The Sleep Crisis in Menopause: Insomnia, Sleep Apnea & Solutions

unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Mary Claire Media, LLC

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2026

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Poor sleep during perimenopause and menopause isn't just exhausting—it's linked to increased cardiovascular disease risk, depression, anxiety, weight gain, cognitive decline, and reduced quality of life. Yet for decades, women's sleep complaints have been minimized, dismissed, or blamed on just getting older. In this episode, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with board-certified sleep medicine specialist Dr. Andrea Matsumura to unpack what's really happening to women's sleep during the menopause transition and what we can actually do about it. Dr. Matsumura completed her medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and her internal medicine residency in Portland, Oregon before returning to Oregon Health & Science University for a fellowship in sleep medicine, where she discovered the critical connection between women's hormones and sleep disorders. Guest links: Dr. Andrea Matsumura (Instagram) Dr. Andrea Matsumura (Facebook) Dr. Andrea Matsumura (LinkedIn) Dr. Andrea Matsumura The D.R.E.A.M. Sleep Method: A Midlife Woman’s Guide to Restoring Rest Articles Worldwide estimation of restless legs syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence in the general adult population (Journal of Sleep Research) Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies (Medicina) Why sleep apnea deserves priority in public health: a call to action (European Journal of Public Health) Poor Quality Control of Over-the-Counter Melatonin: What They Say Is Often Not What You Get (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine) Quantity of Melatonin and CBD in Melatonin Gummies Sold in the US (JAMA) Sleep disorders impact hormonal regulation: unravelling the relationship among sleep disorders, hormones and metabolic diseases (Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome) Comorbid Insomnia and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (COMISA): Current Concepts of Patient Management (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health) Chronobiological perspectives: Association between meal timing and sleep quality (PLOS One) Effects of red light on sleep inertia (Nature and Science of Sleep) Other Resources Seven or more hours of sleep per night: A health necessity for adults (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) The D.R.E.A.M Sleep Essentials Sleep Goddess Archetype Quiz American Academy of Sleep Medicine “The New Perimenopause,”⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver ⁠"The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver For full show notes, please click here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why do you think women's sleep complaints are so frequently minimized?
0:05.1	Well, you know, it goes back to, and this is why I do what I do, I am really tired of the normalization of women suffering in society.
0:14.1	That is exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing, because we get told from a very young age that our baseline for suffering is higher.
0:23.3	We should just suffer through those horrendous menstrual periods that we should be anemic.
0:30.4	It's okay.
0:31.4	You know, sorry, you're losing a lot of blood.
0:33.9	If you have children, well, you're just not going to get enough sleep.
0:38.2	Well, you have to take care of somebody else.
0:40.7	There is mental load in the working environment, in your home environment.
0:45.5	We are taught that we are supposed to suffer more.
0:48.5	And then you hit menopause, you hit midlife, and then you become invisible.
0:53.5	And then you're supposed to suffer.
0:56.0	Well, you know, you don't have hormones now.
0:58.4	It's just the way it is.
1:09.9	The views and opinions expressed on unpaused are those of the talent and guests alone and are provided for informational and entertainment purposes only.
1:18.8	No part of this podcast or any related materials are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
1:27.8	Today's guest is someone I've known and trusted for more than a decade, and one of the most
1:33.3	important clinicians in my own education as a menopause specialist. Dr. Andrea Matsumura is a board
1:39.8	certified sleep medicine specialist who's been shaping the field of women's sleep health long before
1:45.8	most of the medical community even recognized how profoundly sleep changes during the menopause
1:51.4	transition. When the vast majority of my own patients were coming to me exhausted, wired, anxious,
1:58.6	and unable to sleep through the night, Andrea was the first person I turned to.
	...

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