Insomnia And Sinusitis

Franz

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Nov 2, 2012
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84
I've been working on my health for some years and have made definite improvements. However, I still have some sleep issues (falling asleep very late, waking up often, lying awake during the night) and a chronic sinus infection. Both these issues have improved a lot in comparison with the past though they are still bothering me.

The problem is, I'm running out of time and pretty soon I will need a job since I'm finished with university. Then I won't be able to relax as much and sleep in as long as I need. I was hoping to have at least my insomnia under control by then because I can see my insomnia getting a lot worse with the added stress of a job and not being able to sleep in.

I was wondering if anyone here could give me some new idea's for what to experiment with next. Basically, what I need are things that are most likely to improve sleep and/or reduce inflammation.

What I do now is:
- I try to go to bed around 10pm.
- minimize blue light (f.lux, incandescent bulbs) in the evening
- grounding bedsheet
- Go walking/biking outside everyday
- do some body weight exercises now and then
- donate blood
- use halogen floodlights and a heatlamp during the day for red light
- eat in a sort of 180degreehealth way with some more peaty stuff added. (though I only eat salt moderately because I tend to get uncomfortably heavy, twitchy legs and based on my experience it has something to do with too much sodium to potassium)
- supplement with: 1000iu D (not in the summer), 2500iu A, 2mg K2, 400 iu E (only every other day), 200mg niacinimide, 200mg aspirin and about 500mg C.
(the niacinimide and aspirin I added recently, and I have noticed good improvements)
- I sometimes drink stuff with caffeine. Never that much, only a little feels good.

I tried gelatin but never really noticed much from it. Now I only use it when I need to eat lean muscle meat or feel like I haven't had enough protein that day.

I tried bag breathing now and then. however, I never developed the habit. I guess because I never noticed much of an improvement from it and my girlfriend doesn't like it.

I'm hesitant to try thyroid. I guess because it seems like another order of supplementation/medication that I'm not sure want to meddle with.

Any good idea's would be sincerely appreciated!
 

Mittir

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Feb 20, 2013
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It is not clear to me what is a 180degreehealth style eating.
That guy used to promote starch intake,claiming that he was sure
RP was wrong about fructose.
RP thinks endotoxin and gut irritation as major cause
of insomnia and sinusitis. Here is a post i made on enxotoxin.
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=3030
 

natedawggh

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Aug 24, 2013
Messages
649
Mittir said:
It is not clear to me what is a 180degreehealth style eating.
That guy used to promote starch intake,claiming that he was sure
RP was wrong about fructose.
RP thinks endotoxin and gut irritation as major cause
of insomnia and sinusitis. Here is a post i made on enxotoxin.
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=3030

I second Mittir's response. Also, I bet you're eating wheat, aren't you? I had terrible sinus infections about six times a year for years, until one day a nurse suggested I try giving up gluten, so I did. Two weeks later my sinuses opened and I have only had one sinus infection in the last seven years.
 

aquaman

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Joined
Aug 9, 2013
Messages
1,297
I have very similar issues to you.

What you're doing looks pretty good. How long have you done these and what results?

Try adding the orange blue-blocking glasses at 8pm for a few weeks.

An anti-histamine could help with opening up the airways at night?

Post your diet and timings of eating. Play around with eating your last meal earlier (like 6.30/7pm) and then having just a sugar/fat snack before bed like ice cream to keep blood sugar up.

Bag breathing doesn't have to be at night, you can do it 2-3 times a day any time, you train your brain to retain more CO2 at night.

RP also mentioned in the latest radio interview about Diamox - Acetazolamide He says "It’s well established as a cure for sleep Apnea, also used by skiers to prevent altitude sickness".

I'm going to try it out. I posted previously about sinusitis and sleep apnea, will be interesting to see whether it makes a difference.
 
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Franz

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Nov 2, 2012
Messages
84
natedawggh said:
Mittir said:
It is not clear to me what is a 180degreehealth style eating.
That guy used to promote starch intake,claiming that he was sure
RP was wrong about fructose.
RP thinks endotoxin and gut irritation as major cause
of insomnia and sinusitis. Here is a post i made on enxotoxin.
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=3030

I second Mittir's response. Also, I bet you're eating wheat, aren't you? I had terrible sinus infections about six times a year for years, until one day a nurse suggested I try giving up gluten, so I did. Two weeks later my sinuses opened and I have only had one sinus infection in the last seven years.

hmm well 180D style eating would be to eat intuitively, not fretting too much about eating perfectly because that only causes stress. Additionally Matt Stone recommends monitoring how often you have to pee and what color it has. He says eating/drinking too much fluids makes you pee a lot and makes your pee very clear (signs of a lowered metabolism according to him). His main criticism on people trying to incorporate Ray's ideas is that they consume too many fluids, diluting the bodily fluids, causing symptoms of a lowered metabolism.

