Another one who used to sleep so well no matter how wired/stressed I was and who now desperately suffers from lack or poor sleep. In my case, HRT didn't help. The Oestrogen didn't help much whilst the progesterone made me feel so hyper, it made it much worse. I've been much better since coming off it.
I understand mindfulness doesn't come easily to you, it didn't for me either but with time, I've embraced its principles. I don't do the exercise as prescribed, but I'm slowly managing to learn to get my brain to relax. I've started walking in the evenings, and concentrating on what I see, hear, smell and with time, it is slowly coming more naturally.
I've also stopped fighting it and I've just accepted that it's part of the menopause experience. The lack of sleep means that I'm not the person I used to be but I'm still managing, it's just much more difficult. One trick that is helping me cope with the anxiety of sleep deprivation is to have half a prescribed sleeping tablet and tell myself that it is ok to take it if I'm not asleep 3 hours after going to bed. Just knowing that I have this option in desperation means that I don't often need it. I find that with half a tablet, I am ok getting up at 5:30.
What helps to is talking about it as I found that many female colleagues who seem so upbeat and in control deep inside are struggling just as much to keep up the appearance. I can't wait to get some proper sleep again, I'll never take it for granted again!!
