Need Help Figuring Out What Is Going On With My Sleep

[Sarah8793]

For about a month now, I am waking up like clockwork every night at 2:30 a.m and then again at 5:00 a.m. I have never has this problem before and it is awful. Often when I wake up at 2:30, I don't completely fall back asleep, I just drift in and out of a light sleep until morning. When I wake up I am not in pain, too hot or cold, hungry, thirsty or needing to use the bathroom. I usually feel very alert and comfortable. During the day though, I have dark circles under my eys and heart palpitations which I believe are possibly from the lack of sleep. I did discover recently that I had been getting glutened from a bread (that is supposedly gluten free) and cut that out of my diet 3 days ago. My hypoglycemia symptoms are going away, so that is how I know that I am starting to get better. I don't know if the sleep disturbances are related to being glutened over time or if it is something different. I don't drink coffee or soda with caffeine. In the mornings I have 1 cup of green tea containing caffeine, that is it. Any ideas? I usually go to sleep around 10:00 p.m and get up at 7:00 a.m. I am wondering if I should try going to sleep later at night?

[Nancym]

I've had long term insomnia issues for most of my life. Strangely enough they started to go away when I began supplementing with vitamin D3 (oily kind). It seemed to help to take about 2000 iu a day. Your mileage may vary but I was glad to have found a solution!

[Sarah8793]

I've had long term insomnia issues for most of my life. Strangely enough they started to go away when I began supplementing with vitamin D3 (oily kind). It seemed to help to take about 2000 iu a day. Your mileage may vary but I was glad to have found a solution!

Thanks Nancy!

I have a calcium supplement with D3 sitting in my cupboard that I never take. Maybe I will start with that and if things don't improve, I'll go higher. The amount of D3 in my calcium supplement is 400 iu. So this might no be enough. Also it isn't the oily kind. I'm willing to try anything at this point.

[Beagle]

Thanks Nancy!

I have a calcium supplement with D3 sitting in my cupboard that I never take. Maybe I will start with that and if things don't improve, I'll go higher. The amount of D3 in my calcium supplement is 400 iu. So this might no be enough. Also it isn't the oily kind. I'm willing to try anything at this point.

I have celiac disease and had a problem waking up 2-3 times a night, but I have found a fabulous solution - melatonin. I take 2-3 mg before I go to bed and get wonderful sleep! My husband takes the same amount, but his daughter takes 6mg, so everyone is different. It is a natural hormone & anti-oxtidant (no other hormone in a persons body is both) produced in the pineal gland, located in your brain. The fact that it is also an anti-oxident means it helps build the immune system, not just aid in sleeping. Some people produce less of this hormone than others, therefore getting less sleep. I don't know if this low production is caused by celiac/gluten intolerance problems, but I do know it helps me sleep.

My husband went without melatonin for two nights in a row and realized it was because he had forgotten to take melatonin. He hasn't forgotten since. I buy it at my local health food store, but it is available at grocery stores as well. I buy 1mg tablets (it also comes in 3mg & 5mg) and for 120 it costs me just under $7.00. I believe it would be well worth the money, considering how much time and effort it takes to narrow down what it causing it. It may just be a low melatonin production due to celiac disease, but that is just a hypothesis of mine, since so many of us experience it.

Please read the book, "Your Body's Natural Wonder Drug - Melatonin" by Russell J. Reiter Ph.D. and Jo Robinson. It retails for about $23. A friend of mine, who is a fellow celiac, suggested it to me and I will be forever grateful.

Please consider these options. You will notice a difference the very first night. Some people require more than others, so exiperiment on what works for you. Oh yeah, there is no toxic amount of melatonin, so don't worry about how much you have to take.

Good luck & sweet dreams!

[AliB]

Is there anything you have every day that might be triggering a digestive disturbance? I have had palpitations when my digestion was struggling for any reason.

During the night your body sorts itself out. The liver is going through a detoxification process and may be struggling with some other food that you are eating, something else you perhaps have become intolerant to. Often when people drop gluten, they then start to replace it with other gluten-free carbs that they then also become intolerant to. I am intolerant not just of gluten but also carbs as a whole and I know I'm not alone.

What time do you eat your last food? Some 'experts' suggest that we should eat no later than 5pm. My weakness is snacking in the evening, especially in front of the TV which is a killer for me! It is Midnight here in the UK and I am still stuffed from overdoing it on nuts and raisins and other 'picky' bits and I am kicking myself now for being a piggy. I will probably suffer during the night and end up tossing and turning as it works its way through! I only have myself to blame. Doh!

I have been trying to eat very simply - meat, fish, poultry, fresh veg and fruit, eggs and a little honey and when I stick to that I know I will get a good night's sleep. I have never had refreshing sleep, but since I dropped the gluten and dairy and restricted the carbs and sugar my sleep has been much better. I am letting a few carbs creep in now though and it shows in my more disturbed sleep quality.

[Jestgar]

I'm mildly sensitive to a lot of foods. If I eat them for dinner, or too many days in a row, I wake up between 1 and 3 am. Same thing you describe, I feel completely awake, until about 4, when I can fall back asleep. After many weeks of sleeping badly I've finally just accepted it and limit what I eat.