Eating gluten free might be a good experiment, I don't eat much wheat anyway :). In the past I've gone paleo which I did gluten and dairy free, but I think it deserves another shot now that I'm eating and living a bit more sensible.

@ Mittir: regarding gut irritation and endotoxin: I often have "restless legs". RP says the following about it according to Danny Roddy's blog:
"I think it's caused by irritation and inflammation in the intestine, increasing serotonin. Starches and fibers support bacterial growth and can increase serotonin. Restless leg syndrome is another night-time reaction to bacterial overgrowth."

Perhaps my problems stem from gut issues. I already snack 1 or 2 raw carrots almost daily. But perhaps in addition to eating gluten free I could also try starch free and perhaps try cascara sagrada (that is also supposed to help with gut issues right?)
 
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Franz

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Nov 2, 2012
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84
@ aquaman:

I've experimented and changed/added things constantly in the last few years. However, I've gotten more consistent in the last year. I've generally made slow steady improvements in how I feel but I was hoping to speed the process up because of the reason I stated above.

At the moment I only use orange tinted sunglasses when I'm over for a weekly dungeons and dragons night (dont judge! :P ) at a friends place who uses a very bright fluorescent lamp. I can see if it helps at all with incandescent lighting.

I'll look a bit more into anti histamines. Don't know much about them yet.

I've been giving bag breathing another go the last two days.
I also have been breathing under my blankets (for about 5 minutes at a time) before falling asleep and during the night when I wake up (read about it on the forums). That actually seemed to have a calming effect.

Regarding diet and meal timing:

Timing:
Since I eat intuitively, I eat pretty diverse and inconsistent. I usually don't eat much or at all in the morning (if I eat something it's usually pretty light on the stomach and sweet); in the afternoon I usually have a descent meal again pretty sweet but usually with some more fat; in the early evening I have the biggest meal (partly because of social reasons since I rarely eat alone in evening and my girlfriend likes for us to cook a proper dinner) generally consistent of starch protein and fat; then in the late evening I usually snack a bit on sweet stuff or sausages/cheese.

Diet: my best guess is about 45% sugar (mostly from fruit juice, fresh fruit and dried fruit); 20% starch (potatoes, white rice, white bread); 20 % fat (coconut oil, butter, occasional olive oil, milk products, meat) and 15% protein (fair amount of dairy, the occasional egg and a bit of meat/fish almost daily)(can be higher with the occasional meat/fish heavy dinner)

PS. Are you posting your results with Diamox - Acetazolamide somewhere here on the forums?
 

Mittir

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Feb 20, 2013
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2,033
Franz said:
hmm well 180D style eating would be to eat intuitively, not fretting too much about eating perfectly because that only causes stress. Additionally Matt Stone recommends monitoring how often you have to pee and what color it has. He says eating/drinking too much fluids makes you pee a lot and makes your pee very clear (signs of a lowered metabolism according to him). His main criticism on people trying to incorporate Ray's ideas is that they consume too many fluids, diluting the bodily fluids, causing symptoms of a lowered metabolism.

RP does not recommend high fluid intake for hypothyroid people, especially with
low salt diet.The idea that excess fluid slows down metabolism is discussed in RP's article
Water: swelling, tension, pain, fatigue, aging
Here are few quotes from that article.

The amount of water a person needs is extremely variable, depending on things such as metabolic rate, activity, and the temperature and humidity of the air. Working hard in hot, dry weather, it's possible to drink more than two quarts per hour for more than eight hours, without forming any urine, because all of the water is lost by evaporation. But in very hot, humid weather, a person with a low metabolic rate can be endangered by the smallest amount of water (e.g., "Meteorological relations of eclampsia in Lagos, Nigeria," Agobe, et al., 1981).
When people force themselves to drink a certain amount of water every day, even when they don't feel thirsty, they are activating complex adaptive processes unnecessarily. Thirst is the best guide to the amount of fluid needed.

When extra water consumption is combined with a low salt diet--as physicians have so often recommended--a healthy person can adapt easily, but for a hypothyroid person it can have disastrous effects.
 
