Turn bad dreams into good (hint:balance these hormones)
Health is the first muse, and sleep is the condition to produce it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
1. If you suffer from PMS you are likely suffering from sleep disorders and possibly bad dreams as well. Many women with hormone imbalance have both poor sleep and bad dreams. there's hardly an aliment of PMS that isn't cured by the proper leaf or herb. And that's saying a lot since there are over 200 reported symptoms. For menopausal women a green branch of balsam was believed by Native Americans to prevent nightmares. The goal is to balance hormones, and it may require more medical management than just herbals.
2. Menopausal women have the worst sleep. However, premenopausal and menopausal women suffer from sleep disorders, including trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, difficulty staying awake during the day, and non-restorative sleep. Sleep-related complaints are near the top of the list when women are asked to describe problems associated with their menopause. Insomnia is a very common complaint from depression, as a complication of a stressful lifestyle, a result of stress, and a side effect of medications, alcohol and caffeine.
3. Find your sleep drishti !Every woman is different, and we all require different amounts and types of sleep to function at our best. For most women in their late forties and fifties, 6 to 8 hours of restful, quality sleep is recommended, many adults need 9 hours. Aging does tend to lessen sleep requirements. A routine of regular exercise, drinking adequate amounts of water every day, limiting alcohol and caffeine intake and drinking warm milk before bedtime are all beneficial in getting a good nights’ sleep. Maintaining a regular bedtime and getting up at the same time each day helps to establish good patterns. Your internal biological clock will adjust accordingly, and over a short time; your body will naturally want to rest during those regular hours. Darkness is essential for proper melatonin production by your body.
4. Consider a sleep diary, knowing how you dream can be the first step towards fixing them. REM sleep is marked by increased blood flow to the brain and rapid ‘scanning’ movements of the eyes. We dream during REM sleep, and can think of the eye movements as the dreamer watching the events of a dream. If we awake immediately after a period of REM sleep, we are much more likely to recall our dreams. Most dreaming occurs towards the morning hours. We wake briefly after each REM episode. The function of REM sleep is not entirely understood, but it appears essential to maintain normal memory and cognitive function. Lack of REM sleep can lead to tiredness, irritability and memory lapses, and in extreme cases, psychosis. Sto time to come in to discuss with your gyno!