Chest "zaps" At Night. Cortisol? Adrenaline?

[Lecarpetron]

For most of my 9 years of insomnia, I felt wide awake at night and generally fell asleep between 2-3 am. Lately, I feel tired by 10 pm - but as soon as I start to fall asleep, I experience something like a minor electric shock radiating from my chest. This happens many times during the night as I start to drift off, and is accompanied by a general feeling of chest tightness, cold hands/feet, peeing constantly, and heavy breathing.

I remember getting brain "zaps" when coming off of high doses of Ambien many years ago, but this is different because it radiates from the chest. It keeps me awake until 5 am, and is severely affecting my life. It happens for a few days straight, then goes away for a few days. Once the first zap occurs, it's game over. No amount of sugar, salt, aspirin, benadryl, epsom bath, T3, or progest-E can pull me back before 5 am. Those things actually increase the distress because they make me more exhausted, yet I still can't lose consciousness.

Seems like some sort of imbalance, but what? Is this cortisol, adrenaline, estrogen, etc? Any ideas? I'm so puzzled because everything else is going in the right direction for me. Temps and pulse are up, things I would expect to be last in line like my hair and skin have improved dramatically....yet I essentially haven't had deep, relaxing sleep in a freaking decade. I don't know how much longer I can go on living like this. It is hell.

 

[CrystalClear]

Hi Lecarpetron, I sympathise with you when I read your issues. I don't know much but it could help to list what you eat through the day perhaps? I get those "chest zaps" I think which are more noticeable for me through the day.

 

[Matt1951]

Try having one alcoholic drink around 8 pm. Some people do better with two periods of sleep, rather than one. Eventually you go to bed earlier, say 8pm. Whenever you wake, or if you never go to sleep, get up, say midnight. Stay up 2-3 hours, eat some food, and then go back to bed.

 

[Lecarpetron]

Thanks, both of you. Crystal, per cronometer I eat 2500 cal/day of Peaty including 4-6 c each of milk and OJ, raw oysters once a week, lots of fruit right now. I do have filler meals of regular food and am sure some PUFA sneaks in though I avoid fried food and salad dressings that appear to be made of oil. That is interesting, I never get the chest zaps during the day, even if I fall asleep during the day for a nap.

Matt I have been avoiding alcohol lately but I don't think it helped or hurt either way as I wasn't a big drinker to begin with. Maybe better to have a glass of wine here or there. Will try going to bed earlier...it does seem like once I miss falling asleep in a certain "window", say before 10:30, I will catch the second wind.

 

[Peata]

You mentioned having sugar, salt, etc. but do you mean eating these things in their pure form, or are you talking about a sugary snack, for example? Because if I get any zaps, over-stimulated thoughts, etc. I eat a small candy bar or few bites of one. Something like Milky Way Simply Caramel (fun size). Then my body can calm down and sleep within 10 - 20 min.

 

[Peata]

If the food aspect is covered, then you could try theanine. Also, I find it helpful to listen to ambient sounds. You can find a lot on youtube. I put on headphones and listen til I get drowsy. Everything from gentle storms to spaceship noise. lol.

 

[Simonsays]

I suffered from similar symptoms. Is it just as you drift off to sleep, its like your body is trying to keep you awake with an electric shock. Do you feel like your body jumps as well off the bed . I got it during the day as well, with shocks shooting down my arms. I was suffering severe stress at the time.
My entire body felt like it was on hyper alert .

I think i read it was to do with parasympathetic nervous system, goes into overload , it eventually went away with lowering of stress.

 

[Lecarpetron]

@Peata yes, I did mean sugary/salty snacks, stuff like pretzels or salted OJ or a little vanilla Haagen Daz. Theanine - haven't heard of that one, thanks.

@Simonsays Sorry to hear you have felt the zaps too, but thanks for sharing. Yes, like getting electrocuted awake every time you're almost asleep with the feeling of jumping off the bed. Glad to hear it went away.

 

[whodathunkit]

How long have you been Peating? IMO it can take a long while, several years, even, for some people to fix themselves. A lot of it probably depends on the state of your liver (ability to clear toxins) and how much PUFA and toxins you're carrying around in general. More toxins and more PUFA means a longer time to heal.

I used to get these kind of zaps, too. I agree they are extremely distressing, and a source of stress in themselves aside from whatever stress might cause them to happen. It's been a long time since I've had one, though...probably over a year. But I've been working on my health (non-Peat style up until a month or two ago, although with emphasis on non-PUFA foods and detox) for several years now. Long road still ahead. If you've only been doing this for months instead of years, it could be you're just expecting too much too soon, for your particular state of health. But if you can keep from getting too discouraged in the short term, it *will* get better in the long term. :)

 

[Tarmander]

What's your EMF exposure like? I recently used a meter to change where I sleep because of some smart meters they installed near my apt. It has made a large difference in my sleep quality. I was getting weird energy rushes, ringing in my ears, restlessness.

 

[InChristAlone]

Yes EMF's can be off the charts in certain places in your home. I wish I had a meter, but I'm keeping things unplugged around my bedroom and put a faraday cage on my smart meter.

 

[Lecarpetron]

Been Peating <6 months, so I guess I shouldn't experience miracles yet.

I live in an apartment building with Wifi, but I have been sleeping on a grounded earthing mat for about a year. I expected the earthing mat to be *the* answer when I first bought it, but so far...meh.

I really hope the zaps depart soon and leave me to wallow in the lower-grade misery of Regular Insomnia.

