Insomnia at 30
I have what I think is hormonal insomnia at 30 years old. It started a couple years ago and it’s only recently that I connected it to my cycle. My doctor doesn’t think I’m perimenopausal due to my age but I see that this is a very common issue in perimenopause so here I am.
It’s usually within 5 days of my period. I wake up anywhere around 2-4am and then am awake for at least two hours before I can shut my brain off and fall asleep again. It’s miserable. I can fall asleep fine, it’s just staying asleep that is the issue. I was prescribed progesterone to take for the 5 days leading up to my period about three months ago. It worked okay the first two months but last month I had four days of insomnia, including 2 of those days during my period which is unusual.
My doc suggested trazodone to help. I’m a little afraid to try any type of prescribed sleep aid because I am sensitive. I am often groggy or brain foggy the next day if I take melatonin, CBD, or allergy meds. Sometimes it’s more preferable to have just slept shitty and deal with that grogginess, honestly.
I’m considering trying birth control and taking it continuously (doc said the one week of placebo pills will cause the same drop in hormones that is already causing me an issue) but I haven’t had the best experiences as a teen and in my early 20s when I took it (mostly issues with it causing depression but also had issues with breakthrough bleeding when taking continuously too).
Every month it’s a toss up on if I will sleep well or not the week before my period. It’s causing anxiety before I sleep… about sleeping… which probably doesn’t help. Sometimes I miss work or other activities the next day because of the lack of sleep, but then I can’t really nap during the day anyway.
Thoughts? Ideas? What’s worked for you?