Ep. 514 Exhausted But Can’t Sleep? The Best Fixes for Insomnia, Sleep Apnea & Night-Time Anxiety with Dr. Andrea Matsumura

Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

Cynthia Thurlow

Alternative Health, Nutrition, Science, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I am delighted to connect with Dr. Andrea Matsumura today. Dr. Matsumura, affectionately known as the Sleep Goddess, is a board-certified sleep medicine physician, menopause expert, speaker, and the founder of the Dream Sleep Method. In our conversation today, we explore how different life stages impact our sleep quality. We discuss the effects of wearable technology, orthosomnia, and sleep stages, and explain why sleep quality is more important than its quantity. Dr. Matsumura highlights the red flags for sleep, breaks down how sleep deprivation affects our health, and examines specific sleep issues, including sleep-disordered breathing, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, chronic insomnia, and the challenges of shift work. She explains why sleep apnea is seen more commonly in menopause, and how it occurs in 67% of menopausal women, yet most fail to realize that they have it. We also tackle the risks of untreated sleep apnea and the sleep syndrome of menopause, sharing ways to address sleep issues with appliances, technology, medications, cognitive behavioral therapy, and ACT therapy, and pointing out those that have proven to be ineffective. This conversation with Dr. Matsumura is truly invaluable, and I look forward to reconnecting once her new book is published. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: How hormone changes in menopause impact airway function and sleep quality. Why sleep apnea in women often goes undiagnosed How fragmented sleep affects brain function and mood Why even mild sleep apnea can have significant health consequences How different hormones influence specific stages of sleep. How hormone therapy can improve sleep quality without curing sleep apnea The value of oral devices and positional strategies for supporting breathing at night How CPAP therapy can transform sleep and improve cardiovascular health The benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy for addressing insomnia Why prescription medications and supplements seldom solve long-term sleep problems Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia’s website Submit your questions to [email protected] Connect with Dr. Andrea Matsumura On her website Instagram Pre-order Dr. Andrea’s book, The New Perimenopause.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Everyday Wellness Podcast.
0:03.7	I'm your host, nurse practitioner, Cynthia Thurlow.
0:07.4	This podcast is designed to educate, empower, and inspire you to achieve your health and wellness goals.
0:13.9	My goal and intent is to provide you with the best content and conversations from leaders in the health and wellness industry each week and impact
0:22.1	over a million lives.
0:29.2	Today, I had the honor of connecting with Dr. Andrea Matsumura.
0:34.2	She's a board certified sleep medicine physician, menopause expert, speaker and founder of the dream sleep method, and affectionally known as the sleep goddess.
0:44.6	Today we spoke about how different life stages impact our sleep quality, the impact of wearable technology and orthosomnia, the role of specific sleep stages and why quality
0:56.6	is more important than quantity, specific red flags for sleep, the impact of sleep deprivation
1:03.9	on our health, specific sleep issues including sleep disorder breathing, upper airway resistance
1:09.9	syndrome, which is a phenotype of
1:12.2	obstructive sleep apnea, chronic insomnia, and particular challenges of shift workers.
1:18.9	Why sleep apnea is more commonly seen in menopause and occurs in 67% of women in menopause,
1:27.1	but most do not realize that they actually have it.
1:30.9	What untreated sleep apnea puts us at risk for?
1:33.9	The sleep syndrome of menopause, how to address sleep issues, both with appliances,
1:42.2	technology, medications, cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as act therapy,
1:48.5	and what isn't effective. This is a truly invaluable conversation with Dr. Matsumura, and I look forward
1:56.2	to connecting with her after publication of her new book.
2:03.8	Welcome.
2:04.6	I'm so excited to have you on the podcast and have this conversation that is really
2:09.0	dedicated to women and sleep,
	...

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