Insomnia, Anxiety/dep, Fatigue, Brain Fog - How To Identify Then Treat To Root Cause(s)?

[bawild]

Hi everyone,

I'm about six months into chronic insomnia (3 - 4:30 AM waking), anxiety, depression, brain fog/"brain on fire", morning headaches, daytime sleepiness, low stress tolerance, and fatigue. My body seems to be "stuck" in the chronic stress state many of you have described. Not fun. Trying to coax it back to "normal" health with all strategies promoting high ox phos metabolism. Given the collective insight and wisdom of this community I am reaching out for ideas, hunches and things to test or try.

Here's some background;
- 50 yr old male. 5'8" 175 pretty good shape.
- Peat diet for last six months, plenty of calories, gained a few pounds since starting; diet of eggs, shellfish, GF beef, liver, OJ, milk, lots of fruit, honey, coffee, ice cream, cooked greens, potatoes, gelatin, salt. Minimal PUFA/no grains. I go for food quality (pastured, GF, wild caught, non GMO, no gums, etc..).
- Coming off Paleo and low carb (who would have guessed)
- Starting to work with a functional medicine MD, not Peat inspired but open to ideas. I'll have more blood work, gut and saliva labs in the near future.

Daily supps;
- Estroban
- Mg biglycinate, carbonate and topical MgCL.
- Zn, Mn, Cu, Se - typical RDA amounts
- Energin, niacinamide, p5p, thiamine, riboflavin
- Collagen (glycine/proline), taurine, tyrosine, lysine

Occasional supps;
- aspirin, theanine, pregnenalone, Pansterone, Oxidal, (yes I'm a Haidut/IdeaLabs fan :)
- have on hand but not currently using; TyroMax, clonidine, tianeptine, cyproheptadine, bromocriptine
- spending a good amount of time outside walking, hikes, gardening. Getting tan this summer.

Out of range labs and sleep data.
- Ferritin 15, other iron labs in range.
- SHBG 70. T of 625
- Cholesterol 275
- 4 existing "silver" amalgams (Hg) fillings, 3 root canals.
- Nighttime SPO2 - dips into the low 80's/high 70's a few times per night (desaturation/apnea). (Using the iOximeter to monitor)
- Nighttime heart rate - dips into mid 30's at times (AV block?). Sometimes as high as 78 bpm.
- Nightime respiration rate varies from 12/min to 22/min (hyperventilating).
- note; snoring/gasping has been much better since I've been taping my mouth and avoiding back sleeping. Tried some bag breath for a while too.

Obviously something going on with my sleep. Sleep study will likely recommend CPAP. Not a fan of CPAP per Ray. Maybe an oral appliance if its obstructive vs central apnea.

Morning temps have been rising from 96 to 97. Daytime temps can range from 96.5 to 98. Pulse is usually around 60 - 65. Often wake with adrenalin surge & headache (probably a reaction to desaturation)

Am I on track continuing to focus on increasing my metabolic rate while I explore the oxygen desaturation events during sleep? Anything else you guys can think of?
- Should I slowly ramp TyroMax or synth T4/T3 3:1?
- Should I try Diamox or 600mg Thiamine before bed?
- Any ideas to reduce glia/brain inflammation? Curcumin? Ginsing extract Rg3?
- Any other ideas to reduce glutamate - Ca excitotoxicity, increase GABA, dopamine?
- Any other ideas to increase synaptogenesis/BDNF expression?
- I'm doing some tests for leaky gut/endotoxin, infections
- Leave the corporate rat race and open a coffee shop in Costa Rica?

Thanks for any help Peat fans!

 

[Tarmander]

Welcome!

I think you have a really good start. Enough calories, a nice grasp of what to eat, blood tests in the works. You are on your way.

The best way forward is to just take one thing at a time, make improvements, and move on from there. So first you could take radiation, all forms. What exposures are you getting? EMF? Wifi in the house? Dental Xrays? All these cause stress, use the forum to find ways to lower them without disrupting your life.

It sounds like you are also experimenting with lots of supplements. Write down what they do. Consider starting a log here and cataloging how each affects you. Overtime you will find patterns emerging that will be helpful. One tip that isn't mentioned much around here is the large difference that supplements have in small doses vs. large doses. An example would be Taurine...it affects me much different under 500mg compared to 3g or more. If you see people reporting certain effects from a supplement that seem drastically different then your experience, this could be the reason why.

Regaining health is a lot like building a bridge, or leading an army, or creating a presentation. Lots of small details that add up overtime to less stress, and a body capable of healing itself. This is a great place if you want help in BEING the builder, not so much if you want someone to build it for you. But I am sure you have noticed that. Good luck and I look forward to reading more!

 

[Blossom]

Should I try Diamox or 600mg Thiamine before bed?

Welcome to the forum bawild. Either of those sound worth a try to me and since you have an oximeter you should be able to tell if it helps.

 

[PakPik]

Should I try Diamox or 600mg Thiamine before bed?

Hello bawild :)
Just thought I'd mention that it can be dangerous or contraindicated to combine Diamox with Aspirin/Salicylates or other potentially pH lowering interventions. I'm not sure the dosages that would lead to that, but anyways it can lead to severe acidosis.

 

[bawild]

Thanks Tarmander!

