As a menopausal woman it is likely that you are no stranger to occasional bouts of insomnia. When it gets bad, insomnia leaves us exhausted and haggard looking – just what we need!

If you’re like me, you have tools and tricks to help get you back into a normal sleep rhythm – anything from natural sleep aids to meditation to breaking behavior patterns will help get you back on track.

 

Insomnia is inconvenient, but usually not intolerable, unless accompanied by night terrors. I define night terrors as those times when you wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning in a full out panic attack.

You are terrified, and convinced that everything in your life is rigged with a proverbial charge of dynamite ready to explode at any moment. Nothing can get you down off that ledge! Forget intolerable, it’s downright torture!

Ever since my first bout with night terrors I have lived in fear of those mind crushing episodes that make me quake at the thought of falling asleep at night.

Last week I had some relatives visiting. It was challenging because things were very hectic at the office; I wasn’t really able to take much time and when I did I was on the phone with the office for most of it anyway. To make matters far worse I had a bad case of night terrors on top of everything else. It was brutal.

After my guests cleared out I felt it was time to face the enemy. I was prepared to throw my full arsenal at those night terrors in the hope that something would work. Gearing up for the battle of the century I hit the sheets that night loaded for bear. Sure enough, at some ungodly hour of the morning I woke up in night terror mode. I inadvertently pulled some of the covers down exposing one shoulder – preparing for battle. But battle was unnecessary. The moment the cooler air hit my shoulder my temperature dropped and my night terrors evaporated into thin air.

Well I’ll be damned. I didn’t even feel hot, so trying to cool off would never have occurred to me. The moment the realization hit that I knew how to end night terrors I was anxious to share this monumental revelation with every one of you who has ever been tortured by the dreaded night terrors. We have finally vanquished the evil night!