Hello? Body?
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In the last few months I've been introduced to the idea that eating carbs at dinner can help you sleep better and I have toyed with the idea but the last 2 nights decided to start trying it out. This experimenting is born out of that!
How interesting! I really hope it helps with your sleep issues!ProCoffeenator wrote: »Sleep. My weekends are usually when I get the most. During the week I'm extremely lucky to get 6.
I'm the same way @ProCoffeenator! lol0 -
Phrick,
Are you a "woman of a certain age?"
I ask because severe chronic insomnia has been a companion of mine for many years, since the onset of peri-menopausal symptoms.
The only thing that has ever really helped (aside from Ativan, which is lovely and dangerously addictive and to be avoided if possible) is my bio-identical progesterone. Progesterone worked so well that for the first time in many years I started sleeping 7 hours a night. It was like a miracle, I kid you not.
Last year my partner was diagnosed with cancer and my sleep degraded again from the stress and worry and became quite bad again.
My ND has just adjusted my dose up a bit and that, along with the tips I got here, has put my sleep back to the 6 hours a night realm, which is a huge relief. I'm hoping that once I feel better my sleep will improve a bit more.
hehe, not quite yet - I'm 38 (but did have a hysterectomy in May of this year -kept ovaries though). Even Ativan doesn't do the trick for me I'm in the really heavy duty stuff now (valium every night, hate to think of when I stop taking that).1 -
so 44g of carbs from red potatoes this evening, chopped up and fried with zero carb sausage. Yummy! Now I'll just have to see how sleep is tonight!0
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My sleep got a lot worse doing keto... at least for the first 5 weeks... Then I dropped my carbs from 50 net carbs to 30 net carbs... and about a week later I noticed I was getting sleepy around 10 PM and then was falling asleep as soon as I went to bed (that never happens unless I'm in crash and burn mode from a long stretch of insomnia), sleeping soundly, and waking up without an alarm between 7:30 to 8:30 AM, feeling refreshed... WTH??! I thought it was just a one off, a two off... a three off... but now it's been over two weeks now and I'm still sleeping great and waking up rested... Not sure if that might help... but from one tired insomniac to another it feels like a flippin' miracle!!2
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I've noticed eating before bed helps me sleep! My go to night time snack is cottage cheese and natural peanut butter. About 10g total carbs in one sitting.1
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@RalfLott, nope. I almost never have trouble napping. Occasionally if I've overdone the coffee it'll take an extra 20 min to fall asleep - or if it is too hot in our room (which we've solved with a window AC unit now so that shouldn't be an issue anymore I hope), but beyond that I'm usually Lights Out in under 5 minutes, nap time or bedtime. it's the STAYING asleep part that kills me. Even with heavy doses of meds (5mg valium + 150mg Trazodone + 400mg mag glycinate) at bedtime I generally wake after 2.5-3 hours most nights and on lucky nights I fall asleep again after that.
My husband had this problem for years. It got slightly better when we changed to LCHF but nowhere near normal sleep. Then he tried a new doctor who prescribed LDN before sleep (it had to be taken between 10pm and midnight). It was a miracle. He started having full eight hour sleep nights. He took it for a year, stopped a couple months ago and so far the sleep stays normal.
I researched it at the time and the use for this end is fringe at best but it did work where nothing else would. You may want to try this, if the potatoes fail you.
There's lots of info online, this is the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-dose_naltrexone
::flowerforyou::2 -
anewlifeat40 wrote: »My sleep got a lot worse doing keto... at least for the first 5 weeks... Then I dropped my carbs from 50 net carbs to 30 net carbs... and about a week later I noticed I was getting sleepy around 10 PM and then was falling asleep as soon as I went to bed (that never happens unless I'm in crash and burn mode from a long stretch of insomnia), sleeping soundly, and waking up without an alarm between 7:30 to 8:30 AM, feeling refreshed... WTH??! I thought it was just a one off, a two off... a three off... but now it's been over two weeks now and I'm still sleeping great and waking up rested... Not sure if that might help... but from one tired insomniac to another it feels like a flippin' miracle!!
I legit love keto and want to have the benefits that people talk about - improved sleep, improved stability of mood, decreased hunger, decreased pain (arthritis and migraine for me), better training performance... unfortunately I have a big "BUT" with it:
I have bipolar disorder and try as I might, my brain just can't handle keto levels of low carb. I have now given it nearly a year's worth of trial in two chunks, the first being 4 months and the second just over 6 months, and in both instances the purported benefits just did not manifest for me. I became in fact MORE irritable, MORE anxious, MORE volatile, MORE tearful, unstable, and depressed. I gave up the first attempt after becoming suicidal and nearly being hospitalized (however I had missed several days in a row of medication and wasn't sure if that or the diet or both was the factor so I tried it again with more or less same result - but at least I didn't let it get to suicidal this time).
I am trying to find the sweet spot where I can still be low carb without all that. It appears my "happy zone" is between 50 ad 75g carbs/day so I set my goal as 65g. I rarely hit it, which is actually something I need to pay more attention to honestly. Yesterday right up until dinner, I was at 9g carbs for the whole day and was quite irritable, anti-social, and EXTRA tired (beyond usual haha) - not sure if it was the wheat the day before (garlic bread) or the very very low carb count that did me in (or the combination) but it is something worth noting and paying attention to.2 -
@KetoGirl83 thanks for that, it's making for interesting reading this morning! I have a pretty progressive doctor and there is a compounding pharmacy in my town, i think I will ask him about it when I get home.1
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@KetoGirl83 do you meal plan ahead of time? Maybe that could help you reach your macros and help you not trigger the yucks from eating high carb foods?0
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7/24 update: 2 small(ish) red potatoes knocked me right out, and for about 7 hours - unfortunately, it was an almost immediate effect so I ended up asleep for the night at 6:30 (and consequently, up for the day at about 1:30 this morning). So far definitely the most effective sleep agent. I wonder if quantity plays a role too (because asleep for the night at 6:30 is too early even for me, and I kind of wonder if the 44g carbs from the taters was just too much).2
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ProCoffeenator wrote: »@KetoGirl83 do you meal plan ahead of time? Maybe that could help you reach your macros and help you not trigger the yucks from eating high carb foods?
