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Cannabis for Sleep: Does It Really Work? · My Sexy Menopause Body

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: This is My Sexy Menopause Body with Kim Nicholson.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Real conversations about your health, your choices, and how you want to live after menopause.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Have you noticed how many people are talking about cannabis for sleep these days?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: THC gummies or CBD oils.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've even seen cannabis drinks.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, these are um prom uh products that are promising a deeper sleep or fewer nighttime awakenings and you know finally getting that good night's rest.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And believe me, I understand the appeal because when you're exhausted and you've spent another night staring at the ceiling or counting cheap, you know, you're willing to try just about anything that might help, right?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe even a friend tells you that she's taken a gummy before bed and sleeps like a baby.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe you've seen an advertisement promising better sleep without, you know, your prescription medications.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you've been wondering whether cannabis is a safer, more natural alternative.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, guess what?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: There was a major new scientific review that examined that exact question.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Does cannabis actually help people with insomnia?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the findings were are definitely worth talking about.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: But what I was while I was reading and studying this research, a question kept popping in my mind.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: What if we're so focused on finding something that makes us sleep better that we haven't figured out why we're not sleeping in the first place?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because here's something that might surprise you.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Not all sleep problems are the same.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I want to begin.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, my name is Kim and welcome to my sexy menopause body, where we have real conversations about your body, your health, your relationships, and what it means to live really well on the other side of menopause.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So today we're talking about cannabis and sleep.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm approaching this first of all without taking sides.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not here to promote cannabis or to condemn the people who use it.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm interested in what the research tells us.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I am especially interested in something that, you know, gets overlooked when we're talking about sleep remedies.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what kind of sleep problem are you actually having?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because difficulty falling asleep or waking up through the night or waking up exhausted after sleeping eight or being in bed for eight hours, they are very different problems.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And treating them all the same way, it doesn't make any sense.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: So what I want to do is I want to begin first of all what the cannabis research actually found.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's begin with that.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, in in October 2026, the Cochrane Collaboration published a systematic review examining medical cannabis for insomnia.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Cochrane reviews are particularly useful because researchers you know systematically evaluate multiple studies than just relying on one interested finding.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so they've got some credibility to them.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And this review included nine clinical trials involving 500 and, let me see here, 37, let me get my paper here, 37 uh adults between the ages of 18 and 76.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And most participants were women.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the research examined different medical cannabis products, including formulations containing THC, uh CBD, or combinations of uh cannabinoids.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And they also asked some pretty straightforward questions.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And did they did people sleep better?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Did they sleep longer?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Were they more satisfied with their sleep?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and did they function better the next day?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what they found.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Compared with placebo, medical cannabis showed little or no clearly established clinically meaningful improvement in sleep quality, total sleep time or daytime functioning.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: So some participants experienced some participants did experience some kind of unwanted effects, you know, that included um dizziness or dry mouth.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to be very careful here with how I explain these findings, okay?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: The researchers did not prove that cannabis never helps anyone sleep.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: It they concluded that the existing evidence is too uncertain to establish whether medical cannabis is an effective insomnia treatment.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because the studies were small.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: They used different cannabis formulations and the results weren't consistent.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the longest studied uh the longest studied uh participants were only studied for about 12 weeks.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't have strong answers about the long-term effectiveness or safety.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something else that's worth mentioning with this.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: The cannabis products studied under the controlled clinical conditions aren't necessarily equivalent to the gummies or the oils or the other products you know you can commercially buy.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: You see on social media.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: THC and CBD are they're they're different compounds.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the amount, the formulation, and the other ingredients that are added make a difference.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: So THC is the primary intoxicating component of cannabis.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: All right, CBD generally isn't intoxicating in the same way, but that doesn't mean every CBD product is risk-free or that you know it it has been proven to treat insomnia.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: So my conclusion isn't that cannabis is wonderful, and it isn't that cannabis is terrible either.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's that popularity has moved ahead of the evidence, and that's what I see on social media these days.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: And when it comes to sleep, I think we should ask a much more important question before reaching for any kind of remedy.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: What exactly is keeping you awake?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: So the five sleep problems uh we often confuse.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I want to talk about next.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: So when someone tells me, Kim, I'm not sleeping well, one of my clients, I'm not sleeping well, I want to know what that actually means because those five words can describe several different experiences.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And identifying the pattern is the beginning of finding an appropriate solution.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the sleep problems.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about one of the problems.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you just can't fall asleep.