"Here's what's really happening when you bolt awake at 3 AM: your cortisol levels are doing something they shouldn't. Healthline notes that "Sleep regulates the level of cortisol, a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands." Normally, cortisol should be at its lowest point in the middle of the night, gradually rising as morning approaches to help you wake up naturally."
"But for many women over 50, this pattern gets completely flipped. Instead of staying low, cortisol spikes in the early morning hours, essentially giving your body a shot of stress hormone when you should be deep in dreamland. Think of it like your internal alarm clock going off at the wrong time, except instead of hitting snooze, your body thinks there's an emergency."
Millions of women over 50 experience recurrent early-morning awakenings driven by hormonal changes rather than simple aging. Physicians often label these sleep problems as menopause and prescribe sedatives, overlooking endocrine dynamics. Cortisol normally falls overnight and rises toward morning, but many women develop an inappropriate early-morning cortisol surge that jolts them awake. Chronic stress and cumulative sleep deprivation can flip the cortisol rhythm, producing persistent 3 AM awakenings even after stressors resolve. Restoring consolidated sleep commonly requires targeted sleep-hygiene measures to reset cortisol timing. Declining estrogen and progesterone interactions during and after menopause further disrupt sleep regulation.
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