy road and you've got street lights outside, and then do you need some blackout curtains or something like that to help get rid of some of that, some of that light to make it easier for you to get to sleep. Light plays an incredible role, as Julie's going to talk about in a second, on our sleep cycles and how both how we wake up and how we go to bed. And so I know that even me personally, again, going back to the idea of living in the far north, in the summer, where I live, it's getting light at 4 am. As soon as that 4am bit of shaft of light comes through the window, I am kaching awake, and so light plays a real role. So trying to look for ways to actually keep that light out is really really important, and similarly with noise, obviously, noise can have a can be a challenge for us, both getting to sleep and staying asleep. So, again, what can you do to help with that? Can you um use earplugs? Can you uh get some extra thick drapes that will help keep keep the noise out when it comes to the light? Can you wear a sleep mask? That can really help. So, those environmental things I think are really really important. So I know I stole your thunder a little bit, Julie, there with the screen time, but why don't you just talk about that? Because I think this is super important because it's the one thing, irrespective of who we see and why they come to us in the first place, whether they come to us because they're challenged by hormonal symptoms or weight loss or whatever. I don't know anybody in 2025 who is good and keeps their boundaries when it comes to screen time before bed. Discuss.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Yeah, yeah, discuss. It's it's huge, and I there is without exception, every single person we have worked with who has done this has improved their sleep, and that is to ditch your screens an hour before bed. And a lot of people say, well, you know, if I wake up in the middle of the night, it it's something for me to do, or um, I need to have it handy in case my kids call, or you know, whatever ex whatever reason, whatever excuse we have, we feel like we're compelled to have our our phones near our bed, or we're on our you know, tablets before, or watching television. But that blue screen, that blue light actually blocks melatonin production. So it means that our sleep isn't it, it messes with our circadian rhythms. It means we don't get to sleep as easily, we don't enjoy deep sleep as much as we need it, which is where we do a lot of our restoration. And it's very, very stimulating. And even first thing in the morning, I recommend not looking at your phone if you can avoid it for at least 30 minutes, ideally, the first hour of your day when you're awake, because it messes with your brain waves and it starts stressing your brain immediately. And there have been all kinds of um research. Studies coming out now and even showing videos of little babies and small children actually having complete and utter meltdowns when screens are taken away from them. We have this dopamine addiction that we get from our screen. So it goes a lot deeper. But what where sleep is it is concerned, really, really, really ditching that screen an hour before bed, leaving the phone at least on the other side of the room, if not in another room, you know, if you need to have it nearby for kids or family or what have you, at least put it on the other side of the room so you're not tempted by that. And I have mine set up now. There's a setting, and I'm pretty sure most phones have this. I went into the battery settings and it automatically shuts off now at 9 p.m. And it's a pain to reboot it up and put in all the passwords and everything. So as soon as that shuts off, it's like, oh, yep, okay, time to, time to to ditch that and go to bed. So and then this also includes TVs. I know a lot of people have televisions in their bedrooms, and that blue light flickering constantly is doing the same thing as your telephone. No matter what light filters or whatever you have, it's still gets through. It's like putting on sunglasses and saying, I'm blocking out the sun, right? Um, so so that's really important. And stress management, you know, and I think those two things play nicely together because usually what we're finding on social media or the news or whatever we're watching is not relaxing anyway, but managing your stress before you go to bed, whether that's breath work, stretching, yoga, meditating, journaling, you know, hugging your loved ones. I love to cuddle with my dog. I have an herbal tea, and and we sit quietly and do that in the evening before bed. And I find that to be really, it's a because it's a habit now, it's a signal that to your body that it's time to start winding down. And some of these habits are gonna take a little while to get into place, so you may have to practice for a bit. And then um another big one is eating strategically. Really avoid that late-night sugary snack, or or even if it's something that's high carb, that converts to sugar, so it's gonna spike your insulin levels as well. And that leads to to waking up. Your body has different processes that it goes through throughout the night with your liver and your kidneys, and you know, it does all of this repair and maintenance, and so avoiding those, those late night or late night sugar spikes is gonna be is gonna be really important. And we've had clients who have increased their protein intake during the day and their sugar cravings have all but disappeared. So making sure that you know that you are eating strategically to avoid those. Of course, James talked about getting light during the day, getting movement during the day also makes a big difference. Your body is made to move, or we're designed for that, and we tend to be driving a desk all day and we get stiff and tired because we're not moving. So when you get some more movement during the day, it helps kind of it's a great way to manage stress as well, whether it's dancing or walking up and down the stairs or going for a walk or a run or strength training, whatever kind of movement you enjoy, that can really help improve your sleep. And and again, back to the sunshine or daylight, that really makes a difference in our circadian rhythms and how our bodies decide when it's time to be awake and when it's time to be asleep. So I I think the key takeaway here is you don't need a perfect routine, but incorporating small, consistent habits that help your body get the rest it needs are going to really make a difference over time. So, yeah, anything else?

