Poor sleep, waking up at night
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For the past two months, I have not been able to sleep properly. I was not being responsible with my sleep schedule when it began, so I blamed it on me. However, and despite my best efforts, I can't seem to fix it.
I take longer than usual to be knocked out, then wake up in the middle of the night multiple times, and falling back asleep is very difficult even though I feel sleepy/groggy and my eyelids weigh on me. When I wake up I am half as rested as I should be.
This has caused me to develop dark circles under my eyes and I believe cause some skin problems (or there's a common cause beyond sleep).
Yesterday I awoke at 8 AM and spent the next hour having 5-to-10-minute naps (every last one of which made me dream). Slept extremely light. New to me, so I thought I should mention it.
- Sleeping earlier marginally helps with feeling rested, but not with waking at 3 AM.
- Eating at night seems to worsen the problem, but abstaining doesn't prevent it.
- My diet is messy, so plenty of room for improvement there. I apologize in advance for the lack of specificity here, but I've never counted calories/macros and what I eat changes a lot.
- Whether or not I exercise appears to have no effect, although most days I don't.
20 y/o, 6', 155 lbs. I do not take supplements or vitamins, though I'm considering trying at least a B complex.
My current plan is to go outside for longer, lift more consistently, lay down earlier and avoid late meals. Will update with progress. Has anyone had naps after lunch help?
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15-20’ (maxi 30’) is optimal for naps, otherwise you’ll feel sluggish.
We have to distinguish difficulties for falling asleep from awakening or short sleep period.
If awakening round 3 a.m., it’s said to be a problem linked with the liver.
If problem with falling asleep, several points could help:- Sleep Schedule round the same time.
- Light evening meal. No wine nor beer, since it burdens the liver work.
- No blue light after 8 P.M. (computer or phone).
- A usual activity as reading sth pleasant or listening to soft tempo music. Create a Sleep-Friendly Environment. No TV in the sleeping-room.
- A soup with collagen powder or a supplement like L-theanine. For a GABA-like effect at the evening.
- Avoid caffeine or orange juice after 5 P.M.
- To optimize sleep hormones, focus on regulating melatonin and weak cortisol levels.
NB: The amount of melatonin your body makes is influenced by light exposure. Stress elevates cortisol. Practice relaxation techniques like deep meditation, or yoga to lower cortisol levels. I’d give a try with EFT. No need to believe in to meet success. For any problem. - I’d take 2.5 – 3 g magnesium bisglycinate at the evening meal. Mind the source (easy to dilute).
- If anxious, valerian could help. (Valerian + passionflower + hawthorn) (Phytotherapy).
- Keep room dark and fresh. Ventilate half an hour before bedtime, in order to ionize the air.
I hope it could help.
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@RambleCycle my sleep has been screwed up by histamine issues with lots of short wake ups right after dozing off. Might be worth looking into.
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cyproheptadine
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@RambleCycle ressced jaws , u prob have some underdevelopment causing ur tongue to fall back in your throat instead of rest on the palate and nose breath. Look at the yt channel Jawhacks his whole channel is helping people with resssced jaws fix there airway do they can sleep/breath.
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@gg12 Yesternight I came to a similar conclusion. Sleeping on my back becomes very uncomfortable around my mouth because of my tongue position. I doubt that's the biggest problem, however, because I didn't start sleeping on my back until after the problem had begun as an attempt to solve it. Sounds promising, I'll give it a look. Thanks.
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@LucH Thank you for the detailed response. I will experiment for a week with many of those points and get back to you.
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waking up at night is usually caused by low blood sugar, which triggers cortisol and adrenaline to raise blood sugar by breaking down glycogen and muscle for amino acids to convert to glucose via gluconeogenesis.
things that help with this:
- eat some ice cream before bed (good ingredients, haagen dazs vanilla etc.)
- cyproheptadine (1-4mg a couple hours before bed. you can get it from idealabs)
- famotidine (helps spare glycogen in the liver which will keep blood sugar stable overnight)
- progesterone (popcorn kernel sized dollop of kenogen progest-e rubbed into gums before bed. progesterone absolutely nukes cortisol and helps a lot with sleep, and metabolism in general)
i have had this exact problem and routinely do one or more of these things every night and have great sleep now.
