Women and insomnia

Abstract

The occurrence of insomnia in women is influenced in great part by the complex hormonal cycles they undergo. Patterns of insomnia in younger women may be physiologically different on a hormonal basis from those found in older women. Although significant objective sleep disturbances have been difficult to demonstrate across the menstrual cycle in normal women, the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) includes premenstrual insomnia and premenstrual hypersomnia as sleep disorders within the category of menstrual-associated sleep disorder. On the other hand, during pregnancy and after childbirth, profound fluctuations in steroid and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis-related hormones produce significant physiological changes, including sleep disruption. During the menopausal transition, significant sleep disruptions are provoked by sleep-disordered breathing, vasomotor disturbance, and mood disorders. Regardless of age, women with chronic insomnia are at higher risk for developing or sustaining depression. Thoughtful management approaches must consider known relationships between menstrual or menopausal status and various sleep disorders, and should rely on pharmacologic, nonpharmacologic, or a combination of treatments to achieve successful relief from insomnia. The off-label, first-line use of antidepressants for treating insomnia in the absence of depression is now considered debatable. The long-term efficacy and safety of the newer benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs) for insomnia, whether taken nightly or episodically, are supported by existing clinical experience. US Food and Drug Administration guidelines limiting the use of hypnotics to only a few weeks predate the newer generation BZRAs, and, as such, the guidelines may no longer be truly appropriate for these new agents.