Low Cortisol At Night Causing Drop In Sugar -- Waking Up Frequently

Sagitarrius90

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Hello all,

I've came to the conclusion after months of analyzing my daily sleep that the most likely cause of me waking up every few hours is the fact my cortisol is high all day then low at night but dipping too low and waking me up with low blood sugar.

Makes sense too since I always want sugar when I wake up.

My liver health is improving and I've only had it improve as time has gone on and I've focused on increasing carbs all day and night to ensure a full glyocgen tank but again i still wake up.

Any idea on how to increase nighttime cortisol so it doesnt dip too low? Maybe keeping cortisol lower during the day could help nighttime levels?

Thanks everyone

Btw i ensure alot of salt, magnesium calcium ratio is 1:2, zinc 25 daily, glutathione and milk thistle in the AM, b vitamins throughout the day.

Cortisol is needed to get thyroid into the cell so If its low at night then hypo symptoms wake me up. I dont want to use thyroid as a bandaid preferably would want to do this naturally.

I'm actually going to stop drinking coffee on an empty stomach in the AM as I think that's what messes everything up for me during the day

Thanks!
 

tara

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I've came to the conclusion after months of analyzing my daily sleep that the most likely cause of me waking up every few hours is the fact my cortisol is high all day then low at night but dipping too low and waking me up with low blood sugar.
How did you come to this conclusion?

My liver health is improving and I've only had it improve as time has gone on and I've focused on increasing carbs all day and night to ensure a full glyocgen tank but again i still wake up.
How much are you eating on the average day? Do you eat some fat in your evening meal? Might help sustain you through the night.

I'm actually going to stop drinking coffee on an empty stomach in the AM as I think that's what messes everything up for me during the day
That looks worth a try.
 

GreekDemiGod

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Do you have good energy levels in the morning?
And yes, stop drinking coffee on an empty stomach. That's one of the first things I learned on this forum.
 

Spartan300

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@Nick Borcic I have similar sleep issues and my morning cortisol level was above range when tested.

I'm also curious how you came to the conclusion that your cortisol drops too low at night?
Because I don't seem to get into a really deep sleep I've always thought my light sleep and waking is due to high cortisol.
 

Quelsatron

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I tried drinking coffee on an empty stomach in the morning after semi-peating for three ish months and immediately started shaking like an erotic household apparatus, so you should definitely stop that. Does anyone know what coffee timing does by the way? I've read that supposedly early coffee disrupts your circadian rythm so that the cortisol wake response gets blunted which would explain feeling groggy when waking up, but this was before peat in one of those shitty google result medical momscience websites
 
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Sagitarrius90

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Thanks for the responses everyone! Lets keep this going I am sure I am not the only one who wakes up 3-6 times at night

I came to that conclusion because initially about 6 years ago my cortisol was low in the AM and high at night but I've spent years trying to fix my circadian rhythm, just lowering stress etc but for the past few months I've been heavy on supplements/foods that lower my cortisol level. I have always suspected adrenal issues in part to overtraining from the gym, almost dying from an eating disorder early on in my life, living a hussle and bussle type of lifestyle and again had a saliva test throughout the day to see the curve being reversed. If anyone has adrenal fatigue or a dysregulated circadian rhythm that would be me.

There's plenty of info on the net and someone I've been really interested in is Dr Joel Rosen from McMaster University and basically he states that if you have a "broken stress response system" not "adrenal fatigue" then at night you're adrenal can wake you up with low blood sugar if you don't have enough cortisol - I chow down carbs/protein and fat at night yet wake up as if it's time to eat.

I am taking strides in healing my thyroid/adrenals by staying away from weight training, having coffee with a big meal with plenty of fruit sugar, coconut oil and some protein. Healing my liver because I see the importance of it in the grand scheme of things, everything from my thyroid, high cortisol during the day etc
 

tara

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I have always suspected adrenal issues in part to overtraining from the gym, almost dying from an eating disorder early on in my life, living a hussle and bussle type of lifestyle and again had a saliva test throughout the day to see the curve being reversed. If anyone has adrenal fatigue or a dysregulated circadian rhythm that would be me.
...
There's plenty of info on the net and someone I've been really interested in is Dr Joel Rosen from McMaster University and basically he states that if you have a "broken stress response system" not "adrenal fatigue" then at night you're adrenal can wake you up with low blood sugar if you don't have enough cortisol - I chow down carbs/protein and fat at night yet wake up as if it's time to eat.
How many calories are you eating per day on average?
Are you eating well in the morning and round midday?
What have you done to recover from the early eating disorder?
 

yerrag

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How did you come to this conclusion?
I guess OP doesn't really know to explain how he came to this conclusion.

The premise that the OP's blood sugar is low because he has low cortisol is shaky to begin with. If cortisol is high enough and he has enough sugar as a result, isn't he having to rely on a stress hormone to make sugar from protein?

Why isn't the OP asking why sugar is low to begin with, that requires an adrenaline and cortisol response?
 
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tara

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Why isn't the OP asking why is sugar is low to begin with, that requires an adrenaline and cortisol response?
This.
 
OP
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Sagitarrius90

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So are you guys saying more calories?

Whenever I don't weight train which has been a week straight now or even on off days I am sedentary.

I sit in a chair all day (I am an accountant) So I've based my weight (200 lb) and bodyfat (13-15%) and multiplied my activity factor by 1.2 (Sedentary) and cmae up with 2450 calories. I usually eat 2600 so I am slightly over maintenance

Protein I ingest anywhere from 100-150 grams
Fat 15-20% all from saturated sources
Carbs (Mostly fruit, potatoes)

So one thing I've noticed is not to eat too close to bedtime as I did an experiment last night based off of the book The circadian Rhythm - Time Restricted Eating. If people don't know what that is the premise is that you're body and all of it's internal functions are circadian based. He suggests that if you eat you're calories within a window of time and try and be consistent with meal times you're body will produce certain hormones (melatonin) that should be produced at night which get blunted if you eat at bedtime. There is a lot more discussed that's literally one point made but I want to focus on the topic at hand.

So last night I ate the majority of my calories from 9am-7pm (10 hour window) and the initial 5-6 hours of sleep was great then I woke up like how I would in the AM, energized so I had some honey and went back to bed for another few hours. I thought that maybe I need to save more calories towards the end of the day, maybe play with my macros or increase calories even more. The good news was that I actually feel better today than if I didn't practice TRE so it works for me.
 

Matt C

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I crash a lot of days around 2pm and need a nap, when i wake from my nap I need sugar in the form or chocolate or biscuits, i become possessed.

My cortisol has come back high in tests and my RT3 has as well. I think I need to do something to control blood sugar which is causing cortisol spikes and preventing t4 to t3 conversion which leads to high Rt3.
 

Peating Force

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I may be raising the dead here but, have you come to a solution ?
I have the exact same problem: waking up frequently at night (3+), usually I just switch side in the bed and fall asleep quickly but I don't think it's normal...

I think it started in my late teens (~18-20) when I started drinking coffee (work breaks) and never left me since (I stopped coffee several times to help my IBS - which started way after). I wake up without problems but I regularly become sleepy after noon (I fast in the morning - IBS). I think this may slow my weightlifting progress (almost none for several years after the noob gains).
 
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Peatness

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I recall Dr Peat suggesting vitamin b5 at night for low cortisol. Obviously good diet during the day is a must also
 

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