Former Olympic athlete had been unaware of link between hormonal changes and sleep disturbance, which experts say presents serious public health challenges
Throughout her career as an athlete, good sleep had always been a priority – and easy to obtain. But a couple of years ago, then aged 51, she started struggling to fall asleep, and waking around 3am. It was only when a doctor told her this was a symptom of the perimenopause that she realised what was happening.
Most women woke up at 3.29am, when the majority lay in bed and tried to fall back to sleep, while others read a book, scrolled on social media or watched TV.
Dr Hana Patel, a GP specialising in women’s and mental health, said she saw lots of patients who were experiencing perimenopause or menopause with problems sleeping, resulting in irritability, difficulty concentrating and anxiety. She assures them that “this is a temporary symptom and there are treatments to help”.
The second is hot flushes, which are caused by dilations and constrictions of the blood vessels. These disrupt sleep because they predominantly happen at night, and can cause night sweats and thermoregulation difficulties.
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