Rest and sleep are an integral part of a healthy and happy life.  Insomnia or sleep deprivation can have many adverse effects.  A lack of sleep can create difficulty with focus and memory.  It can also contribute to weight gain as the loss of sleep can decrease the speed of your metabolism.  In addition irregular sleep can increase stress levels as well as contribute to irritability, impatience, and moodiness.  There are many causes of insomnia and irregular sleep.  One of these causes can be a hormone imbalance or a change in hormone levels.  Even more detrimental is that a lack of sleep can increase hormone imbalance as well creating a cycle of frustration.

One of the many benefits of sleep and rest is the ability for the body to focus on repairing and revitalizing.  Therefore if the body is undergoing a change in hormone levels then can sleep provide a time for auto correct.  However if you are unable to sleep then the body is not able to do this.  Many hormones play a role in healthy sleep patterns.  For example estrogen helps to enhance quality rest and changing levels of estrogen can cause issues such as anxiety that make sleep more difficult.  Also testosterone levels naturally change during sleep but many studies are finding correlations between testosterone and sleep disorders such as sleep apnea.  Therefore difficulty with sleeping can also be attributed to unusual testosterone levels.

It may be difficult to pinpoint whether insomnia or lack of rest is first caused by irregular hormone levels or whether the sleep difficulty first causes the hormone imbalance.  However they are definitely related.  Therefore in order to regain healthy sleep patterns it would beneficial to meet with a hormone therapist to talk about what actions are options for you to take in order to break this frustrating cycle.