Adrenal Fatigue - Sleep maintenance insomnia / ... - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

137,142 members160,827 posts

Adrenal Fatigue - Sleep maintenance insomnia / low blood sugar

FitnessMike profile image
2 Replies

i have Adrenal fatigue, i feel perfectly okay except one think which was issue since the beginning of my AF journey, insomnia caused by low blood sugar at night. Before when i had no knowledge about the AF, and before my issue deteriorated, i could have sleep except i was waking up every 3 hours(2 sleep cycle) and going back to sleep. As AF progressed and my knowledge along with it, im not able to sleep more than around 4 hours,with waking up in between.

I use to have more severe hypoglycemia symptoms in the past during the day but then i figured what i can and cant eat/do and its perfectly fine during the day. So generally my body still cope to have in range lvl of hormones during the day, and i feel okay (besides the fact im sleep deprived often), but at night i do wake up every 1.5/2.5 hours- either after one or almost two sleep cycles for total 4-5 hours of sleep. sometimes is better and i think i figured something out but its not the case. I was testing a lot with liquorice root but after months of trying i thrown it to the bin as it was causing too much cortisol i believe and i couldn't really find right dosage, just the exaclt amount for helping me with low blood sugar at night. im trying now your suggestion regards many small meals and snacks. i also am testing rehmannia herb, similar to liquorice so we will see, today will try one dosage closer before bed, hope wont be too much. i also am taking low dosage pregnenalone in the morning less than 5mg. So yes, if i could only make something, ANYTHING to go through the night, i believe i would start healing properly. i also believe its the only on major stressor, lack of sleep caused by hypoglycemia. also small carbs snack at night isnt good enough, i typically sleep 1.5 hour after night time snack. Qestion is, have you managed your insomnia caused by low cortisol/blood sugar at night somehow? any supplements ? adaptogens?

Mike

Written by
FitnessMike profile image
FitnessMike
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
2 Replies
SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Do you have a thyroid problem?

Are you on Levothyroxine?

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

Thyroid and adrenals closely linked

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Low B vitamins and low vitamin D can be cause behind insomnia ....both common with hypothyroidism

If vitamin D is low, B vitamins may be too. As explained by Dr Gominack

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

humanbean profile image
humanbean

im trying now your suggestion regards many small meals and snacks.

This is not a good idea. It means that your body will be producing insulin all the time, in order to digest all those meals and snacks. If you are insulin resistant on top of your other health problems then you could be producing *LOTS* of insulin all the time during your waking hours. High levels of insulin make people fat.

What kind of diet do you eat? Is it heavily based on carbohydrates and/or sugar? You need protein and fat to be healthy. They are essential to life. Carbs and sugar aren't essential.

This website has lots of useful articles and dietary advice :

dietdoctor.com/

Losing weight is not mandatory. :D

If you really believe that you have hypoglycemia have you considered buying a blood sugar monitor of the type that diabetics use so you can find out for certain? The gadgets themselves are quite cheap, it is the test strips that are expensive. Another option ... Much more expensive... is to invest in a Freestyle Libre device. It measures blood sugar in the spaces between cells and does it every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day.

Other useful links :

diabetes.co.uk/

diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_car...

diabetes.co.uk/forum/

diabetes.co.uk/forum/catego...

Have you ever done a cortisol saliva test? It will show you whether you actually have adrenal fatigue or below optimal cortisol or not. At the moment you seem to be trying to fix a problem that may not even exist.

The best private saliva cortisol tests that I know of are :

regeneruslabs.com/products/...

gdx.net/uk/product/adrenal-...

(Note that Genova doesn't work directly with the public.)

For more info on private testing :

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

The last link above explains how to order Genova tests, and how to get your results.

You may also like...

Blood test results for possible adrenal problems and chronic insomnia

cocktails. Also LDN, just started CBD for sleep. My main symptom is chronic insomnia, waking at...

Adrenal fatigue and low cortisol

Treating low cortisol/adrenal issues is difficult and there r lots of options, from adrenal...

Chronic adrenal fatigue; low DHEA levels

- Premature aging. - Blood sugar fluctuations, hypoglycemia. - Low sex drive. - Hair loss. -...

Low blood sugar symptoms

been having symptoms of low blood sugar ? I have been extremely tired after waking sweating a lot...

Hypoglycemia/low blood sugar

struggling with my blood sugar. I wake up feeling ravenous, and sometimes I wake up with a...