Welcome back to Stylist’s Sleep Diaries, where we take a deep dive into one of the most important (and elusive) factors in our day-to-day lives: sleep. To help us understand more about it, we invite women to share their habits with our sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan for analysis.  

Age: 50

Occupation: Executive assistant

How much water do you drink on average per day? 3-4 glasses of water.

How much caffeine do you drink on average per day? One coffee.

What time do you go to bed at night? From 10-11pm. 

What time do you wake up in the morning? 6am

How often do you exercise? Yes, I do lots of walking and lifting.

Do you eat breakfast within 60 minutes of rising? No.

“I’ve been struggling with my sleep for years now, and there’s no sign of improvement. Alongside finding it hard to fall asleep and waking up through the night, I have lots of vivid dreams and nightmares (including one recurring one where I’m being chased).

“Unsurprisingly, all of this is having an impact on my energy levels. I try to nap when I can to make up for my poor sleep – usually for around 45 minutes each time. But it’s not quite enough, and my low energy makes it hard for me to keep up healthy habits. I do exercise regularly – a mix of walking and lifting – but I also spend a lot of time on my phone in the evenings when I’m feeling drained and drink quite a bit of alcohol (I have a second job as a spirits maker so I’m around alcohol a lot). 

“I suspect my work life might be contributing to my sleep issues, as I find my job very challenging. I don’t take a lunch break and often bring work home with me in the evenings and on weekends, so I often end the day with very little down time. I’m also going through menopause (I’m on HRT), so my body is going through a lot.

“I’ve had a few upheavals in my life recently – I lost my dog, changed jobs and had a lot of things going on at home – so I’d like to get into a better routine to make coping with everything a little bit easier. Have you got any advice on how to do that?”

“Sleep can become very disrupted by the hormonal changes that occur during menopause, but this shouldn’t be accepted as an inevitability,” says sleep expert and physiologist Dr Ramlakhan. “Menopause can be an empowering and surprisingly enlivening phase of life if navigated consciously. I particularly recommend Kate Codrington’s book Second Spring: The Self-Care Guide To Menopause. For many women, this is also a phase of life that comes with big life events, as is the case for her, so that’s even more reason to double down on good lifestyle habits.

“When it comes to your dreams, I’d say the chasing probably comes from anxiety you’re experiencing in your waking hours. Not dealing with the inevitable stresses of this life stage while you’re awake and numbing them with alcohol and endless scrolling can lead to things coming up in your sleep. To counteract this, I recommend you up your yoga practice to at least twice a week and spend less time on your phone. You will find that you have so much more time and energy available to do things that truly nourish you rather than draining your batteries.”

She continues: “I am pleased that you want to get into a good routine because that will make a big difference for you and your sleep. You definitely need to be eating breakfast to start your day off on the right physiological footing, and you need to try and cut down your drinking. Alcohol might be a relaxant in the short term but it will be making all of your sleep problems worse in the long term – especially your difficulty getting to sleep, staying asleep and shallow sleep with vivid dreams.”

Images: Ami O’Callaghan; Dr Nerina Ramlakhan