Problems with sleeping

Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can change the levels of sex hormones in your body. This can cause different side effects including difficulty sleeping (insomnia). 

Difficulty sleeping and hormone therapy

Hormonal treatments for prostate cancer can lower the levels of sex hormones in the body. Sex hormones are oestrogen and progesterone in women and testosterone in men.

Low levels of sex hormones can cause hot flushes or anxiety, making sleep difficult. Coping with other symptoms can feel harder if you are not sleeping well.

Everyone needs different amounts of sleep. On average, adults need around 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night.

Sleeplessness (insomnia)

Insomnia is when you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep at night.

An occasional night without sleep will make you tired the following day. It won't affect your health, but it can make concentrating and decision making more difficult. Coping with other symptoms may feel harder if you are not sleeping well. 

Understanding why you are finding it difficult to sleep will help you to find possible solutions. 

Sleeplessness can be:

• difficulty falling asleep

• difficulty staying asleep

• waking up often or too early in the morning

• feeling tired when you wake up (poor quality sleep)

Tips to help with sleep:

• Go to bed and get up at the same time each day and reduce naps.

• Do some light exercise each day to tire yourself.

• Make sure the room is not too hot or too cold.

• Relax before bedtime, by taking a bath or listening to music.

• Avoid alcohol, caffeine and smoking for about 6 hours before going to bed.

• Don't go to bed hungry. Sometimes a light snack before going to bed can help.

• Reduce screen time on mobile phones, tablets and TV at least 2 hours before going to bed.

• Calming apps such as 'Calm' or 'Sleepio' may help before sleeping.

• Meditate, practice mindfulness or try deep breathing at bedtime.

• Minimise noise and light in the bedroom.

• Try putting a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow or use a lavender cushion.

Talk to your GP, specialist doctor or nurse if you have tried these tips and they haven’t helped.

You might have difficulty sleeping because of other symptoms caused by the cancer or treatment. For example, your sleep might be affected because you need to go to the toilet more often during the night. Or by experiencing hot flushes. Let your doctor know. They might be able to prescribe medicine or offer you advice.

Treatments for sleeplessness (insomnia)

There are treatments and therapies that might help improve your sleep.

Relaxation techniques

Relaxation techniques such as mindfulness, meditation and breathing exercises can help. They can help you feel calmer and cope with worries and anxieties. This in turn could help you to relax and sleep. 

You can read about meditation in our complementary therapies section. 

Tablets to help you sleep

Your doctor might suggest taking tablets to help you sleep. You usually only take these for a short amount of time. This is because sleeping tablets can have side effects.

Some people are not keen on taking sleeping tablets. But a short course may help you to get back into a healthy sleeping pattern again. 

There are many types of medication available. They include:

• benzodiazepines such as lorazepam or temazepam
• non benzodiazepine hypnotics such as zopiclone or zaleplon
• melatonin (if you are over 55) 

Complementary therapies for sleeplessness

Many people want to try alternative therapies including acupuncture and aromatherapy. There is limited evidence about how well they work. 

Counselling

Counselling can help if your thoughts and emotions are affecting your sleep. There are different types of counselling including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This type of counselling helps you change how you respond to situations or emotions. 

Cancer Chat

Talking to people who have had similar experiences can help. Cancer Chat is our fully moderated forum where you can talk to others affected by cancer, share experiences, and get support. Cancer Chat is free to join and available 24 hours a day.