Menopause is more than just hot flashes and mood swings, the hormonal shifts around this time can seriously disrupt sleep. If you’re going through perimenopause or menopause and finding that your nights aren’t what they used to be, you’re far from alone.
Why does sleep get harder during menopause
Here are a few of the main reasons your bedroom might feel like a battleground right now:
- Hormonal fluctuations: The decline in oestrogen and progesterone can affect body temperature regulation, sleep-architecture and the ability to stay asleep.
- Night sweats / hot flashes: These can wake you up, sometimes repeatedly, making it hard to get into the deep, restorative sleep your body needs.
- Mood and anxiety changes: These can either make it harder to fall asleep or cause lighter, more fragmented sleep.
- Changes to breathing and airway muscle tone: As muscle tone and tissue support change with age/hormones, some people are more prone to snoring or even sleep-apnoea type events, which can interfere with sleep.
- External factors: Disrupted routine, maybe more stress, or even lifestyle changes tied to this stage of life all of which can worsen sleep.
It’s important to underline: Poor sleep during menopause isn’t simply a “normal” nuisance that you just have to grin and bear. It’s a real issue that affects mood, metabolism, immunity, joint health and overall quality of life. So, it deserves attention.
Meet Dr Aditi Desai – Why she’s uniquely placed to help
A bit about her background:
-
- Dr Desai is a highly experienced dental surgeon with a special interest in dental sleep medicine.
- She treats patients with sleep-disordered breathing, snoring, bruxism (teeth-grinding), TMJ disorders all of which can factor into poor sleep.
- Importantly: She emphasises a multidisciplinary approach (dentistry + respiratory doctors + ENT + sleep specialists) this matters because sleep issues during menopause can be multi-factorial.
- She’s the President of the British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine (BSDSM) and the British Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (BADSM), signifying her leadership in this niche field.
- Her practice is based in London so for UK-based patients this is relevant.
Why Dr Desai can help you if your sleep is suffering during menopause
Because she focuses on how the airway, oral/dental health, muscular tone of the jaw/face and breathing patterns intersect with sleep, Dr Desai brings a dimension many others don’t.
If your poor sleep is linked with snoring, waking gasping, teeth-grinding (perhaps driven by stress or hormonal shifts) or waking up feeling unrested, Dr Desai can assess those dental/airway factors.
She doesn’t just treat in isolation lifestyle, breathing, dental appliances and referral to other specialists all form part of the plan. For someone navigating menopause sleep problems, this holistic lens (rather than simply “take a pill and go to bed”) is very helpful, because the root causes may be multiple.
What your sleep pathway might look like with her
Here’s how working with Dr Desai might go (and how it could tie into your menopause-sleep concerns):
- Initial assessment of sleep during menopause
- A comprehensive dental and sleep-related evaluation, to check airway, jaw function, dental status and possibly screen for signs of sleep-apnoea or other breathing issues.
- Discussion of your sleep history: how menopause is affecting you (night sweats, waking, hot flashes, mood changes, restless sleep).
- Review of lifestyle/diet/sleep-hygiene factors relevant for menopause too (temperature regulation, hormonal changes, stress).
- Investigating contributing factors
- If snoring, pauses in breathing, waking up feeling unrefreshed: possibility of sleep-disordered breathing (which she specialises in).
- If you’re grinding your teeth, waking with jaw pain or headaches: evaluation for bruxism/TMJ issues.
- If you’re waking due to hot flashes/night sweats: discuss ways to control those plus how sleep environment, cooling and breathing tie in.
- Tailored treatment plan
- This may include dental appliances (e.g., mandibular advancement device for airway issues) if relevant.
- Advice & coordination with other specialists (ENT, sleep physician, endocrinologist) if hormonal/airway issues are present.
- Lifestyle and sleep-hygiene guidance especially targeted for menopause (cooler room, cotton bedding, avoiding triggers, side-sleeping if needed, etc).
- Follow-up and long‐term support: checking how you’re adapting, managing any dental device, adjusting as your needs evolve.
- Monitoring and adjusting
- Sleep quality isn’t fixed: cyclical hormonal changes, lifestyle changes, body weight, stress levels all shift. So periodic review is key.
- If the original treatment isn’t enough, modifications can be made (device adjusted, further investigation, referral to specialists).
Key tips you can use right how to get better sleep during menopause
While you are (or perhaps will soon be) discussing your concerns with a specialist like Dr Desai, here are practical strategies you can start:
- Keep the bedroom cool: Hot flashes/night sweats interrupt deeper sleep. Use layers you can remove easily, consider a fan or cooler room.
- Establish a consistent sleep routine: Go to bed and wake up at the same time. Even though hormones may make you wake up early, try to regulate the rhythm.
- Pay attention to breathing and nasal health: If you wake up gasping, snoring heavily or feel you stop breathing at night, mention this to your clinician this could tie into dental/airway work.
- Side-sleep if you snore: Back-sleeping may aggravate airway collapse.
- Avoid alcohol, heavy meals late at night, caffeine in the afternoon: These can trigger hot flashes or cause lighter sleep.
- Manage stress and relaxation: Mindfulness, breathing exercises, gentle movement can help with sleep onset and reduce night awakenings.
- Review your medications & hormone-therapy with your GP: It might not solve everything, but making sure your menopausal symptoms are optimally managed will help sleep.
- Assess your jaw/teeth: If you wake with jaw pain, grinding your teeth, headaches, these may be signs of bruxism which disturbs sleep and may require dental intervention.
In conclusion
Poor sleep during menopause is absolutely real. It’s not just “part of getting older” and it doesn’t mean you simply have to accept restless nights. With someone like Dr Aditi Desai who combines dentistry, sleep medicine and a holistic perspective on airway and breathing issues you have a partner who can dig into the root causes and help engineer a better sleep plan tailored for you.
Book an appointment with Dr Desai here.