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with uh one of my clients who gets into bed at 10 o'clock.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: She's tired, she's been looking forward to going to bed all evening.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: But the moment her head hits a pillow, her brain seems to wake up.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Does that sound familiar?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: And she starts thinking about tomorrow, or maybe a conversation that she had with her husband, you know, or something going on at work, or an appointment she has to make, or think, you know, her to-do list, or maybe she's, you know, she's not worried about anything in particular, but she just can't simply fall asleep.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is called sleep onset insomnia.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: If it sounds familiar, again, it's called sleep onset insomnia.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it can have several different contributing factors.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Stress and anxiety are very common possibilities for this.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: So is caffeine or an inconsistent sleep schedule.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, of course, certain medications can affect it, and spending you know, too much time in bed before you're actually sleepy.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes the body's internal clock is simply running later than the schedule we're trying to follow.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes people develop a frustrating relationship with bedtime itself.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they look at it as an obstacle in itself.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or you start watching the clock, or you calculate, okay, how many hours of sleep will you get if you fall asleep at this very minute?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: I've done that myself.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and then you become anxious because guess what?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: An hour and a half later you're still awake, and suddenly trying to sleep has become pressure and work.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want you to understand with that.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Being exhausted isn't always the same thing as being ready to fall asleep.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Your body needs sufficient sleep pressure, appropriate circadian timing, and the ability to settle yourself into sleep.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if you regularly struggle to fall asleep, a clinician or a sleep specialist can help identify what the contributing factors are.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And for chronic insomnia, one of the best supported treatments is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia or CBTI.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll come back to that in just a little bit.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: But let's go on to sleep problem number two.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: You fall asleep, but you can't stay asleep.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a completely different situation.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you fall asleep without any trouble.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're asleep within 15 minutes, but at one o'clock in the morning, you're wide awake, and then again at 3 o'clock in the morning, and then maybe again at 4:30.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is called sleep maintenance insomnia.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the cause of this can be very different from those associated with difficulty falling asleep.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so they're different.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Pain can interrupt sleep, and so can, of course, you know, nighttime urination.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, hot flashes can can interfere with this, certain medications again.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Alcohol can affect this, stress can affect it as well, and conditions such as uh obstructive sleep apnea.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to first talk about alcohol for a moment because I think this surprises people.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: It surprised me.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: You let's say you have a glass of wine in the evening and you notice that it, you know what, it just makes you feel relaxed, or or even it can make you feel sleepy.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Alcohol can disrupt sleep later in the night.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: So something that seems to help you fall asleep can contribute to you waking up several hours later.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly why I think it's important to distinguish between feeling sleepy and actually sleeping well.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right, there's a difference.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And cannabis raises a related question.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Even if someone feels more sedated after using a product, does that translate into better sleep quality, sufficient sleep duration, and better functioning the next day?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the Cochrane review didn't establish those benefits reliably.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: So if your problem is repeated awakenings, the next step isn't necessarily finding something stronger to make you sleepy.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's figuring out what's interrupting your sleep.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: All right, sleep problem number three.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: You wake up too early.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Here's another very familiar scenario I hear with so many of my clients.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you go to bed at 10, you fall asleep, and you sleep reasonably well, right?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: But at four o'clock in the morning, your eyes are wide open, and that's it.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: You're awake.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's no way you're gonna fall back asleep.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: You change positions, you close your eyes, you start thinking, and long before you know it, you're frustrated because you know you still need sleep.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is often called early morning awakening insomnia.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, waking early isn't automatically a disorder.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you're getting sufficient sleep and feel good during the day, your schedule may simply suit you.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So it may not be an issue for you.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: But when you wake much earlier than you intended and you can't return to sleep and you feel tired or impaired the next day, I mean, these are keys, you know, if you're feeling impaired.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's worth investigating.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, you know, stress and mood, of course, can um, these disorders can, of course, contribute to your uh sleep waking up at 4 30 in the morning as well.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So so can changes in your circadian rhythm or your sleep schedule.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Again, medications can do it, and other health conditions.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, some people naturally become sleepy and wake earlier as their circadian timing just changes with age.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: But we shouldn't assume that every early awakening is simply part of getting older.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And here's another important part.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: These patterns can overlap too.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: All right, it makes sense that they overlap.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's not going to be the same type of you know insomnia each time.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can struggle to fall asleep and then also wake repeatedly.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Or, you know, you wake too early after a night of you know interrupted sleep.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: The goal isn't to the the goal here is I'm not here to diagnose yourself with a label, okay?