Sleep!

[charlie fh]

Hello Tex and co..

Just after a little advice from you regarding sleep. Im struggerling terribly at the moment with sleep . I often have a few hours and then can not sleep at all. my mind is racing etc.. heart pumping! my gut isnt too bad but lack of sleep does affect it..

I read somewhere that histamine can cause insomnia. I wondered if you thought this might be possible, i dont have any other usual symptoms like being itchy, runny nose etc so i thought this unlikely. I eat histamine rich foods too.

I have 400mg of magnesium a day. thorne omega 3 and vit d. i cant seem to put my finger on it, ive tried everything from methyl b cmplex to calming tea etc. im eating a fairly balanced diet... Just wondering if anything springs to mind.

Thanks > charlie

[tex]

You may have pinpointed the problem. There's a lot of evidence showing that histamines can indeed interfere with sleep. I'm sensitive to histamines, and I notice that I have trouble sleeping whenever I'm having a histamine reaction. It can take a while to get histamine out of your system, so it may take more than a few days before you begin to see results, but I'm guessing that cutting out most of the high histamine foods in your diet should definitely help (assuming that histamines are the problem). That includes chicken, fish, bananas, anything fermented, coffee, tea, etc. Tea is not only a high histamine food, but many teas contain more caffeine than coffee.

Tex

[charlie fh]

interesting! even though i have no other symptoms of histamine reaction? i pressume if i do have a problem i would sleep better if i try a anti histamine before bed?
Thanks for your insight. obviously there is a mental /anxiety aspect to sleep too. ill try a anti histamine tonight.

chariie

[tex]

Here's why it can happen:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20851648/

I find that when I'm having a histamine reaction, an antihistamine sometimes helps, but the only way to stop the reaction is to strictly minimize any and all high histamine foods in my diet, and it usually takes days or weeks to see results, depending on the extent of the reaction. Histamine is ubiquitous in the human body, because it's used to initiate so many vital chemical processes throughout the day. The immune system, the digestive system, the neurological system, and possibly some other systems that haven't even been discovered and researched by medical science, use histamine as a trigger. When MC causes diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme production to head south (as it does for so many of us), all bets are off, regarding histamine issues.

And taking DAO supplements is not a solution, at least it wasn't for me, because after a few weeks of helping, the supplements began to cause the very symptoms that they're supposed to prevent, similar to the way antihistamines behave (cause allergy symptoms) when taken on a long-term basis.

Tex

[charlie fh]

Thats really interesting. Im a little unsure if its causing the sleep problems though as ive been eating practically the same diet all year and this has only come on recently . i shall keep it in mind though. Obviously there are many things that can affect sleep and ive got a lot n my mind recently so maybe im just super up on adrenals etc. thats what it feels like when i cant sleep.. very fast overthinking thoughts .

i feel there could be something going on with the methylation cycle too. Ive only recently properly acknoledged that im double mutated on the mtrr a66g gene. which apparently is vital for b12 conversion. The problem i have is when i take active b vits after a month or so they cause more anxiety. would you advice taking just b12 on its own.?? the clues are all there, i just need to put the puzzle toghter

Charlie

[tex]

I'm not a methylation expert, But it sounds as though taking active B vitamins doesn't help. Stress trumps everything, so if you're under more stress than usual, that's very likely your problem. Worrying probably causes more sleep loss in the world, than any other issue.

Tex

[charlie fh]

How right you are! I think it is stress, im in the middle of possibly moving to another part of the country etc! the uncertainty is most likely my stress.

i think if i had histamine trouble i would have at least one other symptom too but i may try a low diet.

i read somehwere else on here before that a lot of us are type A personalitys which i find really interesting. I definatly tend to ruminate on my problems which keeps me up at night. Its a vicious cycle as it makes the MC worse. If you have any pearls of wisdom id be happy to hear them!!

thanks fr your help as usual.

charlie

[tex]

I just finished an article about insomnia problems with MC, and it will probably be published in the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Newsletter on November 1. I'll email you a copy of the article.

Tex

[charlie fh]

Thanks Tex that sounds great!

charlie

[tex]

Let me know if your email client, or your computer firewall blocked it, and kept you from receiving it.

Tex

[charlie fh]

Thanks Tex received ! V interesting.

Have you any knowledge on small dose beta blockers( propranonol 10mg )a day affecting the gut? I can imagine a high dose isnt too great but a small dose is probably similar to amitryptline .. thats my thought anyway. My GP said to try them for sleep/adrenals...

Thank you

Charlie

[tex]

I've never heard of using that as a sleep aid. I'm surprised that it would work, since beta-blockers reduce the production of melatonin.

Tex

[charlie fh]

Thats what i thought. Im not going to take them. I want to avoid all drugs if possible !

Thnk you.

[tex]

I didn't mean to imply that it wouldn't work — I've just never heard of it. There are a lot of things I haven't heard of. Beta-blockers work by restricting the release of the stress hormones adrenaline, and noradrenaline which slows down the heart rate, and that's thought to be relaxing, because it reduces the rate at which blood is circulated in the body.

I was prescribed metoprolol years ago after I had a TIA (transient ischemic attack), but I stopped using it, because it lowered my heart rate into the bradycardia range. Some mornings my heart rate was down in the 40s. I find that taking magnesium daily keeps my blood pressure low without reducing my heart rate too much.

Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

There are some non medication / supplement things you can do to optimise good sleep / calm adrenals

no blue screen before bed (TV, devices)
magnesium foot soak half an hour before bed
use podcasts / audiobooks to calm the mind and prepare the mind and body for sleep
if I wake through the night I have relaxing audiobooks that help me get back to sleep within 5 minutes


I do not put tv on during the week of a night. When I get home from work I listen to podcasts/audiobooks, after evening snack (my main meal is at lunchtime ) I do magnesium foot soak while I do some colouring in (my whole work day is spent on computer)

Dave Asprey has some good podcasts about optimising sleep / calming adrenals

400mg of elemental magnesium is the daily RDI for a male. if you are deficient in Magnesium this dosage would not be correcting deficiency.
Medications, coffee, etc also deplete magnesium