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Insomnia after PEM crash?

Andielyn

Senior Member
Messages
132
@SOC Thanks! That is good news about the potassium gluconate powder. I am more worried for my daughter needing a potassium supplement in the near future as she's now on a diuretic as needed, notorious for leaching potassium from the body. She would not be able to swallow the K-Dur for sure (no rhyme intended :rolleyes:) Even the thought of potassium supplementation brings back horrid memories! Hope you have a good weekend, all. ~Andielyn
 

jimells

Senior Member
Messages
2,009
Location
northern Maine
Wasn't sure if links to vendors/products were allowed so I didn't include, but here's the link to LyteShow on Amazon. I'd be interested in hearing what you more experienced folks think of this based on its label. Obviously I haven't tried it yet.

Blatant sales pitches tend to get a chilly reception. Other than that, we very much depend on the experiences of fellow patients.
 

jimells

Senior Member
Messages
2,009
Location
northern Maine
I'm currently taking a magnesium supplement. Curious, what is your source of potassium in supplement form? It beckons me back to the day my daughter had to be supplemented with K-Phos (potassium phosphate) and it was NASTY tasting, I am thinking it wasn't available in any form but a powder to be mixed with liquid.

I drink "sea water" - 1 liter of water, 1/2 teaspoon of table salt, 1/2 teaspoon of "No Salt" brand salt substitute (potassium chloride), and a bit of lemon juice. This avoids stomach injury from potassium pills. I always drink some before getting out of bed in the morning.
 

Andielyn

Senior Member
Messages
132
Hi jimells. I wasn't aware of that with potassium pills. As I'm trying to heal my gut at the moment I'm thinking maybe I should try your patent sea water brew. Thanks for the tip.

FWIW I quit consuming any kind of artificial sweeteners... research shows a strong link between AS and gut injury. Products sneak them in things you'd never think, it to mention the obvious. I like the sea water brew idea too!
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
Hi jimells. I wasn't aware of that with potassium pills. As I'm trying to heal my gut at the moment I'm thinking maybe I should try your patent sea water brew. Thanks for the tip.
You might want to think about trying other powder forms of the minerals you want. For example, some people don't tolerate the chloride forms, or the amount of extra chloride you get when you use only table salt (sodium chloride) and No Salt (mostly potassium chloride).

Also, table salt and No Salt alone don't give you the magnesium and other electrolyte minerals that other better-balanced electrolyte mixes have. It might be wise to consider adding calcium and magnesium, and maybe others, as well.

I hear coconut water has a good balance of electrolytes, but I have no personal knowledge since I'm not very fond of coconut and therefore haven't looked into it.
 

sarah darwins

Senior Member
Messages
2,508
Location
Cornwall, UK
I hear coconut water has a good balance of electrolytes, but I have no personal knowledge since I'm not very fond of coconut and therefore haven't looked into it.
Thanks, SOC. I wondered why I keep seeing coconut water in health food shops. I did buy a can of organic coconut water and thought it tasted pretty awful, even though I like coconut. May take another look at that and flavour it with something innocuous.
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
I get bad insomnia after a big day and crash the next in a stunned daze.

I have also noticed bad insomnia/sleep when sinuses are playing up which i think is from head and facial pain. Usually wake up earlier than normal with a bad headache but it takes awhile to roll out of bed due to exhaustion . I think lying down all night doesn't allow sinuses to drain properly, causing congestion and pain.

I remember early on in cfs days, i noticed a cycle where i would have painful glands in my neck, general aches and pains all the time for several days and at night trying to sleep was really hard due to bad pains in my lower legs , almost like having shin splints.

This would last several days. I would then go into a coma type sleep for 3 to 4 days where i would only get up to shower, toilet and eat then back to bed . I actually slept really well and had no pain during this period and sort of liked it as it was a respite from the insomnia and pain but i would feel guilty as i was doing nothing and not being the husband and father i wanted to be .

I would then slowly recover to 90 to 95% which would last several weeks and then the cycle would repeat, probably viruses continually reactivating. This happened for a couple of years .

Its weird but we can judge certain things by our sleep. I wish they would study this aspect more in mecfs. Also interesting to see if fixing sleep back to normal ie going through the right sleep stages every night and the right quantity, could reverse many cfs symptoms and functionality . Something current meds dont fully address but better than nothing .
 

Andielyn

Senior Member
Messages
132
May be just me, but the one thing that does help a bit for me is taking in plenty of electrolytes when I'm in, or coming out of, a crash. I keep a bottle of electrolyte concentrate around and during/after crashes I drink a few glass of water+concentrate during the day. I seem to get far less of those 'twired' insomnia problems then.

@sarah darwins I bought electrolyte concentrate straight away for my next crash--which just happened--and then totally forgot about what you said/why I bought it. Yesterday was my first day post-crash and I could not sleep for the life of me, and threw enough sleep aids at me to put down an elephant. All the while the electrolyte mix set unopened in my cupboard. Can we say brain fog???? :bang-head:
 

sarah darwins

Senior Member
Messages
2,508
Location
Cornwall, UK
@sarah darwins I bought electrolyte concentrate straight away for my next crash--which just happened--and then totally forgot about what you said/why I bought it. Yesterday was my first day post-crash and I could not sleep for the life of me, and threw enough sleep aids at me to put down an elephant. All the while the electrolyte mix set unopened in my cupboard. Can we say brain fog???? :bang-head:
Oh, too funny! Yeah, the thing about these supplements is they work a bit better inside your body. At least, that's what I find ... ;-)

Next time!
 
Messages
84
I have gone through this scores of times. Whenever I am in a crash, I sleep...well, as well as I ever sleep. When I first start to recover from the crash, I will lay awake all night, sometimes for a couple of nights, before I get back to "normal". Obviously brain chemistry, but never figured anything to do about it but wait it out.

I experience the exact same thing when I crash. It's horrible because it completely fucks up ones nocturnal clock.