Question: Aged 55, sleepless, menopausal. Hot flushes and night sweats. Have had severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 16 years.
Housebound most of the time.Feeling so ill and weak all the time, only venture out maybe once a week to the library.Awake all night most nights and have broken or ‘camatose’ 16 hours sleep during the day.Struggle to cope with looking after myself and getting basic things done for myself.My ME has got much much worse since my insomia started.This chronic insomnia of 3-4 years has made my ME symptoms much worse, and has and is having a devasating effect on my life.I have high blood pressure so I cannot go on HRT for my menopausal symptoms. ~Apparently, insomnia is one of the symptoms of the menopause. My doctor refuses to give sleeping tablets (which I understand). He says he has no medication he can give me.I use homeopathy. It proved helpful at first with the insomnia, but unfortunatley now does not now do the business. Have tried numerous homeopathic remedies, many of which do have a relaxing effect, but I don’t go to sleep.I use homeopathy for hot flushes/night sweats and have just started Red Clover which is supposed to help with the menopause. I wonder if it will help with the insomnia.I bought a guinea pig 2 years ago and who lives in a cage in my lounge, so when I get up to make a drink in the night he is there and it is very comforting and helps me cope. He has no trouble sleeping!I am a Christian and am always praying to God for strength to cope.The constant erratic sleeping patterns I find hard to cope with. I have a lot of nightmares too. I can be sleepless 2 days, 3 days, then sleep for 16 hours in the day, then yes, awake all night again, but very tired.My erratic sleep and insomnia has made my ME much worse, what with constant sick headaches, difficulty in eating and feeling shite.I am interested. Are there other menopausal ME sufferers with insomnia problems and for whom the menopause seems to be making the ME worse. Words of wisdom welcome.