Sleep issues

Liam Dougherty Springer · 11-15-2008, 06:38 AM

I have made a pact with myself to get 8+ hours of sleep a night..... I have been failing. The past 3 nights I have been on ~5 hrs. a night!

I have been haveing a hard time getting the sleep in with my recent work schedule. Sometimes I am getting up at 4-5 in the morning and I cant seem to get to sleep before 10-11 at the earliest. I also tend to wake up every 3 hours to use the restroom and often will wake up 30-50 min before I need to be up and can't get back to bed. I take Naps sometimes but I don't know if that makes up for it and I worry it will make it difficult to sleep that night.... only problem is when I don't nap I still have a hard time getting to sleep. I am allergic to all sleep aid medications and don't know if they would interupt recovery anyway.

I am training hard in strength and explosive power eating a crap ton and PRing at every WO in some shape or fasion..... I know I need to get the sleep but on nights I have to work early the next day do the naps help?

Are there any suggestions as to herbal sleep aids that won't make me groggy the next morning etc.

Thanx all for your consideration.

Emily Mattes · 11-16-2008, 11:40 AM

Have you tried melatonin? I also read on these boards that supplementing with magnesium helps sleep tremendously. I know I sleep a lot deeper on it.

Establishing good sleep patterns is also behavioral as much as anything else. Make sure you don't do anything in your bedroom/bed except for sleep, so you build the association. Try to finish workouts at least a few hours before going to bed, that can mess up some people's sleep schedules. Don't watch TV/go on the computer very late a night.

Garrett Smith · 11-16-2008, 04:13 PM

Nothing that plugs into the wall, whether the plug, cord, or item itself, within a six feet radius of your head. This includes alarm clocks. Turning items off is not good enough.

No cell phones in your bedroom, especially not ones that are plugged in and charging.

This simple thing has fixed many people's sleep problems.

Gittit Shwartz · 11-16-2008, 11:13 PM

Dr. G, any recommended reading on this?
What about a wireless computer network?...

Darryl Shaw · 11-17-2008, 06:55 AM

The darker your bedroom is the better you sleep so if you're having problems you might find that blackout curtains help. Also your body should reduce your urine output at night so you shouldn't need to use the bathroom every couple of hours. If you discuss this with your doctor they'll probably want to check your prostate and test you for diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus but even if there's nothing wrong with you they might suggest trying some desmopressin tablets to see if they help.

Garrett Smith · 11-17-2008, 08:00 AM

Gittit,
A wireless internet network would be a very bad thing to have close to your head while sleeping. This could be a very important piece of the puzzle for you.

Some links I found through searching for "EMF syndrome sensitivity":
http://www.spinspace.com/biophysics/emfsens.htm
http://cpbb.drofdetox.com/learnmore/...tion_emfss.pdf

This is a very real issue. Many people only show very "mild" symptoms of this issue, like insomnia or a seeming inability to reach a deep/refreshing state of sleep.

sarena kopciel · 11-17-2008, 10:29 AM

Hope it helps; my blackout shades finally came today. I had ordered them back in July and three shipments came wrong. Finally the company got it right the 4th time!! Looking forward to sleeping tonight

Liam Dougherty Springer · 11-17-2008, 03:44 PM

Thanx for all the input..... I will try the unplugging and I am gonna get some magnesium for before bed....

Darryl I am trippin off the you shouldn't wake up to go to the bathroom thing I am sure I am not diabetic but I guess I had better get the prostate checked I am only 29.....

Dr. G you have input on the urinating at night issue?

Grissim Connery · 11-17-2008, 03:56 PM

i used to have a lot of problems with waking up to go to the bathroom at night. so i just stopped drinking much water within a few hours of bed. i would drink enough maybe to take a few pills, but just enough to get them down fine.

this sounds like a ridiculously straight forward answer to a problem that could be more severe, but it really could be that simple...worked for me

Garrett Smith · 11-17-2008, 04:20 PM

Liam,
I give the same initial advice on urinating at night as Grissim did...if you drink less before bed (but the same amount daily), you'll likely end up needing to wake up less to pee at night.

I drink 3/4 gallon plus of fluids a day, I try to finish it before 6pm.

I have personally dealt with my own challenge with waking up more often than I'd like to pee in the middle of the night.

I have done several things to deal with this issue, I don't really have a problem now:
1. Cease drinking significant amounts of fluids at an earlier time of day (note not NO fluids, just much less after a certain time)
2. Relatively recently, I added some ZMA & GABA before bed, so I sleep like a baby (and likely don't notice I have to pee because I'm sleeping more soundly!).
3. I recently significantly increased my intake of a new controlled-release alpha-lipoic acid. I do very well on low-carbs, so an improved insulin sensitivity may play a role here (I'm linking this to the diabetes brought up previously).
4. I very much try to urinate when the urge strikes me these days. This is a large change from up until maybe a year or two ago, where if I needed to, I would hold my pee for many hours longer than I should have--because I had become used to doing it and simply because I could. I think this "trained" my system to ignore the proper signals, which led to its own sequelae, especially before bedtime and in the middle of the night.

See if any of the above things seem like they apply to you, and apply at your leisure.