Surviving The Night With Good Blood Sugar

[Cirion]

UPDATE: first night doing this the effects are very noticeable. (Warming up the sleeping environment and also brightening it up)

A LOT more vivid dreams (which leads me to believe more REM sleep), but sleep was a lot more fragmented (frequent awakenings) as well. Woke up with 97.8F still not amazing (felt *slightly* better waking up, and it was slightly easier to physically get out of bed since it wasn't pitch dark lol), but I did also notice I didn't feel the hunger in the middle of the night was nearly as urgent as in the past.

 

[Cirion]

Update - been feeling like an absolute zombie this whole day worse than usual. Really weird because my temps are OK (99+)

Maybe my body is ramping up GABA and trying to get me to play catch-up on sleep??

I've had zero productivity at work just wanna sleep lol

 

[Runenight201]

Update - been feeling like an absolute zombie this whole day worse than usual. Really weird because my temps are OK (99+)

Maybe my body is ramping up GABA and trying to get me to play catch-up on sleep??

I've had zero productivity at work just wanna sleep lol

Gives me flashbacks to when I was stuck in a 9-5 employment situation and my health was in the tank, constant interrupted sleep, hour commute every day...felt like a zombie all the time except for the 30 min coffee highs I’d give myself a couple times a day...

If I were you I’d save up money dude and see if you can negotiate your way into a 1-2 month break of just focusing on your health.

It really could pay huge dividends.

 

[Cirion]

Maybe, but I'm not convinced it'll help honestly, because I'm obviously still doing some things fundamentally wrong.

I had a 2 week break for Christmas and actually my health got worse not better.

That said I do have enough frequent flyer miles and will have enough vacation time to where I think I may take not one but two vacations this year.

It really needs to not be winter anymore, because it seems nearly impossible to heal a damaged metabolism without sunlight.

 

[Blossom]

Update - been feeling like an absolute zombie this whole day worse than usual. Really weird because my temps are OK (99+)

Maybe my body is ramping up GABA and trying to get me to play catch-up on sleep??

I've had zero productivity at work just wanna sleep lol

Maybe with the changes your breaking the stress cycle and lowering cortisol and adrenaline. If so it might take a few days to adjust. That’s the same sensation some people report after starting thyroid. I’d take it as a good sign for now and reevaluate in a few days.

 

[Cirion]

I hope you're right - that's my theory also, but it doesn't change the fact that I feel bad at the immediate moment lol

I mean, because it seems to be in line with Dr. Peat and others - when he says "Good sleep requires a high metabolism". 99F should indicate a good metabolism, and I have probably slept using the stress pathway nearly my whole life, so maybe I'm just not used to having high GABA and have never experienced it

BTW I did also just start a thyroid product Thyroid, 180 capsules but I have no idea on dosage or anything so just starting a little slow with a couple at a time (I think it says on the label to do like 6 a day, I'm not doing that much at the moment), took 2 last night and 2 this morning

Interestingly I didn't have much problems sleeping even with the light on yesterday. I thought I would but I didn't. I slept a decent amount of hours overall, just woke up several times is all. As I mentioned, more vivid dreams etc. When I did wake up it didn't really feel like a super stress response, because I didn't have powerful hunger signals or anything but I did still eat a little (not 1000 calories this time lol)

Could I have accidentally brought my cortisol TOO low? I'm taking 1/4 TSP of tribulus terrestris once in the morning and once in the evenings. Maybe I should stop taking it in the morning at least? Cortisol is a natural hormone that is necessary, true most people are too high, but I think there's such a thing as too low too right?

 

[ilikecats]

@Cirion did you see my post and rays quote about the CPAP on the previous page?

 

[Blossom]

Cortisol is a natural hormone that is necessary, true most people are too high, but I think there's such a thing as too low too right?

Yes, I believe so although less common. I think another issue can be a deregulated pattern.

 

[Cirion]

@Cirion did you see my post and rats quote about the CPAP on the previous page?

I somehow missed that, thanks for the heads up.

@Cirion “Anyone who is willing to sleep while wearing a CPAP is being terribly misled.” Ray Peat PhD -more food for thought

Sleep Apnea, Hyperventilation & Hypothyroidism - East West Healing

CPAP Compliance

CPAP seems inherently damaging.... seems like it must produce a state of hyperventilation a la heavy mouth breathing.... thats going to directly tank CO2 levels...

“The end product of respiration is carbon dioxide, and it is an essential component of the life process. The ability to produce and retain enough carbon dioxide is as important for longevity as the ability to conserve enough heat to allow chemical reactions to occur as needed."- Ray Peat

I have noticed the past few days my mouth has been dry waking up indicating what you just said.

However, there's a problem... I kind of have to have my CPAP machine so I'm stuck in a perpetual negative cycle. I literally can't sleep without it. And if I try, it takes upwards of 2 hrs to fall asleep, then when I finally do, the sleep apnea wakes me up almost immediately. Without the CPAP I'd probably wake up 10-20 times a night and feel significantly worse.

I briefly played with having a chin strap to keep the mouth shut but it was super uncomfortable to wear so I stopped.

I'm certainly not denying what Ray or others have said (I tend to believe it) but basically I need an immediate cure to my sleep apnea to ditch the CPAP, but there really is no overnight cure to sleep apnea except for surgery and that is not guaranteed either

I briefly have played with taking DHEA and pregnenolone after reading that people who get poor sleep are really low on DHEA, with mixed results so I stopped that also.

 

[Blossom]

I somehow missed that, thanks for the heads up.



I have noticed the past few days my mouth has been dry waking up indicating what you just said.