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: It is it is to describe your experience accurately enough that you can get useful help.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, sleep problem number four.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: You sleep all night, but you wake up exhausted.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I actually know someone very well who has this type of insomnia, and this one deserves extra special attention, I think.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say you go to bed at 10 o'clock and you wake up at six, you know, that's what, eight hours?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, eight hours.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds pretty good.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: But you feel terrible, you feel exhausted, or you find yourself struggling to concentrate, or maybe you're just sleepy throughout the day, and you can't understand why, because technically you slept, right?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this may not be insomnia at all.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: It this may be a problem with sleep quality, or your breathing, or another medical condition.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: One possibility is obstructive sleep apnea.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Sleep apnea occurs when breathing repeatedly becomes obstructed during your sleep.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And these interruptions can fragment sleep even when the person doesn't even remember waking up.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: And women, we don't always recognize these symptoms.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: We tend to picture someone, you know, who gets who has who snores loudly.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're gonna be the people who are going to have sleep apnea.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, snoring can be a clue, but women may also report things like fatigue or insomnia or having a morning headache or waking unrefreshed.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And other possibilities still include like restless leg syndrome.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Good friend of mine has that, uh, periodic limb movements, or medication effects, or insufficient sleep and medical conditions that cause fatigue.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Restless leg syndrome, for example, can create an uncomfortable urge to move your legs, particularly if you're you know resting in the evening.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Movement often temporary relieves that sensation, and that can make falling asleep extremely difficult.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're regularly, if you regularly sleep what seems like enough hours, but then you wake exhausted, especially with snoring, gasping, or significant daytime sleepiness, please discuss this with your healthcare professional because a sleep aid isn't gonna correct an obstructed airway.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a very different problem from having trouble winding down at bedtime.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, uh, my fifth sleep problem is your sleep schedule is out of sync.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: And here's one more possibility.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you sleep perfectly well, just not at the time you're supposed to.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: You don't feel sleepy until one or two in the morning, but you need to wake up at 6 a.m.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Or perhaps you're ready to sleep at 8 in the evening and you're wide awake at 4 a.m.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: This may involve your circus circadian rhythm, and your that's your body's basically your body's internal timing system.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I I I it really does make a difference.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Circadian rhythm influences when we feel alert and when we feel sleepy.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Things such as light exposure or regular wake times, uh, activity and other environmental cue, you know, cues throughout your day can help regulate that timing.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Shift work and travel across time zones, these can also disrupt your circadian rhythm.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why treating every sleep complaint with the same bedtime supplement doesn't make sense, right?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the issue is that isn't that your body can't sleep, maybe it's that your body's trying to sleep on a different schedule.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, all right, discussing these five different types of sleep habits, what actually helps?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: So now that we've identified these different issues, let's talk about what the evidence supports.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: First, I want to introduce something that deserves a lot more attention.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I've read a lot about it, I've recommended it to clients and friends, and it is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And no, this is not simply talking about your childhood or being told to relax.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: CBTI is a structured treatment designed specifically for insomnia.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: It addresses the thoughts, the behaviors, and the patterns that can perpetuate sleep difficulties.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: It may include things like uh establishing a consistent wake time, changing your association between your bed and bed and wakefulness, uh, adjusting time spent in bed, and learning personal strategies for you to reduce sleep-related anxiety.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And some components, such as sleep restriction, uh, these should be individualized by a qualified professional, particularly for people with certain medical conditions or significant daytime sleepiness.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so the American Academy of Sleep Medicine strongly recommends multi-component CBTI for adults with chronic insomnia.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's based upon uh substantial, substantially more evidence than we currently have for cannabis.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I also want to make that distinction here.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: You probably have heard um the all-familiar sleep hygiene recommendation.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh some of the hygiene recommendations are keep your room dark, um limit your caffeine late in the day, maintain a regular sleep schedule, reduce evening light, keep a cool room.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: These can all be very, very helpful.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: But for someone with chronic insomnia, sleep hygiene alone isn't enough.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why CBTI matters.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: It goes beyond telling someone to turn off their phone and take a warm bath.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, treatment should should match the problem, right?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Someone with sleep apnea may be, you know, sleep tested and treated for breathing interruptions.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Someone with restless legs need to be evaluated for contributing factors, including like an iron deficiency.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And someone waking because of pain may need help managing that pain.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: So someone with circadian rhythm disorder may need carefully timed light exposure and schedule adjustments.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: And someone whose sleep is disrupted by medication may need a medication review.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: So the right answer depends on the right question.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to come back to why cannabis is such an appealing answer.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think there's a reason this topic is so popular now.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: You see it everywhere.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Social media, you hear it on the news, because sleep problems are miserable.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: They affect how you feel and how you think.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: They affect your patience and your relationships and your ability to work, your motivation to exercise.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And everything just feels harder after a bad night's sleep, right?
