Is Menopause The Cause Of Tiredness?

The past month or so I've noticed that even with my getting between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night, I'm still exhausted during the day time. I do not sleep straight through the night. It doesn't matter how tired I am it takes me a good ten to fifteen minutes to fall asleep and I'm constantly waking up. I do not sleep straight through the night.
I am just so tired and I have no energy. At first I wondered if I might have sleep apnea, and the only reason I suspected that is because ocassionally I've waken myself with a 'snort'. I asked Tom if he's heard me snore and he says sometimes. Most of the time it doesn't bother him because he's so busy snoring himself. I looked up sleep apnea and it was 'possible' I might have a slight case.
I had to see my family doctor last week to get some new prescriptions and mentioned to her how tired I've been. She asked the usual questions and then looked at my chart to see when the last time was that I'd had my thyroid checked.
It's been over a year. She wrote me out a script for some blood work but I haven't received the results yet. Hypothyroidism runs in my family, my eldest daughter and two of my siblings have it.
I brought up the possibility of sleep apnea and she asked if I was a snorer and I explained about the 'snort'. She wrote me another script to have a sleep test done. I asked if she wanted me to wait until we got the results of my thyroid test back first, and she said no, that it's a good idea to have this sleep test done anyway because of my heart condition. She said she's surprised that she didn't think to have this done 'before'. I still need to make that appointment, just trying to figure out the best time to have it done so that I don't inconvenience the family. I watch my youngest grandaughter who is 21 months old ( the older two are now in school all day) while my daughter and son-in-law work. They have no one else they can depend on and one of them would have to miss work.

Sleep Apnea More Common, Severe In Post-Menopausal Women

Today I got an email from Wellsphere.com of which I'm a member. I went to the site to read some other member's writings on menopause and came across one that caught my attention by Eileen K. called Sleeping And Menopause.
Eileen writes that her own sleeping patterns have taken a turn for the worse since she began perimenopause. She came across an article called Getting A Good Night's Sleep Is The Biggest Problem For Women Entering Menopause .

I found it very interesting. Although in my own personal case, I think my sleeping problems are worse now than they were when I was perimenopausal. My menstrual cycle stopped three years ago when I was 52. I've had a few night sweats over the past seven years but I've never heard anyone refer to 'day sweats' until I read this article. I get the day sweats every single day, several times a day.
It's more than annoying.
Forgetfulness was another commonly reported symptom. Again, I was not aware that forgetfulness was a symptom of menopause. I just thought I was on the brink of early dementia. My forgetfulness has been embarrassing, inconvenient and scary. At least now I have something I can blame it on.