Insomnia and Ketosis?

bookyeti

Last night I had serious trouble sleeping. I've never really had this issue before.

My legs, and in general, my entire body felt restless and a bit "wired". I had a difficult time lying still. I was SO tired, and wanted to sleep but my body wouldn't let me. So I spent most of the night in bed, wide awake.

Is this normal with ketosis? Does it pass in time?

LauraDotts

I am a lot more sensitive to caffeine in Keto. I have to watch any caffeine intake in the evening or it will keep me awake. That never use to bother me. I could drink tea, coffee, cola all evening and still sleep. Not anymore, not in keto.

I also find that my muscles get very restless if I go too long not using them. They have this energy they never had before and they want to be used.

kiramaniac

How long have you been following keto?

I remember the first time I did low carb having a similar experience. I remember trying to sleep and feeling super-alert. I felt like I could feel my blood pulsing in my body. It was kind of weird.

These days, I sleep like a rock most nights.

There's a lot happening as you become keto-adapted. Maybe as your brain and body switches over from using glucose for fuel, to using the ketones for fuel, you feel that transition? It seems reasonable that you might perceive some difference in the fuel sources. Just a theory though, and nothing scientific I've seen to support this.

kiramaniac

Hmmm... Found this.

http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Ketosis_Symptoms

As your body adapts to ketones, your symptoms may change or abate altogether. If you are using ketosis strips, your urine may still show ketones present, although probably in far lower concentrations. This is nothing to worry about. The amount of ketones in your urine does not correlate to the rate of weight loss.

As your body adapts to ketones, you may notice the following:

A "buzzed" feeling
Increased energy
Normalized urination frequency
Better sleep
Euphoria
Clear thinking

bacitracin

Maybe you needed some water or potassium/magnesium?

bookyeti

This is Day#6 of Keto for me, so I'm just starting out. But I've been low-carb (100-125g/day) for a month now.

I drank 12 glasses of water that day (and one right before bed too)...in fact most days I get in 10-12 glasses. It wasn't that, I'm quite sure.

It may have been my regular evening tea which I enjoy so much. If that was it, I guess I'll have to have it at lunch instead. :-/

RiesigJay

Yes, I have experienced insomnia on keto. Most notably when I was attending Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes 9 times a week. I felt like a zombie. Even though I was dead-dog tired, I couldn't sleep. Ever seen the movie Into the Wild? Remember that scene towards the end of the movie with McCandless by the bus, with his mouth open, in a daze? It was like that.

Turns out a keto/CKD diet is incompatible with such long-duration, anaerobic activity. Needed a TKD.

I no longer do jiu jitsu but I have difficulty sleeping when I want to. So, sometimes take I'll take a melatonin tablet to help me sleep.

bookyeti

Sorry to hear you've struggled with insomnia too.

I've not been doing any strength training - just walking every day for 20-30 minutes, and sometimes adding in a half hour of Zumba or dancing. I still struggle with energy issues (most likely my hypothyroidism), so it's all I can handle at the moment. Since I started Keto, not much though, as I don't want to end the day with a huge calorie deficit.

I hope tonight will be different - I'm going to skip my evening tea and have save a higher-carb snack prior to bed. We'll see what happens.

I have tried Melatonin before but it's never done much for me. :-/