Fantastic Sleep

I slept amazing last night, and woke up refreshed and peaceful. That hasn't always been the case. Let me explain to you what I've been going through and how I got out of a bad cycle, as it likely pertains to you as well. And even though I'm a medical doctor, this isn't medical advice. It is me sharing a story of my own personal experience to see if it resonates with you, and if you can make similar changes to get yourself sleeping like a baby again.

A few months ago I started waking up at 3 am with trouble falling back to sleep. It's frustrating, but I know that worrying about it doesn't help the situation, so I just gave it time. I tried lying in bed until I eventually fell back to sleep, which was usually about 15 minutes before my alarm went off. Frustrated. Then when that didn't really make any progress, I tried just getting up at 3 am when I woke up and getting started on my day. I really hated that and felt my body starting to wear down. I needed something different. I'm not one to take sleeping pills or melatonin. I know neither of those is the root cause, and are just temporary fixes that don't make any meaningful progress. So I looked deeper. When I woke up, it was almost always after a stressful dream. I would wake up shaky or wired feeling. It wasn't every single time, so it took me a while to see the pattern. Once I noticed that it was always after a bad dream, and that I woke feeling shaky, I questioned my overnight glucose levels. I was, back then, eating a very early dinner to allow the food to fully digest before bed, with no bedtime snack. This also created an intermittent fasting window, which I thought was healthful. But waking up shaky was a clue that my body was going too low in sugar. So I moved my dinner time back a little and started having a light snack before bed. To my surprise, it didn't help. Not at all. I was still waking up at 3 am like clockwork. So I thought about it more, and realized that it was my cortisol spiking that led to the low sugar. My theory was that it was a cortisol spike. So I ordered a cortisol test and ran it. Because by this point it had been 2 months and I needed something to change. Sure enough, the cortisol test showed a huge spike at 3 am and then normal levels throughout the rest of the day. So here it was, I was waking up at 3 am from stress. It's funny how you can be blind to what's going on until enough time has passed and hindsight can kick in.

Around the time my early morning wakings started, I had a significant personal stressor kick up a notch. This is a chronic stressor for me for decades, a slow burn of drama and instability that always lives rent free in my head. In case you're wondering, yes it is that toxic family member who isn't doing well themselves, and seems to want to drag you down with them. And becasue it's family, I haven't put the firm boundaries down that were really needed. So the same time my wakings started, I could see looking back that the wakings correlated with this relationship's downward spiral. I did my best to set new boundaries, with respect and love. It didn't work. The drain on my energy continued, as did the early wakings.

Then about 2 more months down the road, I was really struggling with energy and focus. Something was really off. I eat great, go to bed, exercise regularly, and live a stable and routine-loving life. Why was I feeling worse and worse? So I ran more tests to see what was going on, and this time my cortisol was flatline. Like no spikes, no normal readings, all low. This is the pattern of adrenal fatigue, a dark place where nobody wants to be becasue it takes months and months to crawl out of the hole of adrenal fatigue. The answer was clear. My problem wasn't my lifestyle, it was my relationships and the things I was allowing. So I went full no contact. This is hard to do, because the person who is draining you has somehow convinced you that you are responsible for their choices, you need to help them in order to be a good person yourself, etc. But none of that is actually true. You are not responsible for anyone else's choices or consequences, and you don't need to help someone who is spiraling to qualify as being a good person. I felt immediate relief. That's a clue you are on the right track, when you do something hard and your spirit rewards you.

Now that the drain has been plugged, I needed to start a recovery protocol. My favorite book that gives painstaking detail on how to recover from adrenal fatigue is written by J. Wilson and is appropriately titled Adrenal Fatigue. It's easy to read, has silly cartoons that make serious points, and gives the full recipe for recovery. If you have adrenal fatigue, then this book is the roadmap out. Do every suggestion and don't skip any, as the things you are resisting doing are likel what got you into fatigue in the first place. And I'm a medical doctor, as mentioned, and I always believe you need to make the lifestyle changes first, but we can support the process with medicines. This one is not a prescription, which is nice. I started on Metagenics Adreset, which is a blend of the most useful herbs for adrenal recovery. You can buy this yourself on the Metagenics website, and if you put in my code GTOBALINA you will get a little discount. This is not an ad for Adreset, but this is what I put all my patients on when they have adrenal imalances and it has worked for us for over a decade. I'm just sharing my secret here with you, for free. And the combination of removing the draining relationship, reviewing my lifestyle habits with those suggested in the book and making the tweaks needed, and adding the adrenal support supplements has made a world of difference.

And now I sleep like a baby again. This result alone lets me know I'm on the right track. This result alone is worth gold. I struggled with sleep and the dreaded 3 am wake up for months, but I know peole out there are struggling for YEARS. This is becasue they don't know the root cause, and haven't been willing to go scorched earth and remove whatever it is that's causing it. If you want, you can try a continuous glucose monitor and see if you are having sugar instability that is the source of your wakings. I didn't need a monitor becasue I was able to deduce a plan that didn't involve cost. I just changed my eating pattern. I did test a 4 point cortisol twice. This is a test that is not covered by insurance, and your usual primary care may not agree to order it. But with enough gumption, you can find a way to order the test yourself or find a functional medicine practice that will order these non-insurance but super useful tests. I like to run a test when I'm considering adding a supplement or medicine. If not, I will always try lifestyle changes first. Maybe you already know what the problem is, you are clear that you are struggling with your work, or your spouse, or whatever. You can certainly test your cortisol levels to see where you stand, or your could just do what needs to be done and make the change. If you feel relief, then you're on the right track and just keep going. You deserve to sleep like a baby.