HELP - can't sleep

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:47 am

I take prednisone at 9:00 am and it's really starting to affect my sleep. I fall asleep between 1-2:00 am every night. I slept 5 hours last night but I'm not tired.

Post by **tex** » Sun Dec 16, 2012 1:27 pm

You know, this makes me wonder if maybe those of us who normally don't sleep more than about 5 hours each night (such as myself), might naturally have higher cortisol levels than we need.

We might even have what researchers consider to be a "normal" level of cortisol, but maybe we would function better if we had less.

Maybe some organ in the body regulates the rate at which we use cortisol (similar to the way in which the thyroid regulates metabolism), so that some of us use cortisol more efficiently than others. Maybe the thyroid also regulates cortisol consumption rate — hyperthyroidism is known to interfere with sleep.

Tex

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Sun Dec 16, 2012 6:47 pm

Dr Oz said that most people take far too much melatonin. The recommendation was no more than .5. I have no idea where the number came from. And FWIW, I've tried melatonin off and on but every time I took it, it made me wired! Different strokes.

ObsessedMrFixit · Post by **ObsessedMrFixit** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:11 pm

Thought I'd chime in here, too. I've had sleep problems for years. Most of the time, I fall asleep very easily (2 minutes or less), but I usually wake up at least once a night at 3:30am, and then have a hard time sleeping after that. Sometimes I wake up every hour or two. I had my cortisol levels checked, and mine are about twice what they should be. My doctor recommended several things over the years. Melatonin just makes me groggy in the morning. Phosphatidylserine is supposed to interfere with the adrenal glands' neuro-receptors, preventing the pituitary from over-exciting the adrenals, and hopefully lowering cortisol. But it doesn't work for everyone, especially me, because it had the opposite effect: I barely slept at all.

So, instead, I continue to take the first thing my doctor (ND) prescribed: L-Theanine. It's just an amino acid, and it calms my brain down so that I can fall asleep. So if your brain just won't shut up after your couple hours of sleep, you could try L-Theanine. It's just a supplement, no Rx needed.
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marcus
LC, 2+ years
SCD 8 months
no meds

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:55 pm

L-Theanine. It's just an amino acid, and it calms my brain down so that I can fall asleep. So if your brain just won't shut up after your couple hours of sleep, you could try L-Theanine.

Very interesting. When I can't fall back asleep in the middle of the night, it's always because my brain is cranking away. My husband falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. When I ask him what he thinks about as he's falling asleep, he says "nothing." I can't imagine thinking about nothing. My brain is always churning. Is insomnia a problem primarily for type A personalties?

Gloria

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:28 am

My brain also does not shut off when I get in bed. I make sure I am really tired before going to bed. Sometimes I will take a Benadryl a half hour before bedtime.

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:22 am

My brain was also churning all the time. Not any more. It seems to be from a lack of long-lasting serotonin causing it for me. It might be for you all too. I tried Benedryl; it rarely works for me unless I take 3 or 4! Now that I've started a low dose of Lexapro (an SSRI) the churning has stopped; it worked immediately! I've only taken it for a week too.

Tex, I read a paper a year or two ago that said high cortisol at night causes insomnia. Personally, I'm pretty low cortisol - only at 9 at 8 AM when it's supposed to be at its highest. (That could be why I love taking methylpred dose packs.)

Of course cortisol could go up as the day goes on but normally it's supposed to start high and get lower as the day progresses.

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:20 pm

Thanks for this mzh. I will definitely check into it. I did a 24 hr saliva cortisol check and I was low with all except the night one, which was high.I've been working on that but think I still have issues. Deb

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:50 pm

Deb wrote:Thanks for this mzh. I will definitely check into it. I did a 24 hr saliva cortisol check and I was low with all except the night one, which was high.I've been working on that but think I still have issues. Deb

You're welcome, Deb. I did the 24 hour saliva test too and they basically couldn't find cortisol except for one of the times - I forget which - afternoon I think.

But now I think I have a serotonin issue more than a cortisol issue. For now, anyway.

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:29 am

Update. The full night of sleep happened only once. And I felt sooooo good the next day too. So I guess it wasn't the Lexapro. But at least my mind isn't churning so that part is working. I do get back to sleep most of the time but I wake up kinda tired when that happens.