I had lunch with a girl friend today who is in her early 40s. She’s concerned that either she doesn’t dream at all or she cannot remember her dreams – so concerned in fact that she is planning to seek medical advice.
The conversation reminded me that I had a particularly terrifying series of nightmares about 18 months ago. They lasted for about three weeks and rougly coincided with missing a period for the first time since my teens. At the time the minor matter of a pregnancy test distracted me from thinking too much about the nightmares – perhaps the waking nightmare was enough – but more recently, as I’ve been spending some time blogging and tweeting with my menopause sisters, I’ve got to wondering whether there’s a connection between bad dreams and changing hormone levels. It seems like a lot of women are asking the same question.
Some wonder whether bad dreams may spark nightsweats and/or contribute to sleeplessness. Some speculate whether heart palpitations or breathing disturbance may trigger a stress response that manifests as a nightmare. Some say they are the result of abnormal neurotransmittor function caused by excessive adrenal cortisol levels. Cortisol is the stress hormone and will be familiar to readers who have experienced another menopause horror, the panic attack. More of that on another occasion.
One thing is for sure, nightmares tend to be pretty effective at waking us up and too many of them can start to seriously impact the quality of your waking hours. If experiencing these nightmares is what brought you to my blog today, then I hope that you will find some reassurance here if not a cure.
Unlike my dreamless girlfriend, I often have vague memories of dreams. Up till now I’ve been pragmatic about them and hold to the belief that dreaming is the brain’s way of processing information from the recent past – maybe it helps us to resolve an issue we are struggling with at work, for example. I’ve never worried too much about it. But blindingly scary nightmares that hang around in your head for two or three days at a time are an entirely different cup of tea – particularly if you can think of nothing that might be triggering the trauma.
And, of course, the other tricky thing about menopause is that it isn’t always easy to talk about it with your GP. If the symptom is not on their list, then they may not recognise it as a possible indicator of something happening on the hormone front. (Look back to my dizziness and Enya post for more on that topic). There is the risk that nightmares might be seen as linked to stress and anxiety – and for some, that a short step away from the prescription pad – particulary if you’re about the same age as their mother!
For me, the good news is that the bad dreams passed fairly quickly and my sleep pattern has returned to normal – for now at least. Better still, if the problem recurs, I at least know now that I’m not the only fifty-something experiencing it. As for my dreamless girlfriend, I was so tempted today to tell her to count her blessings but the wise counsel of my inner crone said no. So I sympathised and even supported her decision to go off in search of her dreams. I just hope in 10 years time she won’t find herself regretting it!
