My Deep Sleeps suck 😟

[JD52]

Currently on TRT 160mg Test Cyp week. I also take BCAA powder during training along with Nitrix Oxide Boosters. I eat clean food during the day. No caffeine hours before bed. I take 100mg Gabapentin before bed to help with sleep and anxiety. I still wake up every time on the hour 2am. My brain is active but my body is worn down and tired. Hard to go back to sleep. What gives ? I trained arms hard last night. Figured my body would be tired and wants to sleep. Any supps out there help ?

 

[SweetLou321]

Sounds like its time to try and engrain a good circadian rhythm pattern. Cortisol, your main waking hormones, and melatonin, your main sleeping hormone, are released in a set rhythm throughout the day. You want to set a circadian rhythm where cortisol peaks in the am about 30min after waking then is lowest before and during sleep while melatonin is highest before bed and during sleep.

1) get sunlight or use a bring light device for 15-20min within the first hour of waking
2) try to get sunlight during the day
3) minimize blue light in the last 1-2 hours before bed or get blue light blocking glasses

As far as supplements go you can try:

Melatonin standard release before bed and if this doesn't help then get a melatonin that has both immediate and extended release properties. Start with a low dose of either option as higher dosages can sustain elevated melatonin levels upon waking and lead to one feeling tired. Standard release, I would start with .5mg and work up to 1.5mg, if this helps you sleep but you are still waking in the middle of the night then try a 1.5mg immediate and sustained release blend. You want one that releases most of the melatonin earlier in the night and tapers off near waking, the sustained levels of melatonin could help set a proper rhythm.

 

[Ptlhains]

Gaba screwed my sleep up just like your describing. The suggestions in the above post helped me greatly.

 

[Resolve10]

Sounds like its time to try and engrain a good circadian rhythm pattern. Cortisol, your main waking hormones, and melatonin, your main sleeping hormone, are released in a set rhythm throughout the day. You want to set a circadian rhythm where cortisol peaks in the am about 30min after waking then is lowest before and during sleep while melatonin is highest before bed and during sleep.

1) get sunlight or use a bring light device for 15-20min within the first hour of waking
2) try to get sunlight during the day
3) minimize blue light in the last 1-2 hours before bed or get blue light blocking glasses

As far as supplements go you can try:

Melatonin standard release before bed and if this doesn't help then get a melatonin that has both immediate and extended release properties. Start with a low dose of either option as higher dosages can sustain elevated melatonin levels upon waking and lead to one feeling tired. Standard release, I would start with .5mg and work up to 1.5mg, if this helps you sleep but you are still waking in the middle of the night then try a 1.5mg immediate and sustained release blend. You want one that releases most of the melatonin earlier in the night and tapers off near waking, the sustained levels of melatonin could help set a proper rhythm.

This is pretty much what I was going to say haha.

I'm struggling to find the exact study I wanted with some recommendations but this could be helpful as a general list from a recent rundown on MASS dissecting a study on sleep:

Guidelines from the Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders consist of the following pieces of advice: “1) Keep it dark, quiet and cool in the room you sleep. 2) Go to bed and get up at the same time during the whole week, including weekends. 3) Go to bed so that you can get 8 hours of sleep. 4) Two hours before bed: a) turn down lights. b) Put away pc, pads and mobile phones or use blue light filter and lowest possible light setting. c) No exercise. d) No food, coffee or black tea, or drinks with energy. e) Do calm and positive activities and do not bring up relational conflicts before bedtime. 5) When you get up in the morning, expose yourself to as much light as possible right away. 6) Last cup of coffee for the day six hours before bedtime. 7) Try to get so much sleep that you do not need an alarm clock to wake up. 8) Do not use electronic devices that emit light in bed. 9) Learn a relaxation technique, use it to fall asleep at night or if you wake during night.

 

[JD52]

Gaba screwed my sleep up just like your describing. The suggestions in the above post helped me greatly.

interesting. Might be the root of my issues with sleeping. It use to calm me down and relax me(make me sleepy)

 

[JD52]

Sounds like its time to try and engrain a good circadian rhythm pattern. Cortisol, your main waking hormones, and melatonin, your main sleeping hormone, are released in a set rhythm throughout the day. You want to set a circadian rhythm where cortisol peaks in the am about 30min after waking then is lowest before and during sleep while melatonin is highest before bed and during sleep.

