I have one question for you...are you getting a good nights sleep?
I'm asking because SO many women I talk to are not sleeping well at all.
Their sleep kind of looks like this:
It takes >1 hour to fall asleep.
They wake up a few times at night.
It might take them a while to fall back asleep.
They don't feel refreshed when they wake up.
DID YOU KNOW....
How your sleeping reveals a lot about the state of your hormones.
Let me explain why...
Melatonin (our sleep hormone) should normally rise at night and lower in the morning, while cortisol (stress hormone) should come down at night and rise in the morning to wake us up. This delicate balance between cortisol and melatonin helps us get a good nights rest.
High melatonin + low cortisol = good sleep
But when we're stressed out (high cortisol) or engaging in bad sleep hygiene behaviors (e.g. on our phone at night, have the lights on, watching TV before bed), melatonin does not rise like it should. That results in fragmented sleep, taking long to fall asleep, and not feeling refreshed when waking.
There is a hormonal consequence to this...
Melatonin is a potent anti-oxidant for the reproductive organs. When it's low it can lower the quality of our eggs and cause inflammation around our ovaries (which produces our hormones).
AND
When cortisol is high, it puts the body in fight-or-flight mode. That means it will not use any resources for things it deems unnecessary (one of them being producing hormones & having babies). After all, who wants to produce hormones when your running from a bear right?!
So we see how LOW melatonin + HIGH cortisol = BAD for our hormones
All that to say, if you want to balance your hormones, YOU NEED to fix your sleep.
Here are some general tips for better sleep:
Keep your room completely dark
Keep the temperature of your room cool
Do NOT watch TV or be on the phone 1 hour before bed
Do not read in bed
Don't do anything in bed that is not sex or sleep
Hope that helps!!
Let me know how your sleeping and what you have tried for sleep. Would love to hear from you.
Warm regards,
Dr. Shadi Tabaei
P.S. If your ready to figure out whats going on, schedule a free 15 minute consult to talk about your health concerns here
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