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Franz

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Still, people who try to follow his advice often drink a lot of milk, OJ and coffee. Together, perhaps even with some fresh watery fruit added like watermelon, that's a lot of fluid. Likely too much for people with a low metabolism.
 

aquaman

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Franz said:
Still, people who try to follow his advice often drink a lot of milk, OJ and coffee. Together, perhaps even with some fresh watery fruit added like watermelon, that's a lot of fluid. Likely too much for people with a low metabolism.

I agree that a lot of people interpret Peat and drink too many liquids which doesn't help with recovery from Hypothyroidism.
 

charlie

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Franz said:
Still, people who try to follow his advice often drink a lot of milk, OJ and coffee. Together, perhaps even with some fresh watery fruit added like watermelon, that's a lot of fluid. Likely too much for people with a low metabolism.
Making sure to get enough salt is crucial when hypothyroid.
 

jyb

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Franz said:
Still, people who try to follow his advice often drink a lot of milk, OJ and coffee. Together, perhaps even with some fresh watery fruit added like watermelon, that's a lot of fluid. Likely too much for people with a low metabolism.

It depends on whether you only "salt to taste" or you pound salt by the spoonfuls. As far as I'm aware, it's difficult to overdo salt - I think I only felt thirsty once or twice in a year on several spoons salt /day.
 
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Franz

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jyb said:
Franz said:
Still, people who try to follow his advice often drink a lot of milk, OJ and coffee. Together, perhaps even with some fresh watery fruit added like watermelon, that's a lot of fluid. Likely too much for people with a low metabolism.

It depends on whether you only "salt to taste" or you pound salt by the spoonfuls. As far as I'm aware, it's difficult to overdo salt - I think I only felt thirsty once or twice in a year on several spoons salt /day.

I think eating spoonfuls of salt is probably not too good. I have the idea that Sodium and potassium should be balanced in the diet with in a ration of about 2 (sodium) : 3 (potassium). If you look at both the extra- and intracellular fluids, that's the ration in which you will find them.

Anyway, I was thinking about a gluten free, starch free experiment. How long should I keep it up for potentially beneficial results?
 

aquaman

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Franz said:
jyb said:
Anyway, I was thinking about a gluten free, starch free experiment. How long should I keep it up for potentially beneficial results?

This should be a very good idea.

RP in the latest radio interview (ONe Network), said "Testing for food allergies, leave that food out of your diet for at least a week, if the symptoms go away then you can guess that you’re allergic to it. There is no real chemical test for the allergic reaction."

I'd say 2 weeks to be sure, just make sure you get tons of calories from fruit, milk and cane sugar, and add in white fish, shellfish, broths etc with 3-5 tbsp of coconut oil per day. I'd say avoid gelatin powder as that gives me a reaction. You're doing the carrot twice per day with vinegar and fat?

Also try cascara tea for 3-4 days to kick things off with your digestion!
 
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Franz

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Nope, I'm just snacking on raw carrots. I found making the carrot salad was a hassle and I thought it wasn't really necessary.

Anyway, starch and gluten free experiment initialized! Will keep you guys posted on the results here. Will be eating a good deal of dried fruit in order to still keep the carbs high.

I think I will try the cascara sagrada later, and gelatin never gave me any issues.
 
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Franz

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Alright, well, I don't think I can keep no gluten and no starch up long term. Especially the no starch part. It just feels to damn difficult to get my needed calories. The extra sugar does seem to do me good though. So I think I will continue by focusing on eating more sugar if I feel like that's ok, snacking on dried fruit and making smoothies with extra sugar more often.

That way I will eat less starch, and very little gluten (only when it's by far the most convenient source of calories), but won't struggle to get the calories in.

Next up I think I will contact my doc to test me for possible allergies and discuss the possibility to try anti histamines.
 

aquaman

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Franz said:
Alright, well, I don't think I can keep no gluten and no starch up long term. Especially the no starch part. It just feels to damn difficult to get my needed calories. The extra sugar does seem to do me good though. So I think I will continue by focusing on eating more sugar if I feel like that's ok, snacking on dried fruit and making smoothies with extra sugar more often.

That way I will eat less starch, and very little gluten (only when it's by far the most convenient source of calories), but won't struggle to get the calories in.

Next up I think I will contact my doc to test me for possible allergies and discuss the possibility to try anti histamines.

