Did Perimenopause Reset My Body Clock?

It’s 4:39 in the morning, and I’m awake. My eyes are open. My brain is conscious.

I lie in bed a bit longer, testing whether I can go back to sleep.

Nope. I can’t.

Once again, I am fully awake at the crack of dawn. This has become routine. My new normal.

This strange pattern started about seven months ago

I am 51 years old, and this has never happened to me before. This change came out of nowhere. Nothing unusual seemed to precipitate it. One day, my body simply decided we would be getting up around 5 a.m. every morning, without fail.

Instead of fighting it, I get up and start my day. I never knew how productive I could be at this hour. I’m not groggy, tired, or longing to return to bed. I’m fully awake. My brain is telling me it’s time to begin, so I work with it.

This new normal is so far removed from my lifelong sleep pattern that my family and friends are shocked. It gives them a good chuckle. They know how out of sorts I used to be if I didn’t get enough sleep or wasn’t allowed to sleep in.

I have been a notorious late sleeper my entire life

For me, getting up at 5 a.m. was a form of torture. I rarely saw the sunrise unless it was a special occasion or I was traveling somewhere.

I was known to stay up late and then sleep until the last possible moment. As a teenager, I once punched a friend for pestering me and trying to drag me out of bed early. That wasn’t my finest moment. Sorry, Pam.

I’m not proud of it, but it illustrates my lifelong relationship with mornings. Until seven months ago, I had never been a morning person.

Now, my day begins anywhere between 4:39 and 5 a.m.

Like clockwork, I’m awake around 4:45 a.m. Every. Single. Morning.

And something unexpected happens: I’m productive. My brain seems to do some of its best work at this hour.
It’s 4:53 a.m. and I’m writing this article right now. Consider this a live account from the crack of dawn.
This new rhythm has consequences. I go to bed earlier, and by noon I need to take a nap. Then I can start the second half of my day.

I have racked my brain trying to figure out what might have caused this change.

I haven’t found an obvious explanation, except perhaps middle age. Could the addition of vaginal estrogen have played a role? Could this be another mysterious symptom of perimenopause? I really don’t know.

So, I did what everyone does first these days: I consulted Dr. Google. I found message boards and posts from women around my age who were experiencing the same thing.

I had to ask: Is this a symptom of perimenopause or menopause? What the heck is happening to my sleep cycle? How could it change so drastically?

I decided to dig into the research and ask menopause experts what might be going on

The first thing I discovered was that sleep changes are remarkably common during perimenopause. About half of women report sleep problems during this transition, compared with 30 per cent before perimenopause. These problems often begin in early perimenopause, peak during late perimenopause, and then stabilize or improve after menopause.

Difficulty staying asleep is the most common complaint, but waking too early also becomes more common.

Night sweats

Night sweats are an obvious suspect. They can wake women repeatedly and disrupt the second half of the night. But night sweats aren’t waking me. My eyes simply open, and my brain announces that morning has arrived. Research suggests that women without hot flashes or night sweats can also experience worsening sleep during perimenopause.

Circadian rhythm changes

Changes in circadian rhythm and hormone levels during perimenopause offer one possible explanation. Progesterone produces metabolites that interact with GABA, a chemical messenger that helps quiet the brain and support sleep. As progesterone becomes more erratic and begins to decline during perimenopause, that calming effect may also change. Researchers have linked these hormonal shifts with insomnia and poorer sleep, but they cannot yet say that declining progesterone alone causes early-morning waking.

Hormones aren’t the only possible explanation

Stress, anxiety, bladder changes, sleep apnea, medications, alcohol, caffeine, and eating late can all contribute to early waking. I considered each one, but none seemed to explain why this new pattern appeared so suddenly and why I wake feeling so alert.

For now, I don’t have a definitive explanation. The research confirms that early waking is common during perimenopause, but it doesn’t explain why my lifelong sleep pattern changed so abruptly or why I wake feeling so alert.

What I do know is that fighting it doesn’t help. My body has changed the rules, so I have changed with it. I go to bed earlier, rise before dawn, and use those quiet morning hours to write. When I need a nap, I take one.
Perhaps perimenopause hasn’t stolen my sleep. Maybe it has simply rearranged it.

Sorry, Pam. Apparently, I’m a morning person now.