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Well, I think that last point's really important, is it? Because if we just quickly recap one sentence for each of the tips, because I think six or seven of them there, you know, start at the end and work your time in backwards. Make sure your environment's right from a temperature, a light, and a noise point of view. Ditching screens one hour before bed, doing some kind of stress manage before bed, eating strategically, moving during the day, and getting some sunshine or at least daylight early in the morning are all critically important. But it doesn't mean you have to get up tomorrow morning and vow to change all of those things at once, because that would be a real real challenge and it and it's too much. So I would always say, what is the one thing that you can do, the smallest thing you can do that you think would just change the dial a little bit? It could just be getting into bed half an hour earlier, putting your phone to one side, making sure you don't eat late at night, it could be any of those things. You don't have to reel off the whole litany in one go as of tomorrow to get a perfect night's sleep. You will see that it just changing one of those little things, choose one that you think works best for you and play with it for a couple of days and see what effect it can have on your sleep. And you might be surprised that if you layer then these on top of each other and try and make little incremental changes on each of them, that within a couple of weeks or a month or so, your sleep is much, much, much improved, which is what we're looking for. And so, in closing, then if you're struggling with sleep, the most important thing to know is you're not broken and you're definitely, definitely, definitely not alone because it's interesting, every woman who walks metaphorically through our door, and I know that we see clients online, will tell us when she first starts seeing us that her sleep isn't an issue, and as soon as we start asking some questions, you can see there are challenges there that could be improved with better sleep. So you're not alone, it affects probably I would say 90% of the women that we see because menopause makes sleep harder inherently because of all those things that Julie talked about before, your hormones are playing up and they aren't playing nice together, and therefore it is a challenge. But with the right approach, you can wake up feeling much, much more rested. And remember, the right approach isn't go out there now. We find a starting gun, go out there and try and sprint to some kind of sleep finish because that won't work for you either. But just try and change things um slowly and steadily. Julie, do you want to round off by just telling people we've got another one of our workshops coming up that's gonna be free for them?

SPEAKER_00 28:55

Yes, if you if you want to dive deeper into how to reclaim your energy, we've got our free workshop coming up on March the 5th. Um, we'll be sharing some simple lifestyle changes that you can make that will make a massive difference in how you feel every day. And uh you can go to four secrets.fabulousbeyond40.com to find out more details. The exciting thing is that we're gonna have a really big prize draw at the at the workshop for live people who attend live. And it's worth hundreds of pounds. So we really want you to to come and participate and uh yeah, take that action and learn some other ways that you can actually better manage your menopause and and your sleep.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yeah, there's a couple of other things that you could do then as well. Go over to Facebook and search our group, Fabulous Beyond 40 uh Beyond 40 coaching the group. You'll find that just by searching for it. Join us, it's a private group. There's five or six hundred women in there. We exchange strategies, it's all free things for you to do there. We do challenges, all kinds of different things. If you want to speak to us on a one-on-one basis, you can book um into talk to us for free 45-minute call. We will give you the basic uh a basic roadmap to start moving forward, absolutely free. Then, if you want to find out what it's like to work with us, we can explain that on the call. But you know, don't worry about that, just book the time. We offer it, so take advantage of it. Um, and then finally, please like and share the podcast. If you have enjoyed it and you want to like and share it, that is because the more people we can help, the better it will be for everybody. So, on that note, it's been James and Julie from Fabulous Beyond 40 on the Empower Your Menopause podcast. We will see you next time. In the meantime, stay strong and stay fabulous, and we'll see you soon. Take care.