Tired of waking up at 2am..Sonata

@tornadoaly, I have horrible anxiety and many sleepless nights. I have done bio identical pellets and felt great but insurance does not cover them and too expensive out of pocket. I want to know if progesterone makes you gain weight? Does it exist in bio identical form? Maybe I will give it a try.

Hi, @granny55, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Having horrible anxiety and many sleepless nights would be very hard on the mind and body.

If you click on VIEW & REPLY in your email notification, you will see the whole discussion and can join in, meet, and participate with other members talking about their experiences.

Hoping that members like @contentandwell @dawn_giacabazi @stulerner @tuti @sleepy0 @rachelanne @eliana5 will have some thoughts on managing the anxiety and insomnia, plus perhaps have some input on progesterone therapy, if they have tried it.

I'm assuming your doctor put you on the hormone therapy you mentioned helped you feel great? Is your doctor suggesting anything else that might help with the anxiety and sleeplessness that might be covered by your insurance?

I did start to have anxiety, I believe mine was caused by lack of sleep. My functional medicine doctor prescribes drops of bio identical progesterone, which is not covered by my insurance but is only $34 for a bottle that lasts me over a month. It has not made me gain weight at all, I have more energy and feel like exercising whereas before I was a zombie and gained a bunch of weight. Personally I only take something (even supplements) that I have been tested for and prescribed. Just because something is "good for us" doesn't mean my body wants it or can handle it. Waking up at 3am every day like I did can signal an issue with liver, which has to process any supplement or medicine or food I take in, so I try to go easy on it.

Thanks tornadoaly, I have an appt with my gun and I will ask her to test me. Your information was very helpful. So tired of waking up throughout the night going to the bathroom, hot flashes and anxiety.

@granny55 @lisalucier I too wish I could get some relief! Thankfully it no longer happens nightly, only when I am worried or anxious about something specific. We are visiting our son and despite the bed being very comfortable, I have been having trouble sleeping. I have taken 1/2 of a Benadryl a few nights and that helps me fall asleep but I do wake at around 4:00 and have a lot of trouble falling asleep again.
I very occasionally take a lorazepam and that does help a lot. My doctor gives me an Rx for 10, about once a year, so it does have to be very occasionally.
I am also drinking chamomile tea before bed. I am not sure if it really helps or if it’s the placebo effect.
If you do find a good solution I would love to hear it. There are all kinds of suggestions around but they have not been helpful to me.
JK

Thank you JK I feel your concern on sleepless nights I am seeing a gyn on Monday and they are proponents of bio identical hormones. If I could get progesterone in a very low dose I believe it will help. It’s anxiety for me that keeps me up. I fall asleep but some nights I wake up 3-4 times to go to the bathroom. I walk 5 miles a day so I’m tired when I go to bed but just can’t stay asleep. Just frustrating.

@granny55 that sounds very similar to me. There were a lot of things on my mind a couple of months ago, and I have a number of bathroom calls during the night. Once awake it took forever to fall back asleep. This week I have been having difficulty again for some reason. I don’t feel stressed so maybe it’s just that I am not at home,
I know nothing about bio-identical hormones but being beyond menopause I doubt that’s my problem.
JK

Hi JK I am 64 years and had a surgical hysterectomy at 32 with ovary removal. That’s when my sleepless nights began. I was working full time and had to get an anti depressant and lorazepam to sleep so I could have a life. I weaned off all the meds about 4 years ago and sleep issues started again. I’ve done bio identical pellets and they are great but very expensive and ins doesn’t cover them. I’m going to my gyn and am going to discuss progesterone drops for sleep and anxiety. Of course after my blood levels are checked. I know so many women my age that have the same problem and they think it’s just getting older. I am looking for results to make me sleep.

@granny55 I totally understand about the bio-identical hormones, and yes they are expensive for me too. After my hysterectomy in 1996, I took them, my pharmacist recommended them, and she tweaked the amounts of testosterone & progesterone a couple of times over the next ten years since I think my body was still going through some changes. I tried a couple of times to stop taking them during that time, since the general rule of thumb was to not take them longer than five years due to issues with the increase of breast cancer and heart disease. Every time I attempted to stop, or taper off, my sleep suffered. My pharmacist at the time told me that progesterone (as you noted) was instrumental in helping with sleep. Ultimately, at the end of ten years, I stopped taking the hormones entirely. So, since 2006, I have not taken any hormones; however, I've had three UTIs, in a five month period of time. The urgent care doctor I saw recommended I talk to my primary care doctor about taking hormones again since that can help with preventing UTIs. I did the saliva test again, and a HRT formula was developed specific to that and my answers on a questionnaire. I've been taking the bio-identical type again for about five months now, and my sleep has improved. I also started taking Neupro about a month after starting the hormones, so the two combined might be the reason why I'm sleeping so much better. The compounding pharmacist indicated that the research about women and breast cancer link to HRT has been proven that largely untrue, and being on hormones can actually help prevent heart disease and contributes to bone health. She also gave me a supplement that has quite a bit higher doses of magnesium in it, and Ashwandga too. I started out with just the magnesium since I didn't want to add the two drugs at the same time so I would know which one was working and which one was not if I should develop an adverse reaction to one of them. So far, I haven't needed to add the Ashwandga. I hope this helps.

Hi @tornadoaly, you mention bio identical progesterone drops and curious what me or strength do you take?