70 - Can’t Sleep in Perimenopause? Stop Treating the Wrong Problem

Welcome back everybody to Ladies Cut the Crap, the place where we cut through the noise, the fads, and the confusion and talk about real science, real life, and real results.

I'm Ashley Bagni, and before we get into today's conversation, I have one tip for you, and this is from my weekly newsletter.

So if you don't get that, go to the show notes and sign up for the newsletter.

You'll get these tips in your inbox every week, and then you don't have to wait for me.

Well, you kind of do on Thursdays, but you know what I'm saying.

And this is all about what we're talking about today, which is sleep.

So my tip is get outside in the morning, and I know that almost sounds too simple to be effective and to do anything, but the data is really clear that if you are struggling with your sleep, one of the simplest and most effective things you can do is to get outside and get that first morning light on your face and in your eyes.

And it's not strong enough from a UV standpoint to screw up your skin or give you wrinkles or damage your skin.

You have to wait a little bit later in the day for that type of UV light to be affecting your skin that way.

So get outside.

It doesn't have to be long.

You know, drink some coffee out there.

Get the dog out for a walk.

You don't have to spend hours, but just some first morning light on your eyes can be so helpful for your sleep.

And that leads us perfectly into talking about what we will be ta- talking about today, and that is why in the world with everything else you gotta deal with does your sleep get so jacked up in perimenopause? So maybe you're tired all evening, and then the minute you go to bed you feel alert, or maybe you fall asleep easily, and then you keep waking up in the middle of the night.

Sometimes you're hot.

Other times you're simply awake, and your brain immediately starts reviewing [laughs] tomorrow's schedule and conversations, and you wake up in the middle of the night wondering why your third grade teacher wore that dress, and you should've just said something to her about it, things that you haven't thought in years or decades, right? And then someone tells you to work on your sleep hygiene, and you think, "Um, I already have a dark bedroom.

I need to know why this is happening." So that's what we're gonna be talking about today, and we're gonna be looking at what is changing in your body and brain, kind of give you a brief summary of what you can do to maybe better support your sleep and then chat a little bit about supplements, which I ...

If you've been a longtime listener, you know I'm not a big fan of supplements.

But let's just get into it.