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And when you're desperate for sleep, a product promising relief sounds so wonderful and so appealing, especially if someone trusts that you trust tells you, well, guess what?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: It worked for me.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: But personal experience and clinical evidence answers the different question.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: If your friend says a THC gummy helps her sleep, that's her experience.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't establish whether the product treats insomnia reliably across different people.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't tell us whether it improves sleep quality or daytime functioning over time.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we also have to consider safety.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Cannabis products can cause dizziness or impaired coordination, uh, cognitive effects, and next day impairments.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Those risks matter particularly for older adults, people taking other medications and anyone, you know, with a risk of falling.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: So combining sedating substances can increase impairment.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: And product quality and legal status, of course, vary by location.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Here in Texas, recreational marijuana remains illegal.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: Texas does not have a limited medical cannabis program for qualifying conditions, but insomnia by itself isn't a qualifying diagnosis.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone obtain or use cannabis as a sleep treatment.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm discussing the research because it's become an extremely popular topic.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think women deserve accurate information about it.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the bottom line from this new review, and it's pretty straightforward.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have a reliable evidence that medical cannabis meaningfully improves insomnia.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't settle every scientific question, but it does mean we shouldn't treat cannabis as an established solution simply because it's popular.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the question I want you to ask is now I want to bring you back full circle to this because you may have listened to this entire conversation thinking, okay, Cam, I recognize myself in one of those sleep patterns.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the information begins.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: But instead of immediately buying another product, I'd like you to do something different.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: For the next week or two, pay attention to your sleep pattern.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to buy an expensive device, just a simple notebook and a pen will do.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Write down to approximately when you go to bed and when you think you fall asleep, whether you woke during the night or whether you, you know, were you woke for the day and how you felt the morning after.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: You might notice whether you, if you had alcohol uh that night or caffeine later in the day, or did you have any pain or unusual stress or any other symptoms?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Jot those down.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to become obsessed with tracking every minute.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're just looking for patterns, not perfection, okay?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to ask yourself three questions.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: First question I want you to ask yourself is what exactly is my sleep problem?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Is it falling asleep or staying asleep, waking too early or feeling unrefreshed, or trying to sleep at a time when my body just doesn't seem ready?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Second one, how is it affecting my life?
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Am I tired?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: Am I irritable?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Am I having trouble concentrating?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Am I falling asleep unintentionally during the day?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Or am I simply worried because my watch says I didn't get enough sleep?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Those are not necessarily the same situation.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the third question, what would meaningful improvement actually look like?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's falling asleep without lying awake for an hour, or maybe it's waking a you know fewer times, maybe it's having enough energy to enjoy the afternoon, or maybe it's just waking up and feeling rested because that outcome matters more than whether a product makes you feel sleepy.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: And if sleep difficulties persist or interfere with your daily life or involve you know a concerning symptom, you need to talk with your healthcare professional.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't have to spend years trying to random, you know, try test out random remedies before getting an appropriate evaluation.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so here is what I find most interesting about this entire conversation.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Cannabis is getting a lot of attention because people want better sleep.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: We know that, and I understand that completely.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: But perhaps the most useful thing this research does is remind us that we need to be more specific about what we are trying to improve.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you have trouble falling asleep, that's worth understanding.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you're waking through the night, that's worth understanding.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you're getting eight hours of sleep but still feel exhausted, that's worth understanding.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're relying on something every night just to get to sleep, it's worth asking whether the underlying problem has actually been addressed.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think the answer is to dismiss every new treatment.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Research does evolve, but some treatments that are uncertain today may eventually have stronger evidence in the future.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think that we should confuse a product's popularity with proof that it works, all right?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Especially when we're talking about something as important as sleep.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: So the next time when someone tells you about the latest gummy or supplement or drink or a device that's supposed to, you know, give your best night of sleep ever, I want you to remember this.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Before you ask what will help you sleep, ask what's keeping you from sleeping well.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: One question shouldn't should change the entire conversation.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Kim and this has been my Sexy Menopause Body.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've been struggling with sleep, I hope this episode helps you describe what you're experiencing more clearly and asks better questions about getting help.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know someone who's been trying a new sleep remedy without getting the rest he or she needs, share this episode with them.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes the most useful thing we can do isn't to try something new.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's to finally understand the problem we're trying to solve.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: So until next time, keep taking care of yourself and make room for the life you want to enjoy when you're awake.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: This is My Sexy Menopause Body with Kim Nicholson.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Real conversations about your health, your choices, and how you want to live after menopause.