Review, 2023
Does the menstrual cycle affect sleep?
Yes, women with PMS or period pain often have poorer sleep quality during the premenstrual phase and menstruation. Even women without these symptoms show changes in sleep brain activity during the luteal phase when progesterone is high.
What they did
A literature review examining research on how sleep changes across the menstrual cycle in women.
What they found
Women with premenstrual symptoms or painful periods report poorer sleep quality during the premenstrual phase and menstruation. In women without symptoms, the amount and continuity of sleep stays the same throughout the cycle, but brain activity during sleep changes. Sleep spindle activity, a specific brain wave pattern during sleep, increases in the luteal phase after ovulation when progesterone is high compared to the follicular phase.
What it means for you
The menstrual cycle affects sleep quality, particularly for women with premenstrual symptoms. Doctors should ask about menstrual cycle when women report sleep problems. For women without PMS symptoms, the cycle still changes how the brain works during sleep, which might explain why some people sleep differently across their cycle even without obvious symptoms.
Luteal phase
When sleep spindles increase
About the study
- Original title
- The Menstrual Cycle and Sleep
- Authors
- Alzueta E, Baker FC
- Journal
- Sleep medicine clinics
- Year
- 2023
- Study design
- Review
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jsmc.2023.06.003
Topics
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