@ProCoffeenator is this for me or for @Phrick?
::flowerforyou::0 -
KetoGirl83 wrote: »ProCoffeenator wrote: »@KetoGirl83 do you meal plan ahead of time? Maybe that could help you reach your macros and help you not trigger the yucks from eating high carb foods?
@ProCoffeenator is this for me or for @Phrick?
::flowerforyou::
It was for you @KetoGirl830 -
Shadowmf023 wrote: »Interesting. Lol.
I can't say I've had sleepless nights on keto yet. (Well I have, but that's because of sinus infection and I couldn't breathe. Lol)
I've noticed that I skip my afternoon nap these days. But that's not a bad thing, that I've lost my afternoon slump.
@Shadowmf023 - chronic awful insomnia has been my horrible companion for the better part of 13 years. That "best night's sleep in years" was 6h 34m in one night (I did get up to pee but that was it). A "typical" night is just under 4 hours, a bad night around 2 hours. I nap daily to compensate. It's bad. Low carb is OK but keto levels of LC make it worse.
In the last few months I've been introduced to the idea that eating carbs at dinner can help you sleep better and I have toyed with the idea but the last 2 nights decided to start trying it out. This experimenting is born out of that!
I've often read that carbs with dinner (potatoes in particular) are good for sleep. I generally eat more then.
I've been battling insomnia since per-menopause reared its ugly head. Not fun.0 -
ProCoffeenator wrote: »KetoGirl83 wrote: »ProCoffeenator wrote: »@KetoGirl83 do you meal plan ahead of time? Maybe that could help you reach your macros and help you not trigger the yucks from eating high carb foods?
@ProCoffeenator is this for me or for @Phrick?
::flowerforyou::
It was for you @KetoGirl83
@ProCoffeenator I'm confused. What makes you think I get "the yucks from eating high carb foods"?
I don't plan meals ahead, but it's been a long time since I had a really high carb food. "High carb" for me now is too much yogurt (I use it instead of a meal in Summer) or a small portion of non berries fruit. It's been almost 2 years since I had grains in any form, potatoes or rice. Even a small portion of beans is a treat I had only 2 or 3 times since I started LCHF on September 2014. My meals are usually very simple, meat/fish and/or eggs and some greens, maybe a small tomato.
::flowerforyou::0 -
@KetoGirl83 apparently I misread this morning when I saw a response in the thread. My apologies!!1
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anewlifeat40 wrote: »My sleep got a lot worse doing keto... at least for the first 5 weeks... Then I dropped my carbs from 50 net carbs to 30 net carbs... and about a week later I noticed I was getting sleepy around 10 PM and then was falling asleep as soon as I went to bed (that never happens unless I'm in crash and burn mode from a long stretch of insomnia), sleeping soundly, and waking up without an alarm between 7:30 to 8:30 AM, feeling refreshed... WTH??! I thought it was just a one off, a two off... a three off... but now it's been over two weeks now and I'm still sleeping great and waking up rested... Not sure if that might help... but from one tired insomniac to another it feels like a flippin' miracle!!
I legit love keto and want to have the benefits that people talk about - improved sleep, improved stability of mood, decreased hunger, decreased pain (arthritis and migraine for me), better training performance... unfortunately I have a big "BUT" with it:
I have bipolar disorder and try as I might, my brain just can't handle keto levels of low carb. I have now given it nearly a year's worth of trial in two chunks, the first being 4 months and the second just over 6 months, and in both instances the purported benefits just did not manifest for me. I became in fact MORE irritable, MORE anxious, MORE volatile, MORE tearful, unstable, and depressed. I gave up the first attempt after becoming suicidal and nearly being hospitalized (however I had missed several days in a row of medication and wasn't sure if that or the diet or both was the factor so I tried it again with more or less same result - but at least I didn't let it get to suicidal this time).
I am trying to find the sweet spot where I can still be low carb without all that. It appears my "happy zone" is between 50 ad 75g carbs/day so I set my goal as 65g. I rarely hit it, which is actually something I need to pay more attention to honestly. Yesterday right up until dinner, I was at 9g carbs for the whole day and was quite irritable, anti-social, and EXTRA tired (beyond usual haha) - not sure if it was the wheat the day before (garlic bread) or the very very low carb count that did me in (or the combination) but it is something worth noting and paying attention to.
Honestly, it's not for everyone. My husband is insulin sensitive, and he's MISERABLE to be around when he's not getting enough carbs and sugar. He's constantly hungry and gets "hangry" if he goes too long between meals. You definitely need to do what's best for YOUR body. Zero judgement from this zone... If your body is happy with more carbs, that's what you should do. *hugs*3 -
@Phrick - how's it going? Did you ever stop eating potatoes and switch to magnesium? I'm going to start taking mine before bed, I always just took it in the a.m. because I'm a ball of electricity in the morning, and have NO issue falling asleep at night, but I feel ya, because I'm going to be 44 in a few months, and I have had this thing where I'm at 4 no matter what, pretty much almost always once a week at most. But that was also something my mom and grandma both did, when I was a kid. Probably perimenopausal, as my mom was full-blown starting hers around early 50s.0
