Because a woman’s life is full of responsibilities, jam-packed schedules, and stress between her 40s and 60s, changes in her sleep could already be compounded by these factors without menopausal challenges coming into play. However, during these stages of a woman’s life, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone influence a woman’s sleep.

While estrogen is primarily thought of as the hormone that controls a woman’s sex drive, it also promotes healthy sleep. Therefore, when it falls, it has an impact on a woman’s sleep. Progesterone works as a “feel good” hormone that helps women experience a sense of calm, relaxation, and facilitate sleep. When a woman enters menopause, her body stops producing progesterone. A woman’s testosterone levels are essential not only for her sex drive but also her ability to sleep soundly through the night. While she’ll continue producing testosterone throughout her life, it’ll experience a decline through menopause.

Menopause causes major fluctuations in hormones essential for restful, deep sleep; when these levels start dropping during menopause, sleep often becomes disrupted and battleground-like. Without estrogen’s stabilizing presence and progesterone’s soothing presence to facilitate deep and restful nights, testosterone’s gradual decline can still disrupt long-standing patterns. Replenishing these hormones through hormone therapy might provide women with some hope to return to peaceful nights again.