One of the things I love about this forum and the Peat approach is the unified energetic approach of the organism which provides a framework for experimenting small nudges of increasing energy or removing drags on energy. My approach to supps overall is conservative on the dosing. I prefer to get these from food but if, for example I have low stomach acid (hypo, low ferritin) might it be helpful to supplement amino acids that require low pH for digestion? It's complex for sure but definitely worth the patience and time to figure out.

Regarding radiation/EMF's, I really have not explored this avenue other than eliminating x-rays for me (and my family) especially if MRI or ultrasound can do the job. Has anyone on the forum noticed background EMF (wi-fi, cell phones etc) as an important source of stress? Diet, sleep, relationships and perceived stresses are probably the biggies to work on.

 

[bawild]

PikPak - I had read that too. I'll try the thiamine first w/o aspirin.

Anyone ever hear of the circadian T3 protocol where you set an alarm at around 3 am and dose a small amount of T3 to coincide with the circadian ramp of cortisol? Paul Robinson developed this approach, not sure I've heard Peat mention any benefit to this approach.

 

[Blossom]

Occasional supps;
- aspirin,

Diamox - FDA prescribing information, side effects and uses

 

[InChristAlone]

Did you figure out if it's obstructive? You seem really healthy otherwise.

 

[dookie]

@bawild

I would drop all supplements, then try carefully to asses each food you are eating. You are probably hurting yourself with something you are currently doing. Way too many supplements at once.

As Peat said: "If you are sick, reconsider everything you are doing as a contributing factor."

 

[bawild]

@Janelle525 - yes my sleep study came back with moderate to severe OSA. So 30 - 40 times per hour during sleep my body is fighting to clear my airway. Everytime this happens, adrenalin is released and I'm awakened enough to clear the airway. This essentially prevents the body from entering deep sleep (delta) and keeps you in a sympathetic dominant state 24/7. The only way you know if this is occurring is through a sleep study. I thought I was sleeping fine except for feeling like crap every morning.

So I started CPAP this week. It's not as bad as I was expecting. The new mask technology and auto pressure ramping features make it tolerable. My morning headaches, fatigue, blurred vision and anxiety have disappeared. I can also tell mood, brain fog and motivation are improving. Since, I'm literally not fighting for my life at night, my body is finally able to relax and get into deep restorative sleep.

@dookie - I've really backed off on the supplements. In my case, the apnea was destroying my digestion, nervous system and overall metabolism. I'm down to Mg, Zn, estroban and gelatin. Maybe a B-complex now and then. I'll get my labs done in a month or two to see if everything is stabilizing. Diet is pretty solid but I may eliminate dairy for two weeks to see if it's causing problem.

I think everyone with fatigue, morning headaches, anxiety, nighttime sweating or adrenalin awakenings, poor digestion, brain fog etc.. should get screened for sleep breathing problems. Common procedures like wisdom teeth extractions and the continued evolution toward narrower mouths and jaws are leading to smaller airways which can precipitate sleep breathing issues (ref Weston Prices work). A home sleep test is cheap and easy. I'm not thrilled about CPAP but its what I clearly need here in the near term. My longer term goal is to slowly lower my BMI from 27 to 20 and retrain my breathing circuits to keep my airway open at night.

 

[InChristAlone]

Glad you are finding relief! Hopefully your temperatures get better as well. Not being able to breathe at night is definitely a major stressor.

 

[InChristAlone]

Hey @bawild , was wondering if you had seen this presentation:

 

[bawild]

Hey @Janelle525, thanks for the link to Dr. Gominaks lecture. I watched this a while ago. My last Vit D test came back at 42. She recommends D at 60 - 80 for optimal sleep. I've been taking about 4000U/day for a couple months so it's time to recheck. The CPAP is keeping my airway open and preventing desaturations but I'm still struggling with early waking (3 or 4am). I get 6 hours of sleep which isn't terrible but I'd like one more sleep cycle to feel fully rested. Not sure how to resolve this.

Currently using a few supps, meditation and yoga to reduce cytokines, glutamate and CRH. Nothing seems to be helping so far but it may just take time for my body to normalize after months or years of apnea. Also trying to increase hippocampal BDNF to help regenerate any damage the hypoxia might have had on that structure.

Anyone on this forum have success overcoming apnea related cognitive deficits?

 

[dbh25]

@bawild
Do you have an update on your progress?

 

[bawild]

Problem solved. Undiagnosed breathing problems at night for years, particularly during REM, caused an extreme and prolonged stress response/adrenal fatigue/low thyroid symptoms. The population is developing narrower palates and smaller jaws which reduce airway size and room for the tongue (and require wisdom teeth extraction and braces). We don't breast feed long enough and grow large jaws because we don't chew as much as our ancestors. Over paralysis of the soft palate and tongue muscles during REM have also been implicated due to lower sun exposure (Vit D) and lower B vitamin production by the gut microbiome. Most people believe sleep apnea is an old fat guy problem. I have a neck size of 16 and a BMI of 24 so I don't fit the stereotype. Dr Steven Park is one of the leaders in this field and treats mainly young people with narrow airways. Anxiety, depression, a-fib, fatigue and other symptoms are gone. Took about six months on BiPap to feel normal. I'm experimenting with D, Bs, minerals and lifestyle (outdoor living as much as possible) to eliminate the need for CPAP.
http://doctorstevenpark.com/rogerprice#more-11295

 

[Candeias]

Glad you solved your problems, I was convinced that the amalgams, root canals and low vitamin D could be contributing to these problems