Pillow sprays, candles – and a fan: my menopause rules for getting a good night’s sleep

Having trouble nodding off? It’s a good excuse to try out remedies from candles and pillow sprays to soothing lotions. Illustration: Kaja Merle/The Guardian

I just asked my new best friend, and AI chat assistant, how many hours of sleep a night a middle-aged woman should aim for. It replied: “A middle-aged woman should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep, as this is the recommended sleep duration for most adults according to health experts.”

Unless I pop a sleeping pill, which I rarely ever do, I cannot remember the last time I slept between seven and nine hours. Oh, wait, I can. It was during my “PM” era, AKA the wonder that was the pre-menopausal me. I’d forgotten about her.