Waking Up In The Night

Jing

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Messages
2,559
Everynight I wake up a few times and find it hard to get back to sleep, I try to eat more but it doesn't help, at night time I crave orange juice which may help if I could drink lots but then I will keep needing a wee In the night I already wake up once or twice everynight needing to pee even though I don't drink anything for a few hours before bed .. how can I drink orange juice before bed but not need to pee in the night?
 

raypeatclips

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2016
Messages
2,555
What food do you recommend? I already have a big bowl of potatoe an hour or two before bed.

Potatoes alone? Not much protein and fat there, I try to get all 3 macros into each meal. I have wondered before if my night time wakings were a chronic protein deficiency, as they seemed to go away once I started eating a lot more protein than I used to. I like having potatoes with some sort of fat source, cheese, butter, ice cream, and some meat like a fatty steak or fatty lamb to make a good solid meal.
 
OP
J

Jing

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Messages
2,559
Potatoes alone? Not much protein and fat there, I try to get all 3 macros into each meal. I have wondered before if my night time wakings were a chronic protein deficiency, as they seemed to go away once I started eating a lot more protein than I used to. I like having potatoes with some sort of fat source, cheese, butter, ice cream, and some meat like a fatty steak or fatty lamb to make a good solid meal.
Most of the time with butter, sometimes with gravy.
 

somuch4food

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
1,281
Since seeing this:
@Wilfrid shared this link. It may give you some useful ideas:

One Cure for All Diseases - One Cure for All Diseases

I have started eating half a teaspoon of table sugar every hour or so. During the day, it seems to help keep stress hormones in check. But, what I found out, is that I get really sleepy after eating the sugar at night. I've read a bunch of stuff on that website and it suggested half a teaspoon every 30 minutes to 1 hour from 6pm till bedtime to curb insomnia. I am still waking up at night but I feel that my sleep is deeper.

The sugar/water protocol seems like quackery to me, but his explanation is sound and it is so easy to implement that I had to try. I am currently on Day 2 of the dehydration phase. Had a bowel movement not long after breakfast this morning which is a rare occurence for me.
 

tankasnowgod

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
8,131
Everynight I wake up a few times and find it hard to get back to sleep, I try to eat more but it doesn't help, at night time I crave orange juice which may help if I could drink lots but then I will keep needing a wee In the night I already wake up once or twice everynight needing to pee even though I don't drink anything for a few hours before bed .. how can I drink orange juice before bed but not need to pee in the night?

I think I mention this on every sleep related thread now, but...... check out the Inclined Bed Therapy thread. I have seen great improvements in sleep and energy since starting this four months ago.
 

jitsmonkey

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Messages
729

@tankasnowgod
the pattern of disturbed sleep is difficult to break
especially if its happened too many nights in a row.
re-establishing restful sleep for a night or two can be the ONLY needed remedy.
Benadryl does that safely, easily and cheap.
Nothing wrong with using "medications" so please stop that "Do you find it normal to rely on medication to sleep?" for some people in some contexts, countries, socio-economics, etc... the answer might actually be yes.

Not suggesting the OP needs it but chronic benadryl use to induce restful sleep would be a better option than chronic insomnia. Obviously that's a silly choice to have to make but the point is there's zero issue with using medicine. The context makes all the difference that's Ray Peat 101.
 
Last edited:

jitsmonkey

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Messages
729
Everynight I wake up a few times and find it hard to get back to sleep, I try to eat more but it doesn't help, at night time I crave orange juice which may help if I could drink lots but then I will keep needing a wee In the night I already wake up once or twice everynight needing to pee even though I don't drink anything for a few hours before bed .. how can I drink orange juice before bed but not need to pee in the night?

It is also possible that you are eating too much too close to bed.
I would try (and have in the past) 8 oz of coke an hour before bed another 4 at bed. (No fat, no protein no starch)
rinse your mouth before you go to bed.

Don't think of this as "fixing insomnia" think of it as experiments and observe the data.
once you have the data then you'll fix your insomnia no problem.

truth is your insomnia is related to the rest of your day not just what you're doing before bed
so all the answers regarding eat more, eat less, eat different (including mine) are short sighted.
 

somuch4food

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
1,281
truth is your insomnia is related to the rest of your day not just what you're doing before bed

True, I had 2 great nights this summer following a birthday party for my child. It could have been a number of factors: eating all day long (veggies, chips [lots of PUFA :(], hamburgers and cake), being with people all day long, being outside on a sunny hot day for much of the afternoon, being more relaxed, etc. Still can't reproduce it.
 

raypeatclips

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2016
Messages
2,555
True, I had 2 great nights this summer following a birthday party for my child. It could have been a number of factors: eating all day long (veggies, chips [lots of PUFA :(], hamburgers and cake), being with people all day long, being outside on a sunny hot day for much of the afternoon, being more relaxed, etc. Still can't reproduce it.

What's your normal diet look like?
 

nad

Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2016
Messages
210
I think I mention this on every sleep related thread now, but...... check out the Inclined Bed Therapy thread. I have seen great improvements in sleep and energy since starting this four months ago.
Didn't help me at all.
 

Herbie

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Messages
2,192
As far as I understand, if adrenaline rises in the night, it will cause the need to urinate.

I would do some thinking about the liver.

If I get cold through the night, this will happen to me, especially if the lower back is exposed and chilling the kidneys.
 

somuch4food

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
1,281
What's your normal diet look like?

Fruits, starch and milk for breakfast.
Meat/cheese, starch and veggies for lunch and dinner.

Eating frequently was taxing my digestive system. I am experimenting with only 3 meals. So far, less bloating.

Focusing on food was making me become orthorexic, so I am trying to adapt my lifestyle instead. Food is only part of the problem after all.
 

jitsmonkey

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Messages
729
bloating can be a lot of things
most common is too much fiber and or too slow transit time.
Its likely not the amount or frequency as much as it is digestive efficiency
fiber hurts it, slow transit time speaks for itself.
a simple experiment might be limiting fiber/veg and or speeding transit time.
For many, one or both of these will improve the bloating issue without restricting
fuel and allowing eating as per desired/needed.
If you have more serious/complex digestive issues it'll still help
but you'll need a bigger effort and probably some other tools.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom