Power Surge + Hot Flash = Insomnia

It happens just about every night.  After reading for about a half hour, I’m finally sleepy and relaxed. I turn out the light and sink into my down pillows and high thread-count sheets. I’m just falling asleep when, wham – it happens. It feels like my body has been plugged into an electrical socket and… who turned up the heat?  I throw off the covers, grab my fan and contemplate another sleepless night ahead.  

I know I’m not alone.  I’ve spoken with many women who often experience this combination of a “power surge” and hot flash during the night and like me, are sleep deprived as a result.  Hot flashes are one of the first symptoms to appear in pre-menopausal women and they can last for as long as five years after the last menstrual cycle, according to a study conducted by Stanford University researchers that investigated the link between hot flashes and insomnia. The results of this study was published in the June 26, 2006 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.  

In the Stanford study, 982 women aged 35 to 65 years were questioned about their sleep “dissatisfaction,” occurrences of hot flashes, and their menopausal status.  What I find particularly interesting is that the highest prevalence of hot flashes (79%) and chronic insomnia (56%) occurred among perimenopausal women – those who had had a period at least once in the previous 12 months. By contrast, the occurrence of hot flashes and insomnia in post menopausal women (defined as not having had a period in the previous 12 months) was 39 percent and 51% respectively.

The study concluded that “severe hot flashes are strongly associated with chronic insomnia in midlife women.”