 

[Tarmander]

To be honest, most of the stuff that "grounds" or "lowers EMF" is a bunch of bull. It might help a little, but its just marketing to play on your fears. That grounding mat is probably putting out some kind of electromagnetic frequency that is super low, and similar to earth's frequency. That can be great, but it doesn't mean that the higher frequency radio waves being put off by the Wifi/smart meter/whatever are not going to affect you. I once bought a magnet to put at the foot of my bed for a similar purpose as yourself. I slept better for the first few nights, and then it actually started making things worse. I would try ditching this mat if its one that you have to plug in or has a battery. Even if it is just passive, you still should experiment. That might be your problem right there. The sad truth, from my experience, is that the only real solution is avoidance.

 

[Pet Peeve]

I always used to get "electrical zaps" up and down my spine whenever I took l-tryptophan caps/pills before. I never had these zaps any other times. Felt a little like touching an electric cattle fence. Have you done anything to bring serotonin down? Have you tried cyproheptadine for sleep?

 

[Lecarpetron]

I try to minimize serotonin by eating little fiber and speeding digestion (niacinamide has been great for this for me).

My cyproheptadine order has now been in the inept hands of the United States Postal Service for six weeks. I wish All Day Chem could use FedEx or UPS.

 

[Mad]

@Lecarpetron it's been almost a year since you posted about your chest zaps and insomnia. Do you mind to share an update - any improvement, ideas what helps, thoughts on why it was occurring?

What you described is exactly what I'm experiencing. I never experienced anything like this until is started Peating and in fact had been a pretty great sleeper before. Now for over a month I've barely gotten sleep due to the chest zaps that "shock" me awake every time I drift off multiple times a night. Looking for some relief and some SLEEP

 

[Lecarpetron]

I actually just posted a new thread today crying for help again about insomnia. I did get a little better for a while after posting this last year thanks to cypro. I went 6 months or so with not great but okay (average 5-6 hours) sleep without the zaps. But in the last few weeks, things have gotten terrible again and the zaps are back. And similar to what I originally wrote, once I get the first zap, it is game over until 5am.

All of this started when I got my first full time job. I started living like my coworkers (eating vegetarian and taking up distance running) and when insomnia hit, every doctor I saw encouraged me to keep eating "healthy" and running to "tire yourself out" rather than recognizing that this behavior CAUSED the insomnia. I haven't run a step in nearly 3 years though and I'm still not back to normal sleep-wise. How long will I have to pay for this mistake???

 

[Mad]

Geez I'm sorry that really sucks.
I don't get how this hasn't been figured out yet... It seems that this "zapping" problem has happened to multiple people on this forum. I read about it first on charlie's Hard Heart Pounding thread.
I was really believing it was an adrenaline issue and I just needed more sugar before bed but I have been eating so much sugar right before bed and getting nowhere with that.
I've wondered if I'm just in my head and could be creating this stress myself? Like I'm expecting to be woken out of sleep as I drift off so I go to bed with extreme anxiety? Have you ever thought this was a possibility?
Are you taking thyroid right now/ how are your other symptoms?

 

[Lecarpetron]

I've fought with many a "renowned" sleep doctor about whether psychological stress directly caused the insomnia. I truly don't think so, and at the core, physiological stress is the problem. For starters, I'm usually a pretty good sport about losing sleep. Occasionally I get frustrated and snap (snap typically followed by a Help Me post on this forum . But in my former life as a good sleeper, all the psychological stress in the world couldn't prevent me from conking out promptly at 11pm.

That said, I do see a positive feedback loop where psychological stress feeds the physiological.

I think the zapping is more serotonin than adrenaline. At least for me, it's not a blood sugar thing b/c I never have trouble with waking up early. Just with falling asleep in the first place.

Yep, taking T3/T4 mix (12/24 mg). Also high dose progesterone, cypro, Estroban, niacinamide, and Mg. My other original issues (digestion, cystic acne) have improved dramatically.

 

[Mad]

I've fought with many a "renowned" sleep doctor about whether psychological stress directly caused the insomnia. I truly don't think so, and at the core, physiological stress is the problem. For starters, I'm usually a pretty good sport about losing sleep. Occasionally I get frustrated and snap (snap typically followed by a Help Me post on this forum . But in my former life as a good sleeper, all the psychological stress in the world couldn't prevent me from conking out promptly at 11pm.

That said, I do see a positive feedback loop where psychological stress feeds the physiological.

I think the zapping is more serotonin than adrenaline. At least for me, it's not a blood sugar thing b/c I never have trouble with waking up early. Just with falling asleep in the first place.

Yep, taking T3/T4 mix (12/24 mg). Also high dose progesterone, cypro, Estroban, niacinamide, and Mg. My other original issues (digestion, cystic acne) have improved dramatically.

We sound pretty similar. I was also a long distance runner/under fueler for years and I believe that is what caused my hypothyroidism. My acne has also improved a lot. I'm not on a thyroid supplement yet but will probably be getting one this week so I am interested to see how that affects the zaps.
I was also doing a high does of progesterone for a couple of months but recently quit and plan to only do the maintenance dose of Progest E because I thought that might be causing the sleep issues. Have you ever suspected this?
What makes you think your issue is with serotonin?

It keeps me awake until 5 am, and is severely affecting my life. It happens for a few days straight, then goes away for a few days. Once the first zap occurs, it's game over. No amount of sugar, salt, aspirin, benadryl, epsom bath, T3, or progest-E can pull me back before 5 am. Those things actually increase the distress because they make me more exhausted, yet I still can't lose consciousness.

This is exactly what I'm experiencing. Couple days of good, then several days bad. For some reason my weekends are now getting worse than weekdays which is terrible because even though I get to sleep in, I'll fall asleep at 3am and wake up at 12pm and feel like my day is gone!
Do your zaps include an increased heart rate? Mine goes crazy high with every zap, which is why it "feels like" an adrenaline rush. It's like my body is feeling me drifting off and saying NO don't go to sleep.