How To Get a Good Night’s Sleep During Menopause is the number one concern of women in transition.  Stress, worry, indigestion, noise, light, and side effects of medications can rob you of a good night’s rest. And let’s not forget that waking up several times a night, covered in sweat, with soaking wet sheets and nighty makes it virtually impossible. 

If you are approaching 50, or beyond, menopause could be the culprit. You may still have a menstrual cycle and be thinking, what, no way, I’m not even close! Unfortunately, sleep disorders are one of the first signs women recognize in their menopausal transition. 

Night sweats are one of the worst medical conditions to deal with, especially when you are trying to sleep. Night sweats are incredibly disruptive to your sleep patterns. This leads to mood swings, an increase in blood pressure, weight gain from spiking insulin, cognitive impairment, and depression. 

Good sleep plays a role in our quality of life. While lack of sleep can increase risk factors for numerous health problems. When hormone levels drop the impact is more than just feeling tired.

Talk to your doctor about treatment options for sleep deprivation.

Prescription medications are available to help with hot flashes and night sweats that will improve sleep. Some take months to work. Others only mitigate the symptoms for a few months. Relief may be on the way or hard to find, but you need to do something in the meantime if you are having trouble sleeping.

I decided to try Hormone Replacement Therapy to deal with my night sweats. It took me almost 2 years to get my doctor to prescribe the right medication at the right dose before I finally found relief. Estrogen and progesterone are powerful hormones that can make sleeping difficulties a thing of the past.

So what are you to do in the meantime to help you get a good night’s sleep? 

Below are five things you can do to make your sleeping space and routine more conducive to a good night’s rest. I’ve added links to products at the bottom of each section. This will help if you are having a hard time finding options on your own.

I. Change your Bedding: The first thing you must do is remove all synthetic sheets, pillow cases and blankets immediately. Synthetics trap heat and make your hot flashes worse.

Synthetics don’t wick the sweat. This means you will be waking up in wet sheets that won’t dry. Once the hot flash goes away, you are now lacking heat so your body goes through a cold flash.

Laying in wet sheets, freezing cold and unable to go back to sleep is pure agony. Having to get up, change your sheets and pray you can get back to sleep is another thing keeping you awake!

Natural fibers, like cotton, linen or Tencel, are better at vaporizing the sweat. Your sheets stay drier and they don’t trap the heat keeping you baking like a burrito in your bed.

I absolutely LOVE my linen sheets. They are the best for breathability and staying cool. They don’t trap heat and they wick sweat efficiently.

I also like the buffy eucalyptus comforter. This thing is magic. I use it in the summer and add a light blanket to my bed in the winter and it keeps me cool and warm! It doesn’t trap heat, keeping me hot while I’m trying to cool down.

Kyra Recommends: Sheets: XZ Xifa Linen Sheets, Pillow: Soft Pillow, Firm Pillow, Comforter: Buffy Eucalyptus Cloud Comforter,

II. Buy a Fan: If you don’t have an overhead fan that you can run while you sleep get one. A high quality fan that is whisper quiet so it doesn’t add to your distractions from sleep.

The personal fans for your face are not enough to cool you down at night. You want the air moving around your entire body to bring your body temperature down quickly.

I use a travel fan as well for those hotel rooms lacking a fan. Once you have a way to cool down quickly you won’t be able to sleep without one.

Kyra Recommends: Fans: Personal Handheld Fan, Fan for Bedside

III. Change Your Nightgown or Pajamas: What you wear to bed is going to impact how well you sleep. Synthetic fabrics will trap your body heat and make you warmer. Most of the fabrics we sleep in are a poly blend. We may be unwittingly contributing to our sleepless nights because we are wearing heat traps.

I tried numerous fabrics to determine which ones are best to keep my clothes from soaking up my sweat and clinging to my body. Cotton and synthetics are the worst. They get cold fast and take forever to dry.

Micro fibers are better as they do wick the sweat. They don’ dry quickly though, so a small amount of sweat can still be uncomfortable next to your skin. They hit a point where they are ineffective if you release a lot of sweat during your flashes.

The absolute best option for sleepwear is linen. It keeps you cool and dry and you don’t have to wash it every day. It can be a challenging to find a 100% linen nightgown.

I couldn’t find any sleepwear made specifically for menopausal women. It may be harder to locate but it’s worth it to not wake up in a cold sweat with your pj’s sticking to you.

Kyra Recommends: Pajamas: Linen Nighty

Tumbler of Water: This may seem obvious but it took me a few months to figure this one out. I usually had a glass of water by my bed and it helped to bring my temperature down a bit.

I drank a lot and of course it made me have to get up again and go to the bathroom. It wasn’t an ideal situation for sleeping.

IV. A Yeti tumbler.  My husband gave me one and the first night I took it to bed was a real game changer. Usually the ice would melt not long after I brought it to bed and by 3am the water was room temp. The Yeti, fully insulated, kept the ice solid throughout the night.

Nothing that feels as good as an ice cold gulp of water in the throws of a hot flash, especially at 3am. One cold gulp and my body temperature was coming down.

Using a tumbler like a Yeti or Stanley cup will keep the drink cold and the ice from melting. When you are boiling hot you can be sure that the gulp of water you reach for in the middle of the night will be nice and cool for you.

Kyra Recommends: Water Tumbler: Stanley Cup, Yeti Cup

V. Earplugs and Eye mask – When you are struggling to go to sleep or stay asleep nothing helps like ear plugs and an eye mask. Especially if you are sleeping next to someone.

It may seem obvious but an eye mask and ear plugs can remove some barriers to sleep. Light and noise are two of the most common distractions to falling asleep.

I will warn you that they can become your sleeping comfort and you may find it hard to sleep without them. I’ve wrapped a sock around my eyes and stuffed toilet paper in my ears when I have been without my eye mask and earplugs.

It can take a few nights to adjust if you are not using them currently.

Try to find an eye mask that doesn’t rest on your eyes. In my experience, wearing a mask on my eyes made my eyelashes grow straight down and made applying mascara tough. Once I switched to a mask that had space between the mask and my eyes my lashes went back to normal.

Kyra Recommends: Eye Mask: Eye Mask, Ear Plugs: Ear Plugs, EarP lugs

BONUS – CBD & CBN. Alright, I know I said 5 but this gem right here is a serious tool in your sleep kit. II attribute most of my decent nights of sleep to this miracle molecule.

CBN & CBD products act as a sedative to help you fall asleep faster. I found it also made a difference in my ability to go back to sleep when I woke up hot flashing.

CBN can help to relieve another symptom that can keep us from a good night’s sleep…pain. Often pain will flare up at night and make it hard to sleep. Instead of reaching for the Advil try CBN 30 minutes before bed.

You can buy gummies or tinctures with CBN online or at your local dispensary. If you are feeling unsure about which brand or dosage to use, ask customer service or a store clerk for help.

Kyra Recommends: CBN: CBN Gummies

Dear ones, I feel your pain.

I know what it feels like to get only a few hours of disrupted sleep a night. I fully relate to your anxiety, depression and rage brought on by lack of sleep. It can make you feel like a crazy person. Your feelings are valid!

I hope that these tips will help you find a better sleep tonight and until those hot flashes are firmly under control. 

Good luck and good sleep! 

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Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. I am not paid by the brand to endorse this product.