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Your thoughts on my sleep disorder

Messages
14
Thetes a 4 times a day saliva test which measure the cortisol cycle and measures dhea which is taken in the morning.

If u can get your doc to send u for a morning blood test. Testing fasting cortisol. Dhea. Total testosterone. Free testosterone. E2-estradiol.
Treat the defiencies and retest in 4 to 6 weeks.
E2 is tested as sometimes dhea as well as testosterone can convert to e2 and dosages need to be adjusted or an anti estrogen med is used.
All these things may indirectly help sleep and hopefully improve health.
That will take a few months to get booked, in the meantime should i try the dhea or move on to other research?
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,086
Location
australia (brisbane)
[qe="Barry, post: 423033, member: 13222"]That will take a few months to get booked, in the meantime should i try the dhea or move on to other research?[/quote]
U could try small doses and work up to 25mg a day. I wouldn't take more than that without testing. Hopefully it helps with general wellbeing. Worth a shot but thats me.
 
Messages
14
That will take a few months to get booked, in the meantime should i try the dhea or move on to other research?
U could try small doses and work up to 25mg a day. I wouldn't take more than that without testing. Hopefully it helps with general wellbeing. Worth a shot but thats me.
Taken in the morning or at night?
What would happen if i took a whole tablet, i have 30 x 10mg tablets
 
Messages
14
The main issue negatively is that it may initially over stimulate you. May??
That would be a welcome change :)
its a round press fit tablet but i assume i can break it in half, i will start tomorrow.
Will i notice stimulation the same day or does it take a while (how do i tell if i can go to whole tablet)?
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,086
Location
australia (brisbane)
That would be a welcome change :)
its a round press fit tablet but i assume i can break it in half, i will start tomorrow.
Will i notice stimulation the same day or does it take a while (how do i tell if i can go to whole tablet)?
Its really Individual thing. But u dont want to be overstimulated. Long term effects are suttle with general wellbeing and mood.
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
my thought on your sleep disorder: by the symptoms you experience (delirium etc) it sounds like you miss out on the Deep Sleep. No matter how long your actual hours are or what doctors think, your body gives feedback like the one of a healthy person who is seriously sleep deprived for several nights.

skip this alinea, it's sleep theory you know already:
In normal persons Deep Sleep takes the first 5 hours of a night. It's called the non-REMsleep or nREM sleep. If sleep deprived the body will stock up on this sleep pattern first, make it a priority. Person will fall asleep instantly and will go into Deep Sleep asap. No dwindling in other sleep stages.
If deprived for longer times they get delirious. Mad. Dead.

I think you are deprived of sufficient Deep Sleep. Especially maintaining this nREM sleep stage seems to be the problem, it would be the first thing I'd investigate further.
Unfortunately I know not enough of the mechanics of this stage to give you any insight into why or how.

I know a bit about REM stage, I follow dr. Mallick, and I know for going into and maintaining REM neurotransmitters in just the right mix are everything. I am curing my own botched up mix and insomnia, caused by a DNA mutation (the MAO A you see in my signature)
So I think there's may be something going on with your neurotransmitter mix that prevent maintained Deep Sleep. From your story I understand that falling asleep is not a problem.

the one advice I can give: preserve your energy, you ain't got much of it. Just like most of us.

The biggest energy slurper in you day is digestion so I would urge you to spend as little energy on digesting your food as possible. No raw foods, no fibers, no veggies unless thorougly cooked. Also nothing that upsets the nervous system of most people. Even if tests show your system doesn't flail in the presence of gluten, sugars, additives, alcohol and milk, I would avoid them nonetheless. As a matter of fact I do so myself and it has brought my daily energy up.
This leaves foods like: fat juicy chicken wings and legs -with skin!, egg yokes, chicken soup, coconut fat, rice, pears, whipped cream (ok, it's milk but oh so good), dark chocolate, beef with as much fat as possible, fish, any stock, chips, fries. You see that you won't go hungry and you won't feel miserable "on a diet". Just eat them in small portions.

Other energy slurpers are: showering, cooking, choosing what to wear, dealing with annoying people, noise, worry. You can cut down on all of these. I'm sure you already do.
 
Messages
58
Are there any updates--because this sounds exactly like me. :(

I did get a tiny bit of help from L-Glycine. It cured my fibro in three nights of taking it (was taking it for sleep) and it gave me dreams for the first time in years. I've tried all herbs, theonine, melatonin, etc. Everything. I've been on klonopin for many years but now all of a sudden it's making me sick and constipated. I'm in a panic because nothing else works and any prescription for sleeping makes me sick.

I've tried the phos.serine--no help--but maybe I didn't take a high enough dose. NAC seemed to have some effect but it would put me to sleep at odd times, like 5 at night all of a sudden, just knock me out. So I switched to NAC Sustain which does nothing, I don't think.
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
Have you researched clock genes and their effect on the circadian rhythm?

Disrupted clock genes will dysregulate every system in your body, including the endocrine system.

There are also interesting studies on blind people and reversed circadian rhythm so probably something to do with the SCN as well. Melatonin is typically helpful though in those cases.

I wonder if you've had any genetic and/or brain imaging studies?

It sounds like they got it somewhat right with delayed sleep phase syndrome but it is notoriously difficult to treat at this time.
 
Messages
58
Have you researched clock genes and their effect on the circadian rhythm?

Disrupted clock genes will dysregulate every system in your body, including the endocrine system.

There are also interesting studies on blind people and reversed circadian rhythm so probably something to do with the SCN as well. Melatonin is typically helpful though in those cases.

I wonder if you've had any genetic and/or brain imaging studies?

It sounds like they got it somewhat right with delayed sleep phase syndrome but it is notoriously difficult to treat at this time.

Interesting. I did look up clock genes after I read this and it's depressing to think that maybe some of us were born this way. In my particular case, maybe I wasn't born this way (I hope not) and maybe I gradually slid into the night owl habit. It's made worse by the inability to sleep. So I could go to bed at 8,9,10,11:00--doesn't matter because I will not sleep. If I could sleep in the first place, I might be able to establish a schedule for sleep. Will try NAC again tonight--it makes me sleep but at odd, unexpected times--like suddenly in the middle of the day, just makes me have to lie down and sleep. The NAC Sustain doesn't seem to do much but it was supposed to spread the NAC around rather than getting that knocked out effect all at once. Thank you for your help!