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Waking every hour for weeks...

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
@Mary ...I agree that sleeping pills do not fix the problem which I am sure why I never feel refreshed on them even though many night I sleep very soundly. My husband will say that I slept deeply all night but then I will say but I feel terrible.

I have never had a doctor who understands any of the problems we have with sleep till now (hopefully). I have only taken prescriptions (Ambien..Lunesta..Klonopin...etc.)

I am excited for tomorrow and hopefully on the way to a better and refreshing sleep.

@Learner1 ...I am going to ask about testing tomorrow. I have had the NutEval test years ago. She also mention checking my hormone levels. She seems to have a plan for all her patients and starts from the beginning. I already had Leaky Gut and MCS test ....this will be my third visit and sleep will be my number one topic. Thanks for your info as well.
 
Messages
16
don't benzos cause you to not get REM sleep? If not than that may explain why they aren't perfect.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
@Mary
@Sundancer @Learner1

I had appointment with functional medicine doctor on Friday. She has me doing a saliva panel for cortisol and all hormones which I will do tomorrow. Also a stool test for yeast and other things which I don’t have the kit for yet.

She has changed my Thyroid (Levothyroxine) to NP Thyroid at my request and she agreed and after the saliva test I will give progesterone cream a try for ten days.

She is really trying to get me feeling and sleeping better and I can’t ask for anything more...I think I have found the absolute right doctor for me and she has given me hope again.

I upped my Lunesta to 3mg and am sleeping almost through the night. She told me she thinks I feel so unrefreshed in the morning is due to low cortisol and not the sleeping pills...since I dream and am sleeping soundly.

She also felt I am too bad off at the moment for any kind of herbal sleep aids to work. She said when we can find out what the problems are and work on those then in the future we can give them a try but for now I need to be sleeping.

I will post the findings in a few weeks when I see her again. Thanks for everyone’s support and messages...much appreciated!
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
@soxfan - I'm so glad to hear all that! :thumbsup: A good doctor is like gold, very rare and oh so valuable -

I take NP thyroid too, and also progesterone cream.

I'm with @Learner1, get your amino acids checked too. It is amazing how powerful they can be. If you can get the Nutreval testing done as well (it's pricey I know, though I think they have programs which can help if insurance doesn't cover it), it can provide you with some very important information too.

Do keep us posted :hug:
 

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
@Mary ...Next appointment I will ask her about the Nutreval testing...I think our insurance will cover it.

Does the progesterone cream make any difference for you. The doctor told me I would know right away if it was going to help...

I will keep you posted!
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
Does the progesterone cream make any difference for you. The doctor told me I would know right away if it was going to help...

I've been using it for probably 15 years so I don't really know if it's making a difference but I don't want to stop it! The doctor who originally prescribed it died a few years ago and I don't have a good doctor right now who could advise me on this. I need to make a serious effort to find one. It'll probably mean a 2 hour drive but I'd only see them for ME/CFS stuff. Everything else I get locally.

Anyways, I do get my hormones checked and they look okay so I'm going with that. ;)
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,679
Location
Alberta
@soxfan I've been reading a book (Sync, by Steven Strogatz) about coupled oscillators. One example is our sleep/wake cycles. The basic circadian rhythm is our body's temperature cycle, peaking around 6PM, lowest around 6AM for normal people following a normal day cycle (sleeping 11PM-7AM). There's a peak period for falling asleep around 6AM, with a second peak after noon. There are also two 'forbidden zones' during the day when it is much harder to fall asleep; one in the morning after we wake up, and also in the evening, before midnight. The hypothalamus seems to be the source of the timing. I'm not sure how that helps in finding a solution for you, but it's something to think about.
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
How are you? edit: ah, I found your other thread. Sorry, the title does not bode well :(

@Mary
Does the progesterone cream make any difference for you. The doctor told me I would know right away if it was going to help...
She may mean that when you rub it on the insides of your arms you feel a calm immediately. You will sigh.
It's what I experience once a week and I've been taking NPC daily for 8 years now. Still too low at times, I guess.

About GABA not going through the Blood Brain Barrier: take it anyway. Your gut is your second brain and can't read the research :D Perhaps there's a treshold involved? when the gut has enough GABA of its own GABA precursors are free for the brain to make some too.

full amino acids are found in egg yokes, bone broth and body builders protein powders (I take Pepto Pro unflavoured, it's awful, like old cheese tea)
 

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
@WoolPippi ...The doctor had given me progesterone pills 100 mg. I took one the other night and woke up feeling exhausted...it was horrible and all I could do is sit in a chair or lay down all day. She told me it could have been too high of a dose but it didn’t do a thing for me.

I am seeing a doctor and right now she doesn’t want me experimenting with supplements as I have done saliva and stool testing which the results aren’t back yet.

I see her on Monday and hopefully at least the cortisol/hormone panel saliva will be back and then make some decisions ...
 
Messages
41
I'm sorry for such a strange question, but how does vacations affect your sleep ?

I myself had about 10 years of bad luck with sleep since my teenage years, however,
I always have a good rest at nights when I am traveling.
 

Sundancer

Senior Member
Messages
569
Location
Holland
I can't go on vacation anymore. But earlier I found that in general the first day was bad and after that it was OK. Except for camping holidays , I then always slept very well.

( sometimes I think I should put up my small traveler-stent in the backyard, and see how I would sleep then.
I have a tiny patch of grass and the travelers-tent fits, very snug, but it fits
 

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
I do good on vacations. I still have to stick to my everyday schedule which includes a rest period around 3:00 . I make sure we are back at the condo/hotel by then. If I don’t take care of myself I will crash and burn.

I also usually have to take extra sleep meds during vacations but manage to wake up feeling much better than I do at home...go figure.