What Damages Do Years Of Poor Sleep Cause?

[yoshiesque]

i am looking back and reflecting on the stupid things ive done (and the sleep one in which i still do) and how its effected my health. I conclude with the following:

- High fish oil intakes - did this for few years, sometimes taking 8-12 tablets thanks to the bs advice from Dr John Berardi (runs Precision Nutrition).
- Eating Junk food, but hey we all do that.
- Poor sleep


my poor sleep is because of me. its a habit. I cant help but watch stupid things in youtube and so on. so i end up getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night, sometimes less. I also am a light sleeper, have trouble getting to sleep and sometimes wake up during night.

I need to take sleep more seriously, but I want to know how sleep effects our health - according to RP. And more importantly, whether it effects thyroid production, coz my thyroid has dropped.

I use to have TSH ranging from 0.7 to 1.3, and now recently its gone up to 2.3. This, coupled with stress/anxiety has also caused issues. My IBS was purely due to chronic stress.

So anyway, any info/facts on how sleep effects health (especially thyroid) would be great!

 

[jyb]

I had poor sleep since childhood, so I have asked myself that question many times before. My intuition based on my experience is that, surprisingly, severe lack of sleep is not worse than some other things. And like some other things, the damage, if any, is not necessarily permanent. I concluded this because in many areas I didn't see anything too serious happening (or some did, but not due to sleep) other than temporary grogginess. I could see however how grogginess and reduced attention could increase risk of something bad happening.

Also, I became convinced that it was not sleep causing problems but the other way around, i.e. poor health having poor sleep as one side effect. So, by fixing the underlying problem, the sleep should follow. If it was possible to diagnose the problem.

At the moment I consider the issue near fixed. Not as consistent sleep as a normal healthy person, but hell there are some weeks where I sleep perfect every day, and when I don't then its nothing as hardcore as before.

I still need to understand why I am so sensitive to naps. I don't say no to a nap on a weekend if I feel an urge, which might happen occasionally, but if I nap I notice a very severe delay in sleep onset.

I think vitamin D is relevant in theory, because it is related to synchronisation of the cells behind your eyes that regulate the clock. I haven't supplemented it much so far, but I'll experiment with it and see.

 

[toddy]

"An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) can cause sleep problems. The disorder overstimulates the nervous system, making it hard to fall asleep, and it may cause night sweats, leading to nighttime arousals. Feeling cold and sleepy is a hallmark of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

Because thyroid function affects every organ and system in the body, the symptoms can be wide-ranging and sometimes difficult to decipher. Checking thyroid function requires only a simple blood test, so if you notice a variety of unexplained symptoms, ask your doctor for a thyroid test."

 

[tara]

"An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) can cause sleep problems. The disorder overstimulates the nervous system, making it hard to fall asleep, and it may cause night sweats, leading to nighttime arousals. Feeling cold and sleepy is a hallmark of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

Because thyroid function affects every organ and system in the body, the symptoms can be wide-ranging and sometimes difficult to decipher. Checking thyroid function requires only a simple blood test, so if you notice a variety of unexplained symptoms, ask your doctor for a thyroid test."

Where did this quote come from? Not Peat, I assume.
I have not studied hyperthyroid symptoms, so maybe these can happen in hyperthyroid states. But it seems clear that hypothyroid states can contribute to difficulty getting to sleep, staying asleep, and night sweats, via elevated stress hormones that often rise to partially compensate for low thyroid function.
That feeling cold and sleepy can occur with hypothyroid seems possible.

 

[tara]

I'm in the long time chronic lack of sleep camp too. I've been doing better with it the last couple of years, and at some other times, but still sometimes gets me. I read and then lost something by Peat awhile ago that spoke to me on this topic, and I really wish I could find it again - I've tried. Something to do with sleep-deprivation causing fatty-acid release in the brain that had damaging effects, I think.