Sleep affects your weight, mood and hormones. And they affect it.
Short or broken sleep can increase appetite, sap motivation, and make it harder to think and recover. Stress can then make the next night worse.
In midlife, there’s often a physical reason as well. Night sweats, falling hormone levels, sleep apnea and some medications all disrupt sleep, and no sleep routine will fully fix them until they’re addressed.
Possible reasons you’re not sleeping
Perimenopause or menopause
Low testosterone or thyroid problems
Sleep apnea, especially if you snore
Stress and an overactive mind
Alcohol, caffeine or late meals
Medications
How Dr. Gurrala treats it
Find the cause. Then build better nights.
1
Your history
Your sleep pattern, stress, work, medications and what you’ve already tried.
2
Testing, if useful
Labs can look at hormones and thyroid. Wearable data can show your sleep and recovery over time. If sleep apnea seems likely, he can advise on proper testing.
3
A specific plan
Treating an underlying problem, along with practical changes to your routine, exercise and stress.
4
Track it
You review your progress together and change what isn’t working.
Questions
What patients ask Dr. Gurrala.
Why do I keep waking up at 3 a.m.?
Common causes include stress, alcohol, sleep apnea, and hormonal changes in perimenopause and menopause. The pattern alone can’t tell you which it is. Dr. Gurrala can help work it out at Delos Longevity in Sterling, Virginia.
Can hormones affect sleep?
Yes. Falling estrogen and progesterone can disrupt sleep, night sweats can wake you, and low testosterone and thyroid problems can be involved as well.
Should I keep taking sleep aids?
Bring them up at your visit, including over-the-counter products. Dr. Gurrala will review them with you. Please don’t stop a prescribed medication without talking to the doctor who prescribed it.
Find your starting point 