Study: Sleeping Pills Linked with Early Death

I used to sleep like a baby. When I was in my 20's and early 30's, I could hit the pillow at 10 pm and be fast asleep by 10:05 pm. That all changed when I was was in a horrific car accident in 1992, and my sleep has been way off ever since----partly due to chronic pain issues, partly due to post traumatic stress disorder (which is much better than it was, but flares up when I am in a lot of pain or under a great deal of emotional upheaval.)

I have taken a bunch of different sleeping aids, and I was on Ambien for over a year when I started the bioidentical hormonal optimization protocol. I weaned down off the Ambien over a period of about 2-3 weeks (I think, it was a while back now). I now use Cortisol Manager (that also help with adrenal fatigue), Magnesium (take it at night----good for a number of issues, cellular health, etc, and it helps with pain), 2.5 mg of melatonin (over the counter, I get mine at Walmart), and when I really have trouble, I still occasionally use a 25 mg Benadryl tablet. My sleep isn't perfect, but it's a lot better than it was before the hormonal balance. Of course, the fact that I am overall in better health, and I eat better and exercise, probably also contributes to my better sleep.

I read this article http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/28/study-sleeping-pills-linked-with-early-death/ in Time Magazine last week, and since I know so many of you are struggling with sleep (particularly if you are not hormonally balanced) that I thought it important to share with you. A study of over 10,000 patients was done at the Scripps Clinic, comparing those who had been prescribed sleeping pills and those who did not take prescription sleeping aids. A couple of points in the article that I think are important:

Paragraph 2: "researchers found that those who had prescriptions were more than four times as
likely to have died during the study’s 2.5-year follow-up as those who didn’t
take the drugs."

Paragraph 3: "...the researchers also documented a 35% increased risk of cancer among people
taking sleeping pills, compared with the non-prescription group. The risk of
developing lymphoma, lung, colon or prostate cancer associated with sleeping
pills was greater than the effect from smoking."

Read further into the article and you can see that the data was adjusted for some health issues including asthma, heart disease and obesity. It did not, however, adjust the data for possible mental health issues like depression (and interesting side note----most of us who are going through or have been through the menopausal transition and dealt with a "mainstream" doctor have been offered antidepressants-----I've long said we do not have Prozac deficiencies, we have hormone deficiencies!).

If you are taking prescription sleeping aids-------never, never go cold turkey off any medication without physician supervision. Never. I know that sleep disturbances are one of the chief complaints I hear from patients who are in peri/menopause---and it's a vicious cycle---you're exhaused from fluctuating/low hormone levels, then you can't sleep (often from night sweats) and that makes you more tired. The more tired you are, the more you crave carbs (at least I did) and then you gain weight, and you're so exhausted exercising is difficult if not impossible.

Note: my apologies that I had to insert the link to the Time Magazine article the way I did, I am having trouble linking articles the usual way. I think it might be a Blogger issue!

Sleep Problems Triple Women's Fibromyalgia Risk

I know that a huge percentage of the women who contact me about peri/menopausal issues tell me that sleep disorders are one of the most frustrating issues of menopause. I have long dealt with sleep disturbances because of chronic pain from a car accident---and then when I hit perimenopause, I almost went nuts from sleep deprivation. The lack of sleep exacerbated my depression issues, which in turn cause further sleep issues............and on it goes. I do not have fibromyalgia, my pain issues are from a car accident in 1992.

Check out this article from The Huffington Post.com on the relationship between sleep disturbances and the risk of fibromyalgia. I will share with you that bioidentical hormone balance has helped my sleep considerably, and got me off the Ambien/Lunesta whatever pharmaceuticals I was on to sleep. I now take melatonin and I use Cortisol Manager (Integrative Theraputics ----- it's a supplement) at night to help me sleep.

Could Lack of Deep Sleep Fuel High Blood Pressure?

My sleep has been off now for several weeks, so this article from TimeMagazine.com piqued my interest. There are a number of issues with the study that make it less than definitive (only measuring levels for one night, subjects tested in their own beds, only two blood pressure readings), but we do know that insomnia can stress the body and stress can make your blood pressure shoot up. Read it and relax this holiday weekend!

Why Some Women Can Have Problems Falling Asleep

Although this article by Dr. Michael Breus deals with sleep issues in all women, not just those in menopause, I thought it was worth sharing with you. It appears is this morning's edition of the HuffingtonPost.com. Be sure and check out the tips he shares at the bottom of the article---I found out a while ago that my best exercise time is in the morning. I was doing some fitness walking in the mid to late afternoon back about a year ago, and found that while I thought it would help "wear me out" to sleep that night, it actually wound me up a bit and contributed to my sleep issues.

Lack Of Sleep Could Lower Men's Sex Drives

I have not shared an article on testosterone lately----I just noticed this one on the HuffingtonPost.com site. Granted, the number of participants in this study, conducted by The University of Chicago, is very small, but I was fascinated by how much of a decrease there was in the participants' testosterone levels over an 11 night period. Testosterone levels do not just affect libido, but also muscle and bone strength (we don't think of men as dealing with osteoporosis, but by the time they reach the age of 65, the incidence is nearly as high as it is in women). Share this with the guy in your life----but if he's sleeping, wait until he wakes up, he needs his rest (don't we all!)

The Causes of Women's Fatigue

Besides hot flashes, fatigue is the most common complaint I get from women in the peri/menopausal transition. I've been there, I remember before getting my hormones balanced and getting healthy sobbing in my doctor's office more than once because I couldn't sleep and I was a zombie during the day. It's miserable! My sleep still isn't perfect (back pain issues and years of not sleeping), but it's much better and most nights I get at least some quality sleep.

Check out this article from WebMD.com about some of the common reasons that women are so tired. As always, talk to your doctor about any sleep or tiredness issues.

Health and Well-Being: Stress interrupts a good night's sleep

It's ironic that I am posting this article from Newburyportnews.com today----I have been up since about 5:30 am! I did, however, sleep fairly well up until then (sleep issues are a chronic challenge for me, although with the melatonin I do much better than I did). Sleep is important at every time of the year, but it's especially important to get adequate rest this time of year when so many of us are burning the candle at both ends.

Hope my blog readers on the East Coast stay safe during this weekend's snowstorm---my area of NC only got about 1-2" of snow, but the storm is heading up the coast and sounds like it will be a whopper. Don't get out in it if you don't have to!

10 Reasons Not to Skimp on Sleep

I cannot overemphasize the importance of a good night's sleep-----and believe me, I know nighttime can be (no pun intended) a nightmare for menopausal women. It's a vicious cycle, you don't sleep well at night, so you are dragging during the day, and you are so tired you are miserable and depressed, and you are having hot flashes/night sweats that interupt your sleep---sound familiar? I've been there, and I still do not sleep as well as I would like to, although the hormones do help tremendously. Melatonin helps too (and it is a powerful antioxidant), it's worked for me better than all the sleepig medications I took back in the day. This article from US News and World Report details 10 important health benefits of getting a good night's sleep. Sweet dreams tonight, and if you have any tips that help you sleep better, leave a comment and let us all know how you cope!