Sleep Problems in Women
The average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night to lead a healthy life, assist in their mental health, and boost their physical health. Getting a good night’s sleep helps our mood, immune system, and energy levels. Overall, adult women sleep an average of 11 minutes more than men, but research shows their quality of sleep is lower, which signals sleep problems. One reason for sleep problems could be that women are more likely to interrupt their sleep and its quality to take care of others (such as nursing or waking up to tend to a newborn), but it is also attributed to biological factors like changing hormones during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.
Common Sleep Problems, Causes, and Remedies
Insomnia: more than 1 in 4 women in the U.S. suffer from insomnia, having difficulty falling and staying asleep. Though insomnia is more common in people with depression and anxiety—also conditions more likely to affect women—hormonal shifts during menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause affect a woman’s circadian rhythm, resulting in sleeplessness. During menopause, hot flashes and night sweats also disrupt women’s sleep.
Treatment starts from trying to keep a regular sleep schedule, reducing caffeine and alcohol consumption, and improving the sleeping environment. Underlying conditions are, of course, also treated properly with medication and therapy so that chances of them contributing to insomnia can be lessened.
Restless Leg Syndrome: during pregnancy and if taking depression medication, women are more likely to experience RLS, a condition that occurs when lying down and is an uncontrollable urge to move the legs. The risk of it increases from pregnancy to menopause, and women with more children are more like to suffer from it. One possible cause is iron deficiency.
Treatment can include improving sleep habits and the sleeping environment and/or taking iron supplements. Be mindful that about 80% of people with RLS may experience periodic limb movement disorder, which leads to involuntary twitching of the legs every 20 to 30 seconds.
Sleep Apnea: another one of the most common sleep disorders is sleep apnea, and it unfortunately tends to go undiagnosed in women as they report more general symptoms associated with it. Sleep apnea is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep, leading to snoring, chocking, and gasping sounds that disrupt sleep. The risk for sleep apnea increases in women over 50 and those who may be obese.
Women who may suspect this condition should pay attention to the specific signs of breathing difficulty to report to their doctor. Though CPAP therapy is the most common, it is also likely hormonal treatments will help with the symptoms, or increased exercise and lifestyle changes to reduce fat.
These are a few of the sleep problems that are most common among women, and when reporting to your doctor or healthcare professional it is important to remember that your overall health history is to be taken into consideration when dealing with sleep disorders. Additionally, irregular work schedules or increased duties in women’s lives are factors that increase their chances of suffering from a sleep disorder.