1) get sunlight or use a bring light device for 15-20min within the first hour of waking
2) try to get sunlight during the day
3) minimize blue light in the last 1-2 hours before bed or get blue light blocking glasses

As far as supplements go you can try:

Melatonin standard release before bed and if this doesn't help then get a melatonin that has both immediate and extended release properties. Start with a low dose of either option as higher dosages can sustain elevated melatonin levels upon waking and lead to one feeling tired. Standard release, I would start with .5mg and work up to 1.5mg, if this helps you sleep but you are still waking in the middle of the night then try a 1.5mg immediate and sustained release blend. You want one that releases most of the melatonin earlier in the night and tapers off near waking, the sustained levels of melatonin could help set a proper rhythm.

Makes a lot of sense. I use to supplement with Melatonin awhile back. I was taking 5mg. I will look into the release blend. Not sure which one I was taking. You think 5mg is kinda high ? I did experience headaches in the morning. During the day I try to get as much sunlight as possible. I do watch TV before bed.

 

[SweetLou321]

Makes a lot of sense. I use to supplement with Melatonin awhile back. I was taking 5mg. I will look into the release blend. Not sure which one I was taking. You think 5mg is kinda high ? I did experience headaches in the morning. During the day I try to get as much sunlight as possible. I do watch TV before bed.

Of course this is individual based on metabolism but several studies do show that dosages of about 3mg or more can lead to one still having elevated melatonin blood levels upon waking, headaches could represent this effect. I would start low and move up slowly as needed to avoid this. Life Extension has a good 1.5mg immediate and extend release combination that releases in a way to try and avoid having high melatonin levels at waking.

 

[GreenMachineX]

What other supplements do you take? There are things that give me insomnia exactly like you describe that would seem paradoxical such as ashwagandha. I believe it takes my cortisol too low causing an adrenaline surge to bring glucose up in the middle of the night. It would sometimes be even worse after a hard workout even though the workout was hours earlier.

 

[Ptlhains]

I use a blue light and it calms me right down. In the winter I use it everyday. In the summer
.not as much. They really work. I was able to get off taking any pills to help me sleep due to its effects.

 

[JD52]

What other supplements do you take? There are things that give me insomnia exactly like you describe that would seem paradoxical such as ashwagandha. I believe it takes my cortisol too low causing an adrenaline surge to bring glucose up in the middle of the night. It would sometimes be even worse after a hard workout even though the workout was hours earlier.

I take multivitamin. I drink a lot of water during the day. I may have a protein shake during the day and after workouts. I usually work out at night around 8. Maybe that could be a issue with my waking in the middle of the night

 

[GreenMachineX]

I take multivitamin. I drink a lot of water during the day. I may have a protein shake during the day and after workouts. I usually work out at night around 8. Maybe that could be a issue with my waking in the middle of the night

Yeah, working out late is bad for sleep too.

 

[JD52]

Yeah, working out late is bad for sleep too.

figured I was. Going to have to make adjustments. Going to try low dose of Melatonin tonight

 

[thebigt]

figured I was. Going to have to make adjustments. Going to try low dose of Melatonin tonight

I was taking melatonin right before bed and it put me in what I call aware coma, just laid there very relaxed but aware. I tried taking the melatonin an hour earlier than I had been and it worked like a charm.

been doing this for over a month now and very rarely do I have issues falling asleep and staying asleep.

 

[Darkhorse192]

test for sleep apnea and UARS

 

[Darkhorse192]

also...dark room, cold room, quiet room or ear plugs, and 4-7-8 breathing

 

[Smont]

I've tried everything mentioned here and none of it helps me. I'm not saying its bad advise, it's great advice, I've just been a crap sleeper my whole life. Edibles use to give me a good night's sleep but I would find myself having a hard time getting started the next morning. No problems going to sleep, I just wake 5-8 times most nights

 

[JD52]

I was taking melatonin right before bed and it put me in what I call aware coma, just laid there very relaxed but aware. I tried taking the melatonin an hour earlier than I had been and it worked like a charm.

been doing this for over a month now and very rarely do I have issues falling asleep and staying asleep.

thats interesting. I tried Melatonin awhile back for a couple weeks and had bad headaches. But I may have been taking to much. I just have a problem staying asleep.

