Does sleep impact your hormones? Most people don’t realize this, but adequate sleep impacts your hormones and even reproductive health. You want quality sleep for a number of reasons but today we’re talking about why it’s imperative in supporting your reproductive system (lack of sleep can alter your length, flow and timing of your period) and long-term health.
How Sleep Impacts Hormonal Cycles
Hormones regulate almost every aspect of reproductive health. Getting enough sleep significantly impacts the balance of these hormones. Poor sleep disrupts the production of key hormones such as:
- Melatonin – This hormone, released during sleep, protects eggs from oxidative stress. In turn, it supports fertility.
- Cortisol – Sleep deprivation raises cortisol levels. This can interfere with sex hormones and disrupt menstrual cycles.
- Leptin and Ghrelin – These hormones, which regulate appetite, also affect ovulation and fertility. Sleep deprivation can cause these hormones to be imbalanced.
You don’t just want to function; you want to function optimally. When you get good, quality sleep you are supporting a regular menstrual cycle and reproductive system.
Sleep and Fertility
Research shows a strong link between sleep quality and fertility. Prioritizing sleep can increase the chances of conception. Insufficient or irregular sleep can:
- Disrupt Ovulation – Poor sleep affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, leading to irregular ovulation and menstrual cycles.
- Lower Sperm Quality – For men, lack of sleep can decrease testosterone levels and deplete sperm health.
- Increase Risk of Infertility – Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with higher rates of infertility in both men and women.
Pregnancy and Sleep
During pregnancy, hormonal changes can impact sleep patterns. This can lead to insomnia or fragmented sleep. But, quality rest is vital for both you and your baby. Poor sleep during pregnancy increases the risk of complications such as:
- Gestational diabetes
- Preterm labor
- Postpartum depression
Tips for Better Sleep
So, as you can see, good sleep hygiene is needed for hormonal balance and reproductive health. To improve your sleep, try to:
- Stick to a Schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same time daily – yes even on weekends! Obviously this is harder with kids (esp newborns) but just put in a good effort and you’ll notice a difference.
- Create a Sleep-Conducive Environment: Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and calm.
- Limit Screen Time: Reduce exposure to screens at least an hour before bed. This one is so tough for me. It’s so hard not to scroll before bed but you will sleep better and fall asleep faster if you adhere to this one.
- Avoid Stimulants: Limit caffeine and alcohol in the evening. They can disrupt sleep cycles. Alcohol might make you fall asleep faster, but it’ll disrupt your sleep throughout the night.
- Exercise Regularly: Physical activity improves sleep quality (just avoid vigorous workouts before bedtime).
- Manage Stress: Try a new relaxation technique! Deep breathing, meditation, or journaling are all great options to calm your mind. Try a “brain dump” where you write down everything on your mind on paper to get it out of your mind.
Melatonin & Birth Control
I think this is worth mentioning before we close. There is a lot of confusion about melatonin and potential interactions with birth control pills. And I have to admit, I was confused, too, as this was nothing that I had ever been taught or even heard about before. But when a rash of TikTok’s popped up about Melatonin “canceling out” birth control, I had to dive further into it. Basically, there is a theoretical concern based on old circadian rhythm studies that show increases in estradiol and progesterone can increase the body’s natural production of melatonin and maybe also decrease metabolism of melatonin.
Therefore, it’s possible that synthetic hormone supplementation could increase the effective concentration of any melatonin supplements too. In addition, melatonin may also decrease metabolism of estrogen and progesterone, which could increase hormonal concentrations.
In fact, melatonin was actually studied back in the 90s as an oral contraceptive when combined with a progestin because of melatonin’s synergistic effect with progestins. So yes, your melatonin and birth control pill might interact, but it’s not to decrease efficacy of either. It may be the opposite. This could potentially increase side effects, of either but this is so far unknown.
Consider why you are taking melatonin in the first place if this impacts you. Make sure that’s the right option for you by checking in with your doc or a sleep medicine specialist.
Voordouw et al Melatonin & melatonin-progestin combo alter pituitary-ovarian function, can inhibit ovulation J Clin Endo Metab 1992 Jan;74(1):108-17 Silman, RE. Melatonin: a contraceptive for the nineties. VOLUME 49, ISSUE 1-2, P3-9, APRIL 01, 1993 Cohen et al Hypotheses: Melatonin/steroid combination contraceptives will prevent breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Tr 33, 257–264 (1995).
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