[Sarah8793]

Thanks Beagle for the info. on Melatonin. I will also check out the book you mention. I am glad to have these ideas because I have never gone this long with poor sleep.

AliB,

What time do you eat your last food? Some 'experts' suggest that we should eat no later than 5pm.

This may be something. Because I was getting glutened over the last few months, my hypoglycemia symptoms started returning at night. I was having to eat a snack before bed in order to stop adrenaline surges. That may have been when my sleeping pattern started getting out of whack. Since discovering the gluten source and removing it, my hypo symptoms are going away again and I have been able to cut the night time snack out. I 'm wondering if now I am just "conditioned" to wake up at those times. Hmmmmmm. Thanks for your ideas.

Jestgar,

I'm mildly sensitive to a lot of foods. If I eat them for dinner, or too many days in a row, I wake up between 1 and 3 am. Same thing you describe, I feel completely awake, until about 4, when I can fall back asleep. After many weeks of sleeping badly I've finally just accepted it and limit what I eat.

Ohhh man, I don't even want to think about more foods that I am sensitive to. But you may be right.

[JNBunnie1]

Melatonin is a good, safe place to start. Start with one milligram for a few days, then two if that's not helping enough. I actually find that I have to eat a LOT right before bed, or else I wake up hungry. But my metabolism is faster than a speeding bullet, so that certainly wouldn't apply to everyone.

[48lowesracer]

Melatonin is a good, safe place to start. Start with one milligram for a few days, then two if that's not helping enough. I actually find that I have to eat a LOT right before bed, or else I wake up hungry. But my metabolism is faster than a speeding bullet, so that certainly wouldn't apply to everyone.

I haven't had a continuous nights sleep in a long, long time. I am ALWAYS waking up in the middle of the night. This post will hopefully help me out-thanks!

[Di-gfree]

I read something not favourable about melatonin, but unfortunately I can't remember what is was. It was enough to make me not want to try it for my sleep problems. It may be unfair of me to say that since other people have success with it, though.

Sarah, your first post describes my sleeping pattern. I fall asleep pretty good (more like pass out - lol); then I'm awake at 1:30 or 2:30; and up until 4:30 or 5:00 and sleep for an hour or two. I watch reruns of Reba at 4:00 am - lol. Not so funny, really.

Just a suggestion; you might want to check your body temperature. I started to do this a couple of months ago, and found it was below normal everytime. That in combo w/many other symptoms lead me to get tested for hypothyroidism, which I just found out I have, Hashimoto's Disease, actually. I'm hoping once I start the thyroid hormone, things might balance out, and I'll sleep normally. I actually thought it could be perimenopause causing me to have sleeping problems, too.

Oh one last thing - a health-food store owner suggested I take two magnesium supplements a couple of hours before bed. They really worked; unfortunately right now I'm off supplements for a little while.

[Lenny]

I would recommend giving 5-HTP a try. I've been using it for a year with no side effects. My sleep is totally dysfunctional without it. It, for whatever reason, gives me the stage 3 and 4 sleep that I can't otherwise get enough of. There aren't many substances out there that can increase the deeper stages of sleep, but 5-htp is one of them. The hypnotics (ambien, etc) generally don't increase the deeper stages and many of them can cause you to get a lot of stage 2, which is a lighter stage of sleep, and less 3 and 4.

5-HTP has been studied a fair amount as well and is generally well tolerated. I'd recommend taking 50mg during the day just to see if it makes you sick to your stomach or a bit agitated. If you feel any side effects, which a minority will, then it's not for you. Most people won't feel side effects, though. I take 100mg about 45 min before bed time. Sometimes 150mg. I would start with 50mg, though. The least effective dose is always the best no matter what you're taking.

My father hadn't slept more than 5 hours a night for maybe 20 years and now he sleeps 8 hours a night by taking just 50mg at bed time.

I, personally, suspect that 5-HTP is safer than melatonin. Your body already makes serotonin, and then melatonin, from 5-HTP (which you normally make from l-tryptophan) so by taking it you are really giving your body the raw fuel it already uses to make these things. Melotonin, on the other hand, is a hormone and I don't think anyone totally understands the full ramifications of raising this to unnatural levels.

If you are going to take melatonin then I'd recommend sticking to 1mg or less if possible. A lot of the vitamin stores, etc, commonly sell tablets in 3mg doses and this is an enormous amount. 3mg should be way more than you need.

Another option is to take L-Typtophan instead of 5-HTP, although you would need higher doses most likely (at least 500mg). Your body will make 5-HTP from that and then serotonin and melatonin.

Most people who are waking up at night are doing so because they are not smoothly transitioning from one sleep cycle into another. A sleep cycle generally lasts 90 to 110 minutes and if you waking up regularly you'll likely find that you are waking up at increments of 90 to 110 minutes. For example, if you fall asleep at 10pm you might find that you are waking up at 11:30 or 1pm. Good sleepers will stay asleep and go right into another sleep cycle but poor sleepers will wake up when they transition into a lighter stage of sleep.

My 2 cents.