How to Stop Hot Flashes From Causing Insomnia

Hot flashes may seem relatively harmless, but when you consider that they can actually cause insomnia for a lot of women, you start to realise just how debilitating they can be if left unchecked. Their relationship with insomnia is when a woman experiences a hot flash during the night, which naturally wakes her up rather suddenly.My grandma used to say she had "eyes like saucers" when her hot flashes were keeping her awake at night - I think she meant she was suddenly wide awake and unable to get back to sleep - but we certainly got the picture.It seems that hot flashes, and insomnia in particular have plagued us for a very long time - as even the great Shakespeare wrote about it in Macbeth when he employs a physician to deal with his wife's insomnia: " Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Race out the written troubles of the brain; And with-some sweet oblivious antidote cleanse the stuft bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon the heart." Well, at least that's what it sounds like to me.Impact of Hormone Replacement TherapySo we know insomnia and hot flashes have been with is for centuries, but it seems to have escalated dramatically just recently during the last few years. Many people believe it to be related to the HRT scare that was publicized a few years back - where the clinical trials suggested that the risks of using hormone replacement therapy greatly outnumbered the benefits.Many women are now being plagued again with menopause symptoms and problems they thought they had left behind. But there are still a lot of options that can provide effective solutions to these issues.Although it's fairly common, particularly for menopausal and post-menopausal women, insomnia and sleeplessness isn't a "one size fits all" problem, but with a few simple approaches, it's fairly straightforward to determine which treatment would be best for you.The first approach should be to consult with your health care practitioner or doctor and review your medical history. This can help narrow down your options and make your decision easier. For some women, some form of hormone replacement therapy may still be the best short term answer.How Aging and Insomnia InteractBoth men and women experience less-restful sleep after age 50 within the five stages of sleep, stage one, transitional sleep, and stage two, light sleep, are known as non rapid eye movement, or NREM sleep.Stages three and four, deep sleep or Delta sleep, are the most restful. Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep, stage five, when dreaming occurs, occupies about 20 percent of sleep time.As we age, particularly as we reach 50, we spend more time in sleep stages one and two, which means we tend to sleep lighter and are more prone to wake up prematurely. This has a knock on effect which makes us get tired earlier at night, and wake earlier in the morning. But we still have many options for improving our sleep.First, you need to define your sleep pattern and problem. While one woman might have difficulty falling asleep, another might have trouble staying asleep. One woman might be awakened because of hot flashes, but someone else might wake up and then experience a hot flash. Other women might find themselves waking earlier and earlier.Natural Remedies and Cures For Hot FlashesWhile there are some very specific herbs for menopause, not all herbal remedies are everything they claim to be - so tread carefully. Over the counter sleeping medications can help for a while, but these should be viewed as a short term solution to help you start sleeping properly again. Your aim is to create a new sleep pattern (like your original one when you slept right through the night), rather then rely on drugs to make you sleep.How To Cure Your Hot FlashesIf your hot flashes are causing your insomnia, you need to find out what is triggering them. For some women it's having a dream in the middle of the night that brings it on, for others it could be something as simple as a "spooky" noise like the heating system switching on. Rather than treating the symptoms with sleeping pills, look for the triggers and manage those.It's definitely a case of finding out what your body needs, and working with it. Drugs and medications aren't the best thing at keeping your body in harmony.Sometimes all it takes is changing your routine or diet. Spending a half hour in a darkened, cool room increases sleep hormones like melatonin in the body. Avoid stimulating activities before you go to bed. That hot shower at night can trigger hot flashes. Exercising late in the day might spike adrenaline, making sleep difficult.Diet is also very important - what we eat has a huge impact on how our body works. Some speciality teas for example can induce hot flashes, so choose carefully and do a bit of research. Believe it or not, carbohydrates also increase your sleep hormones, so if you're on a low carb diet you may want to make a few exceptions in the evening. And warm milk can be a great help to induce sleep, but I'd recommend a non-dairy alternative like soy milk.