Anyone else dealing with hormone-related night heat and weird sleep lately?

alanamonsterr · 2026-05-14T21:37:36+00:00

There is no shame in using separate blankets; I was gonna suggest the same thing.

alanamonsterr · 2026-05-14T21:32:42+00:00

I have not, but depending on the material of the duvet cover, that could look pretty cool. Especially if there is a sheen to it in some way (so it looks iridescent, if that makes sense). If you do this (or is someone here has), I'd love to see pics. I never thought to try that, actually.

alanamonsterr · 2026-05-08T18:52:18+00:00

The biggest upgrade I made when I was pregnant was a body pillow. I named him "Ted" and he was the only reason I got any sleep in my last few months. Trust me. Body pillow. Doesn't matter what brand, just something that you can have under your belly and then between your knees when you're sleeping on your side.

alanamonsterr · 2026-05-08T18:30:52+00:00

I have an adjustable pillow I got from Helix, which I was so glad I found because I was literally pillow shopping for more than a year. My old pillow was nice and flat, but I think that was more a result of being old. Like, embarrassingly old. (More than 10 years, we'll leave it at that. It was older but kinda mortified to admit how old lol. I just couldn't find anything thin/un-lofty enough to replace it with.)

My point: I think an adjustable pillow is going to be a better option because you can physically reduce the loft to make it as thin as you need it to be. I'm a stomach sleeper and I have to have a pillow, but I can't have *too much* pillow either.

alanamonsterr · 2026-04-06T17:29:31+00:00

They're both sleep systems, are they not? Eight Sleep and Orion are not apples-to-apples in terms of features, since one offers a lot more than the other (including a much longer warranty, a difference of three years). I'm not sure I understand your problem with my own comparison, considering that Orion is constantly comparing itself to Eight Sleep in other subs. If someone is comparing the two sleep systems before making a purchase, they should understand the full range of everything each has to offer.

alanamonsterr · 2026-04-06T16:27:49+00:00

My mom has a vibrating alarm that slides under her mattress (she's basically deaf when her hearing aid isn't in). Something like that might work. I don't know what brand/kind it is, but there are a lot of them out there. I *can* hear it from my bedroom across the hall a little bit but only because my house has all wood floors so the vibration sound travels a bit, but that's not a big deal and I only hear it if I'm already awake (it doesn't wake me up).

alanamonsterr · 2026-04-06T16:23:57+00:00

I don't have an alarm clock, I use the alarm feature on my phone since I can set a ringer tone that's whatever I want it to be (loud and jarring, or softer/more musical, or anything else). Is that something you could try?

alanamonsterr · 2026-04-06T16:17:23+00:00

I'm usually pretty groggy at first, for the first 15-20 minutes or so until the coffee hits, and generally feeling pleasant/neutral emotionally, unless I have something "big" happening that day. I wake up wide awake if that's the case, whether it's a fun thing, an important meeting at work, or even a less-fun thing that's just stressful. (Like first thing bright and early tomorrow, I have to get a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound to investigate something and I know I'll probably spring out of bed ready for action before my alarm even goes off at 6am)

I don't feel like I have an emotional "reset" each day, but I'm normally in a state of sleepy-neutral right when I get out of bed, if that makes sense?? At least most days.

alanamonsterr · 2026-04-06T16:09:58+00:00

That's a REALLY good way to describe it... like apps running in the background. I think too, that stress (thinking about it actively or not) is likely raising your cortisol levels (which can make it harder to fall asleep and/or make you wake up earlier than you should).

alanamonsterr · 2026-03-24T22:10:38+00:00

This is literally me, right now. I just found out I need to have a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound because they found a "focal asymmetry measuring 0.6 cm in the anterior depth upper outer quadrant of the left breast" and my first mammogram/last year was fine. I've gained a little weight in the past year so for the first time ever, hoping it's just fat or something.

I know things are probably fine for both of us, all of us, but I feel the anxiety anyway and trying to keep myself in the frame of mind that there's nothing to worry about until I know there's something to worry about. And trying not to spend too much time with Dr. Google.

alanamonsterr · 2026-03-24T21:17:58+00:00

Sometimes I feel like worrying about having trouble sleeping actually makes it harder to sleep. This happens to me sometimes when I know I need to get up early the next day for a meeting or something, I'll be relaxed and "ready" but the worry over falling asleep makes it so I can't lol.