 

[JD52]

also...dark room, cold room, quiet room or ear plugs, and 4-7-8 breathing

we keep the room dark and temp set at 67 at nights. What’s the 4-7-8 breathing ?

 

[cheftepesh1]

Take a look at dream tea from Iconic Formulations. I have some on nights when I can’t sleep and in a hour I’m asleep and wake up well rested. Plus using code chef it comes down to around $10.50 for the bag.

 

[banjobounce]

I used to wake up 6-7 times per night.

It was a stress issue for me. I was training too hard too frequently amd on stimulants too many days in a row.

Dropping all stimulants for a weekade a big difference.

Taking a few days off of training helped as well.

The third biggest culprit for me was eating too close to bed.

Finally, glycine.before bed helped to.prevent blood sugar from dropping too low and causing a cortisol spike.

 

[ValiantThor08]

Makes a lot of sense. I use to supplement with Melatonin awhile back. I was taking 5mg. I will look into the release blend. Not sure which one I was taking. You think 5mg is kinda high ? I did experience headaches in the morning. During the day I try to get as much sunlight as possible. I do watch TV before bed.

Melatonin should be started at .5mg or even less. Take it 2 to 3 hours before bed. That is how it should be taken.

 

[ValiantThor08]

we keep the room dark and temp set at 67 at nights. What’s the 4-7-8 breathing ?

What time do you end up laying in bed? What time do you end up getting out of bed?

 

[LeanEngineer]

Dropping all stimulants for a weekade a big difference.

Taking a few days off of training helped as well.

The third biggest culprit for me was eating too close to bed.

Agreed with this. I'd try these three and see if that makes a difference.

 

[JD52]

What time do you end up laying in bed? What time do you end up getting out of bed?

I lay in bed at 9:40 and get up for work at 5:50

 

[JD52]

So here’s how last night went. Went to bed around 9:40. I took some Melatonin about 30mins before bed. I also took a teaspoon of honey. From what I read it helps with blood sugar during sleep. I woke up this morning feeling great. I know I woke up a couple times during the night. Let the dog outside. But was able to fall back to sleep. I’m going to grab a bottle of the extended release Melatonin today. The one I have is rapid release. I didt train last night.

 

[thebigt]

So here’s how last night went. Went to bed around 9:40. I took some Melatonin about 30mins before bed. I also took a teaspoon of honey. From what I read it helps with blood sugar during sleep. I woke up this morning feeling great. I know I woke up a couple times during the night. Let the dog outside. But was able to fall back to sleep. I’m going to grab a bottle of the extended release Melatonin today. The one I have is rapid release. I didt train last night.

life is an experiment, you have to find what works best for you.

glad you found something that is working for you, don't be afraid to tweak it some, till you get it right.

 

[The Express 42]

SNS growth Factor XT is one of the most underrated sleep products on the market and I love that it doesn’t contain melatonin which can be easily added if you’d like.

You could take it along with mk677 for better sleep and recovery

 

[LeanEngineer]

SNS growth Factor XT is one of the most underrated sleep products on the market and I love that it doesn’t contain melatonin which can be easily added if you’d like.

You could take it along with mk677 for better sleep and recovery

Agreed on the sns growth factor xt. I can't imagine it stacked with a little melatonin. If that doesn't get you deep sleep i don't know what will!

 

[JD52]

life is an experiment, you have to find what works best for you.

glad you found something that is working for you, don't be afraid to tweak it some, till you get it right.

Very true. So far sleep has been getting a lot better. Melatonin at 9pm with 2 teaspoon honey and milk. I feel my sleep is improving. Still have the slight occasion wake ups. (Arm falls asleep, dog barks to be taken out for restroom). Woke up this morning. Left pec feeling swore, very slight tension in my left side neck area. I’m assuming Stress. Work has been slow etc with the world changes going on.