Dr. Elizabeth Poynor
Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, host of Decoding Women's Health, is a gynecologic oncologist, an advanced pelvic surgeon, and an expert in midlife women’s health. To investigate all manner of women’s health…
Sleep in midlife can be complicated — shaped by stress, hormone fluctuations, and a lifetime of habits that may not be serving you. Dr. Jade Wu offers a reframe that challenges how many of us approach sleep. It’s not a problem to be solved. Sleep is your friend, one that responds better to patience than control.
Dr. Wu also explains why the real measure of sleep doesn’t come from a tracker or device but from how alert you feel during the day. We outline the difference between sleep deprivation, insomnia and sleep apnea. And we discuss the potential benefits of CBT-I or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
Links to resources mentioned in this episode:
Hello Sleep: The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications
Sleep Disturbance and Perimenopause: A Narrative Review
To learn more about at-home sleep studies, speak with your doctor and read this
See a breakdown of the evidence for different treatments for sleep
You can find a list of certified CBT-I therapists here
A 2023 paper in JAMA tested 25 over-the-counter melatonin supplements and found that 22 of them contained very different amounts of melatonin and did not match what was on the label: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2804077
Note: In this show, we use “women” as shorthand for people with XX chromosomes. We understand sex and gender are more complex, and acknowledge the experiences we describe reach beyond that word.
The Host
