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Why do we feel better at night?

Prefect

Senior Member
Messages
307
Location
Canada
I see so many people on this board, including myself, experience this. I almost feel normal at night.

Surely, if the reason for this phenomenon was investigated maybe we could come closer to finding an answer to this syndrome?

When I think of all the times I had an infectious disease, I in fact feel the worst at night time, even with the common cold, I dread the way I begin to feel when night time hits.

But this disease; it's almost the opposite. Makes me wonder if an infection is really behind it at all.

I've also spoken to many people with mood disorders as well who've said they feel better at night. The conditions must share something in common in terms of the pathological process.
 

NotThisGuy

Senior Member
Messages
312
Interesting... do pathogenes have a circadian rhythm? I somewhat doubt it.
I feel also way better at night and when I'm driving a car. Allthough long drive cars make me worse.

My explanation was always that it boosts the HPA and/or adrenals.
Lots of "adrenal experts" say past 22 pm we run on our adrenals. So maybe its that.
 

Thinktank

Senior Member
Messages
1,640
Location
Europe
I'm a morning person since battling this disease. I can do things in the morning, still brain fogged but ok to do some things. Around 14:00 i start to feel worse and at night i'm just useless with thick brain fog, feeling like hell.
 

Fogbuster

Senior Member
Messages
269
Its a very interesting symptom which definitely needs to be looked into. It's like things just go back into kilter... Only thing I know of which does something like this is Bipolar, but I'm pretty certain I don't have that.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
There is a few reasons why some may be feeling better at night

1/ if at night you are laying about more (laying on sofa or bed doing things), this can help quite a lot if you have POTS with the ME. (so consider you may have POTS if you are better at night when laying more)
2/ one can feel more awake/less tired at night if ones circadan rhythm is reversed
3/ I know one of the hormone how it cycles (I forget now which) can be also the cause of someone feeling better at night.
 

dangermouse

Senior Member
Messages
430
@taniaaust1 now that's an interesting point re: hormones. I'd be very interested to know more about that as I'm sure my hormones are making life much worse for me currently.
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,931
I'm a morning person since battling this disease. I can do things in the morning, still brain fogged but ok to do some things. Around 14:00 i start to feel worse and at night i'm just useless with thick brain fog, feeling like hell.

14h00 is also the time I start to be worse! Which means 90 mn after the food intake, which is the postprandial blood lactates peak...
 

Mij

Messages
2,353
The difference between morning and late afternoon early evenings is quite drastic for me. Cant' climb stairs (feel out of breath and shaky) in the mornings and can't walk for more than a few blocks ---------> 3pm, but in the evenings I can go power walking and climb stairs on 'good' days.
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,931
Very interesting thread!
It may be that subgroup with problem of lactates accumulation are getting worse and worse during the day, and subgroup that improve in the evening may not have the lactate issue...it would be interesting to do a lactates test to explore this differences (post exercise blood lactates 5 mn and 30 mn, and postprandial lactates)
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
Hope this is not too much off topic. I once read that some people are wired to be night people as back in the caveman/cavewomen days someone needed to be awake to protect those who were sleeping at night from predators.

I have no idea if this is really true.

I have always been a night person before and after getting this illness.

Btw, you're welcome!
 

ukxmrv

Senior Member
Messages
4,413
Location
London
My daily rhythm is to feel better as the day goes on. Assumed cortisol as it corresponds with the saliva test I had plus the bloods / short synacten.

Dr Ramsey who wrote about some of the early ME patients described the daily fluctuations. He said it was different than TATT (but maybe that just applies to people living within this 'best' rhythem)

In an ideal world yes, this would be investigated but like everything else about this disease we just haven't had the funding for even the basics.

I hate the mornings. It's as if a huge switch is reset between 4 and 7am