Is it Really All in Our Heads?

Well, not much to say today. I'm exhausted. Can't think overly straight. Just want to go home and go to sleep. Can't do that, so I'll just have to cope.

Did you know that the word 'cope', which we now use to indicate getting through something successfully (which today, in my case, would mean without falling asleep) originated in the 14th century from an old French word 'colper' which means 'hit' or 'punch'? It didn't come to mean 'handle successfully' until the 17th century; although, there is some doubt as to how this happened. It's believed that this morphing happened because of a North Sea Trading word, 'cope', from a Flemish version of a Germanic word which in English was 'cheap'. Talk about convoluted.

From a mood swing standpoint, I'm doing much better than merely 'coping'. It may be that the onset of my period, with the resultant PMS is what is bound to send me over the edge on this. We'll have to see what happens. From an exhaustion standpoint, I'm coping.

I'm starting to think that maybe I should live on a farm or something at this point. After all, why do I need to be awake at 5:00 in the morning? At least farmers have a reason ... I should have a cow to milk, or livestock to feed or something. I'm waking up around then increasingly frequently. This is different from my Restless Legs Syndrome, which I've had since I was a child. And I've always had times when I come to consciousness to go to the washroom or pull a blanket over me (or stick my feet out because they're too hot). I have never, ever, come to full consciousness at 5:00 in the morning. So, I thought I'd look into that a little.

It seems it's all related to our biological clock, which is found in the hypothalamus (part of the brain). This is called the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc).  The SNc has to do with not only our sleep/wake cycle, but also the endocrine glands that affect our monthly cycles. It's all part and parcel. If one goes whacky, everything else SNc-related goes whacky. Perimenopause is just one piece of whackiness after another what with the hormones going up and down all the time and this messes with the SNc, which messes with our sleep patterns. Interestingly, to me anyway, one of the other things that happens in the SNc is the production of Dopamine, which regulates our movement. The degeneration of the Dopamine produced in the SNc is the cause of Parkinson's Disease. Wait. That's not at all comforting.

Dopamine is also produced in another area of the brain, by the way, and this particular 'brand' (for lack of a better word) of Dopamine influences goal-oriented behaviour, motivation and our ability to pay attention. Zyban (or Wellbutrin, same drug, different use) works by inhibiting the uptake of Dopamine into the brain as it travels through the various neurons, which has an effect on addiction behaviour.

But I digress.

So, what it comes down to is that there is a very good reason why our sleep patterns are disrupted in perimenopause. It's still wise to have a sleep study done to determine if there's something else going on (like sleep apnoeia or restless leg syndrome) because finding that out will go a long way toward helping you get better sleep once it's being treated. But if it's just plain ole perimenopause messing around with the hypothalamus, I don't think there's much you can do about it ... except keep a good book by the bed ... with a flashlight so you can read without disturbing your partner.

OK. I had more to say than I thought.

Nothing about the wedding today, however. Too darned tired to think about it.