Cooked fruits (especially with a bit of added butter to put them around 15% fat, and a bit of extra sugar, say 50grams of sugar for every 500grams of raw fruit) help massively with getting sugar carbs in!
 

aquaman

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Charlie said:
Franz said:
Still, people who try to follow his advice often drink a lot of milk, OJ and coffee. Together, perhaps even with some fresh watery fruit added like watermelon, that's a lot of fluid. Likely too much for people with a low metabolism.
Making sure to get enough salt is crucial when hypothyroid.

Or not basing your diet on liquids - ie 5 cups of coffee, a quart or more of juice, a quart or more of milk
 

natedawggh

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649
Franz said:
I've been working on my health for some years and have made definite improvements. However, I still have some sleep issues (falling asleep very late, waking up often, lying awake during the night) and a chronic sinus infection. Both these issues have improved a lot in comparison with the past though they are still bothering me.

The problem is, I'm running out of time and pretty soon I will need a job since I'm finished with university. Then I won't be able to relax as much and sleep in as long as I need. I was hoping to have at least my insomnia under control by then because I can see my insomnia getting a lot worse with the added stress of a job and not being able to sleep in.

I was wondering if anyone here could give me some new idea's for what to experiment with next. Basically, what I need are things that are most likely to improve sleep and/or reduce inflammation.

What I do now is:
- I try to go to bed around 10pm.
- minimize blue light (f.lux, incandescent bulbs) in the evening
- grounding bedsheet
- Go walking/biking outside everyday
- do some body weight exercises now and then
- donate blood
- use halogen floodlights and a heatlamp during the day for red light
- eat in a sort of 180degreehealth way with some more peaty stuff added. (though I only eat salt moderately because I tend to get uncomfortably heavy, twitchy legs and based on my experience it has something to do with too much sodium to potassium)
- supplement with: 1000iu D (not in the summer), 2500iu A, 2mg K2, 400 iu E (only every other day), 200mg niacinimide, 200mg aspirin and about 500mg C.
(the niacinimide and aspirin I added recently, and I have noticed good improvements)
- I sometimes drink stuff with caffeine. Never that much, only a little feels good.

I tried gelatin but never really noticed much from it. Now I only use it when I need to eat lean muscle meat or feel like I haven't had enough protein that day.

I tried bag breathing now and then. however, I never developed the habit. I guess because I never noticed much of an improvement from it and my girlfriend doesn't like it.

I'm hesitant to try thyroid. I guess because it seems like another order of supplementation/medication that I'm not sure want to meddle with.

Any good idea's would be sincerely appreciated!

HISTAMINE!!! I've recently recovered my normal sleeping patterns by aggressively cutting off histamine responses. I had the same sleep-maintenence issues you have until a recent bout with the flu where Mucinex was knocking me out every night. I wondered why this was and did some more research on histamine and it turns out that a lot of American cow's milk contains a powerful opiate called BCM-7 that produces tons of histamine (though obviously it can come from other places too). A sure sign of high-histamine is sinus problems, restless leg, and types of insomnia. I now take a benadryl every night and switched to goats milk. Some skin issues and the white tongue coating have also cleared up. The best is that I sleep EVERY NIGHT now from 11pm to 8am, unless I have to get up to pee but even after that I fall right back asleep.
 

Kray

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Natedawggh: Are you still having improvement with your histamine and drinking goat milk? Do you know if the BCM-7 is present in all cow's milk (whole, low-fat, non-fat), even raw? How about other dairy products-- is this substance in them? I live where I can buy raw, but I've been having skin issues (like allergic dermatitis) that I haven't been able to pinpoint, and I drink lots of milk and eat other dairy, too. If you have any resources you can share that would be great. Not sure what quality of goat milk you switched to-- raw, commercial, etc.-- but are you doing ok with the goat milk? Are you able to eat other cow dairy products, just not the milk?

On the histamine intake-- have you improved enough switching the milk that you don't need the Benadryl every day? I've taken it sporadically, but didn't want to get too dependent upon it, so I just use topical creams for rash relief most of the time. Which Benadryl do you take and how much? I think the clear gel-caps 25 mg are pretty good, not a lot of extra stuff in them, but the dose seems too high at times, especially if I forget to take it early enough in the evening. Then I can't seem to sleep real well and am loopy-tired the next day. I'm not sure if they come in tablet form so they could be taken in smaller doses, but I don't think they do.

Thanks for your feedback and any insights.
 

Luann

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Old thread, but. Wheat does not always take away the sinus, insomnia stuff (personal experience). Try dairy elimination, it can be a very direct trigger, good luck
 

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