However, there's a problem... I kind of have to have my CPAP machine so I'm stuck in a perpetual negative cycle. I literally can't sleep without it. And if I try, it takes upwards of 2 hrs to fall asleep, then when I finally do, the sleep apnea wakes me up almost immediately. Without the CPAP I'd probably wake up 10-20 times a night and feel significantly worse.

I briefly played with having a chin strap to keep the mouth shut but it was super uncomfortable to wear so I stopped.

I'm certainly not denying what Ray or others have said (I tend to believe it) but basically I need an immediate cure to my sleep apnea to ditch the CPAP, but there really is no overnight cure to sleep apnea except for surgery and that is not guaranteed either

You can put dry ice by the air intake port to increase Co2. You’d need to put your machine in a box to keep the dry ice from diffusing into the room. Coming from a fairly peaty person (who happens to be a respiratory therapist as well) you will probably need to use Cpap until you are through your weight tapering phase but you can see if the dry ice or small amounts of co2 bled into the circuit might help (1-2 lpm).

 

[Cirion]

Interesting idea but how to make the dry ice last? From some quick googling it seems you lose 5-10 lb of it per day of storage even in an ice chest, so that's like $300 a month not to mention you'd have to go to the store literally every day to get more because of that... or am I missing something here ?

 

[Blossom]

Interesting idea but how to make the dry ice last? From some quick googling it seems you lose 5-10 lb of it per day of storage even in an ice chest, so that's like $300 a month not to mention you'd have to go to the store literally every day to get more because of that... or am I missing something here ?

Probably not. It was something I read from a cpap user on Danny Roddy’s old site years ago. A co2 tank might be more affordable. You could use an oxygen or pressure line adapter to tee it in.

 

[Runenight201]

Maybe, but I'm not convinced it'll help honestly, because I'm obviously still doing some things fundamentally wrong.

I had a 2 week break for Christmas and actually my health got worse not better.

That said I do have enough frequent flyer miles and will have enough vacation time to where I think I may take not one but two vacations this year.

It really needs to not be winter anymore, because it seems nearly impossible to heal a damaged metabolism without sunlight.

Tanning beds if you really think it’s harming you that badly or vitamin D supplementation, which won’t be as good, but it might mitigate the harm just a lil bit...

I agree though, today was cold and rainy, just terrible weather...anytime it’s remotely sunny I’m shirt off receiving as many good vibes from the sun as I can to top off them D levels for the next couple day sun hibernation...

 

[ilikecats]

@Cirion yeah that seems like a big dilemma I totally get your reluctance to give it up. Tape works great for keeping the mouth shut during the night. “athletic tape” works best and it doesn’t feel gross. I always sleep with my mouth taped shut because even though I’ve been nose breathing strictly for 3 plus years now I revert back to mouth breathing (at night) when I don’t. I feel a big difference in the way I feel upon waking when I keep it taped shut vs when I don’t. Do you mouth breath at night? Can you nose breathe with the cpap on?

 

[Cirion]

@Blossom

Found this old thread here on the forums

CO2, Sleep Apnea, Diamox, Stress Hormones And Estrogen

Do you think Diamox could be useful to me and if so at what dosages?

@Runenight201

I'd love to get back into using tanning beds. I was for a while and I think they did me good but I started getting lazy (annoying to drive to and from, or I'm just lazy idk lol). Maybe I need to just buy myself a tanning bed then no excuses (a cheap $500 one or something).

@ilikecats

I think I gotta suck suck it up buttercup and go back to chin straps for now probably. Yea probably do mouth breath because like I say wake up with dry mouth a lot. Normally I'm good about nose breathing though when conscious.

 

[Blossom]

Do you think Diamox could be useful to me and if so at what dosages?

It’s possible. Let me get back to you on the mg/kg. It’s been a while since I looked at it.

 

[Blossom]

It’s possible. Let me get back to you on the mg/kg. It’s been a while since I looked at it.

Here’s a guide to mg/kg used for various conditions. When I used it I weighed about 50 kg and took about 750 mg per day in divided doses. I’d start low if you (and your doctor :)) decide it’s right for you. Potassium intake is very important when taking
Diamox Sequels (acetazolamide) dosing, indications, interactions, adverse effects, and more

 

[ecstatichamster]

Thiamine 500 - 1500mg per day over a week or so has the same effect more safely than diamox.

 

[Jsaute21]

@tankasnowgod
Haha true, you know what I meant in regards to blood sugar :p Just a figure of speech. I guess what I meant to say, is that my liver ran out, and adrenaline was secreted to make more glucose, which also woke me up.

I'm aware that 97.8 is supposed to be OK but I don't buy it personally. Why? Because the only time I EVER feel even remotely good waking up - one thing is ALWAYS a constant, and that's waking temp is at least 98.2-98.4F. I have literally never, not once, felt good unless my temp was at least 98.2 waking up. I also don't buy it because you should feel good virtually right as soon as you wake up (I've actually had this once or twice, and I can verify that its not stress hormones, because I feel good the whole day afterwards as well. If it was stress hormones I'd crash after breakfast, which I don't in this case).

Don't you always wake up with 98.6F? You've mentioned as much in your inclined bed therapy thread. Yes, I mentioned that I'm trying IBT, but I don't think it's doing all that much for me honestly. It doesn't seem to prevent the temperature drop for me at all honestly.

I did actually order thyroid that @tca300 had recommended in another thread, but I've only tried one small dose so far, admittedly. I'm wary of it because I'd like to heal my thyroid on its own rather than be dependent the rest of my life on it. But I guess if it works, it works, and maybe its necessary for the short term and can wean off it eventually. Do you take it not just in the morning but also at night? If you take it at night won't it keep you awake?

You won’t be reliant the rest of your life on it. The gland recovers on its own very quickly. Peat has said customarily 3 days or so.

 

[YourUniverse]

@Cirion Im curious, what supplements do you take daily?