ISSUE NO. 02
The 3am Club.
A field report from the women who are up anyway
It's 3:07. You know it's 3:07 because you checked. You also checked at 2:41.
If this sounds familiar, you have a lot of company. Sleep changes are one of the most common experiences women report during perimenopause and menopause, right alongside hot flashes. A lot of women who slept like a stone for forty years suddenly find themselves on a first-name basis with the ceiling.
Why it happens
During the menopause transition, levels of estrogen and progesterone shift and eventually fall. These hormones play a part in regulating body temperature, mood, and sleep, so when they change, sleep often changes too. Night sweats can wake you up. So can a racing mind, a full bladder, or the simple, maddening fact that you're awake and don't know why.
What the club members swear by
None of this is medical advice. It's the stuff women trade over brunch, plus what sleep experts generally recommend:
- Keep the room cold. Cooler than you think. A fan, breathable cotton or linen sheets, and layers you can kick off.
- Same time, every night. A consistent bedtime and wake-up time, even on weekends, helps your body keep its rhythm.
- Watch the late glass of wine. Alcohol can make you drowsy, but it often makes sleep lighter and more broken later in the night.
- Caffeine has a curfew. Try keeping coffee to the morning.
- Don't fight the ceiling. If you've been lying awake for a long while, get up, keep the lights low, do something boring, and go back when you're sleepy.
- Talk to your doctor. If sleep has changed a lot, bring it up. There are real options, including approaches like CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia), and treatments your doctor can talk you through.
You're not doing it wrong
The hardest part of the 3am club is the feeling that everyone else is asleep. They're not. Thousands of women are lying awake right now, doing the same math about how many hours are left until the alarm.
So tonight, if you're up: hello from the club. Tell us your time in the comments on Instagram. We'll see who's on the earliest shift.