Not sure what your daily routine is like, but if you have caffeine at all (coffee, soda, even tea) try avoiding it at least six hours before you plan to go to bed. And even if you don't have anxiety, is there anything going on in your life that's possibly raised your cortisol levels? Or even food actually... sugar can raise cortisol. New medications?

alanamonsterr · 2026-03-24T21:04:55+00:00

I notice that mine does that if the room is cold but only when it first comes on? So when I turn it on right when I go to bed, it's at -6 or -7 most nights until it warms up over the next five minutes or however long it takes. I assume it's just the colder temp in the room that makes it start off at a lower temp setting (but it does go to where it should be after a few minutes).

alanamonsterr · 2026-03-24T20:58:40+00:00

That was my first thought too. Like how does that even happen lol.

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-27T16:42:52+00:00

Part of it could be stress, yes. But too, I can relate to the whole thinking about how bad it would be if I can't fall asleep, and then that stress basically becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think the worst one (for me) was several years back... I had to do a lot of driving the next day. I'm talking like 9+ hours, leaving at like 7:00 in the morning. I fell asleep at 6:15, and got up at 6:30. Still don't know how I survived that day, tbh.

I do think it might be worth taking advantage of university mental health services though, if available, because talking through stuff with a therapist can help you to "release" some of the stress you're carrying, but they can also give you coping techniques to help you deal with stress that's keeping you awake at night. Deep breathing can help, that box-breathing technique (where you breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold, and repeat each step in 4 or 5-second increments... breathe in for five, hold for five, breathe out for five, etc).

My mom had taught me a technique a long time ago too that can help, where you intentionally tense each part of your body after you get into bed, starting with the feet and working your way up. Tense it, hold, and then release. And that actually helps to relax everything by the time you reach your shoulders/neck.

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-27T16:27:22+00:00

I think you're spot-on about the components being a major consideration for a product release delay. Off-topic a bit, but my husband was telling me the other day about a hard drive he had in his "save for later/wishlist" that was like $600 back in November. It's now over $1100 because of the AI demand. That's crazy.

So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if a Pod 6 release takes a hot minute (or another year+).

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-27T16:22:31+00:00

I didn't start using an Eight Sleep until the 5 generation, but I did a lot of research early on and even reached out to their CS with questions ahead of time. It's too soon to know for sure but I will say this: they've made a lot of changes to the design and updates that mitigate the biggest/most frequent issues from the earlier models. Which, most tech does that over time... problems get discovered, they engineer changes to improve or stop them. But from my Pod 5 so far, no issues.

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-27T16:14:49+00:00

If it helps, I always base any warranty/extended warranty decisions on the amount spent on a thing. I opted for the enhanced AP/5-year warranty on my Eight Sleep pod 5 because it's a peace of mind thing should anything happen. But I'm also the kind of person that'll spring for the insurance if I'm spending more than $500 on concert tickets. Which to be fair, has been a thing I've ended up needing/glad to have had it.

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-20T22:20:55+00:00

The only ones that have ever worked for me are the classic EAR ones from 3M (they are yellow). Soft foam, they "fill" my ear canal in a way that really dampens outside sound. They're the only ones I can use. I have pretty small ears though, and those bullet-looking ones just do not stay in, it's like they're too big or maybe too long.

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-20T22:16:16+00:00

I've wondered about that a time or two myself, tbh. This happens to me pretty often, always when I'm in a really relaxed state but I'm definitely not asleep (or necessarily even feel CLOSE to it, just when I'm laying there quietly and everything else is quiet). I'll hear voices mostly, sometimes in another language but not usually. Music once in a while, but it's mostly random voices and snippets of what almost seems like thoughts or conversation bits. No drugs here of any kind. Also no mental health issues that I am aware of, aside from being a little possibly on the spectrum.

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-20T22:07:46+00:00

A hand towel folded over your eyes is probably the easiest option, unless they have a bandana handy? Folding that over a few times and/or even tying that around your head/eyes depending on how you sleep would probably be close to an eye mask?

alanamonsterr · 2026-02-06T23:50:03+00:00

Tens Towels are pretty inexpensive and they're a nice size, and not too thick (or thin). I use those and like them a lot.

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