There’s nothing more frustrating than being bone tired all day, then wide awake at bedtime, or waking up at 3 a.m. on fire, tossing and turning, brain spinning.

Women in midlife often assume this is normal menopause stuff, but it's not normal.

There’s more to the story. Inflammation plays a major role in wrecking your sleep and, in turn, poor sleep fuels more inflammation. It’s a vicious cycle that keeps your body stuck and your symptoms louder than ever.

Sleep is when your body’s cleanup crew goes to work. Hormones rebalance, blood sugar resets, your brain clears out toxins, your gut repairs itself and inflammation gets dialled down. But when your body is inflamed, that restoration process gets disrupted. Your nervous system stays on high alert. Your cortisol doesn’t drop like it should and instead of recovering overnight, your body just stays wired.

The problem gets worse in menopause. Estrogen and progesterone both support deep, restorative sleep. When those hormones decline, your sleep becomes lighter, shorter, and less refreshing. Add in high cortisol from chronic inflammation, and your body can’t enter the deeper stages of rest where healing happens. You wake up tired, foggy, craving sugar and dragging yourself through the day, only to repeat the cycle.

Poor sleep also triggers more inflammation. Just one night of bad sleep........

© Castanet