Having waited a year for my follow up appointment, my t/con with the Endo was pointless.
I have recently posted re 20 years of chronic insomnia, sorry I’m unsure how to tag that post. It included my blood test results.
She claims waking at 1-2am is anxiety, and wants me to take anti anxiety drugs. I explained I am not, and never been anxious. She said it’s different from anti depressants, where you wake at a different time?(I am not depressed either).She then said it was perimenopause, and would put me on progesterone HRT. I explained again that I’ve had it since a stressful event at age 30, had children at 38 and 41, and at 49 am still having regular monthlies, so it clearly wasn’t perimenopause at 30, even if I’m on the perimenopause now. She didn’t even test my progesterone. Her secretary emailed her my blood results, but she hadn’t even looked at them.
I know many people are fobbed off with antidepressants, and I’m assuming the same is happening to me. She tried to get off the phone after 5 minutes and I kept asking her my list of questions, so managed another 10 minutes, but felt it was a complete and utter waste of time.
Do I take anti anxiety drugs when I’m not anxious? I partly control my insomnia with antihistamine (they don’t always work), but would obviously rather find the root cause.
Thank you for any support.
Anxiety…how do I deal with it?
T4 too high with normal TSH
Update on blood test results
My 26 year old daughter is very sick, please help!
Feeling lost and hopeless 
Hm. I guess, for me, it would depend on the medication she's offering. I generally try to stay off them, but I'd research it to see how it works in the brain.
Also, I think you said in the other post that you're on LDN. If so, you might look at taking it at a different time or trying a dose decrease. It can affect sleep, but not sure how long you've been on it.
We can actually start premenopausal symptoms as early as 30 due to our modern diets and lifestyles. Hormone saliva testing and a sleep study might both be warranted.
Thank you. What sort of saliva testing please? Do you mean cortisol/DHEA? I’ve done two, my cortisol is a little low, my DHEA is below range.
Maybe I was perimenopausal at 30, but I’ve had a religious monthly cycle all my life and my Mum and Granny were around 60 when they finished, so was expecting to be a late finisher.
Yes I’m on LDN, I will try a dose increase, thank you. It hasn’t ever had an effect on my sleep for probably 4-5 years I’ve been on it, worth a try. Is there a better time of day to take it for sleep do you know? Thank you.
if your cortisol is low you may be waking up due to blood sugar issues. What time of night are you waking?
Thank you for your help. I wake between 1-2am religiously. I’ve tried a protein snack, which doesn’t work, but if there’s anything else I could try, please let me know!
It sounds counterintuitive but low cortisol has a relationship with insomnia. What were your saliva results when you did them?
thank you. I did them both a few years ago and did post results. Cortisol was low, but not dire and followed the correct pattern. DHEA was below range. Any advice much appreciated thank you
ok, if you have the actual results that would be ideal because the same as thyroid, cortisol needs to be in a specific place in the range to make us feel well. Have you ever supplemented adrenal cortex extract?
this is my last test. Something stressful did happen just before the afternoon test, otherwise is suspect there wouldn’t have been a rise at that point.
I did try adrenavive but didn’t feel any difference
hopefully attached this time
Hey CornishChick, so sorry I didn't get around to replying to this. It slipped through the crack! Your morning cortisol is certainly low. If you read my bio, I've put in there what different sources suggest for treating low cortisol xx
dfc
Green is the preferred area. Yellow area either side are extended reference ranges because some people are naturally a little bit high or low. Red means cortisol is either deficient or elevated, and supports should be considered. You will notice each colour slopes down in a spoon shape to correlate with cortisols natural fall during the day.
The O/P’s morning cortisol level is dead centre in the green area so is actually perfect. .
I’ve come to believe according to STTM that it should be the TOP of the green range for morning, so not dead centre and then 75% through for midday, 50% after that and so on
thank you 😊
no worries 😊 your afternoon is too high, you may need to use the Peatfield method of not using any cortisol support after 12pm and maybe use some cortisol lowing supps like Seriphos for afternoon time slot. As far as I know, this mixture of Lows and Highs is like the stage before they all become low and actually CornishChick I’ve just thought, if these tests were a while back I think I’d re-do the test as you don’t want to run the possible risk of lowering already low cortisol.
Thank you. Something stressful happened just before the afternoon test, which is why I think it spiked. I’m usually most tired at that point! My previous result didn’t spike then, so fairly sure I won’t need to lower it.
I would do another test if it was money no object. Unfortunately I am unable to work at present so I’m living off my husbands income, and already shell out a fortune on supplements so can’t really test again atm sadly.
Thank you so much, it’s very informative. I tried Adrenavive but it didn’t do a thing for me. Is there a glandular you recommend?
I also tried cT3m, but setting an alarm in the early hours is not great for my insomnia, if I was actually asleep, there is zero chance of me getting back off. 😬
I would recommend testing before trialling ACE x
may I ask how I go about the sleep study please? Someone else recommended a sleep clinic, it’s a 41 week wait on the nhs, but I’ll get an appointment
I don't know how you go about getting a sleep study there, but here, the primary care physician has to refer you/prescribe it. There are some that can be taken at home, but I've been told they're not nearly as accurate as going to a clinic. However, I could see the value in both, because at home, your in your usual sleep environment. It can be difficult to fall asleep in a strange place, so I can see how that might have inaccuracies or less information gathering. Even though the equipment is more accurate, it's not your typical environment.
As far as LDN and sleep, if you're taking it for autoimmune, it should be taken around 9:00 p.m. For food addiction, PTSD, anxiety or other issues, I believe it's taken in the morning. Although taking it at night still works for anxiety, depression, chronic pain and PTSD. I would consult your pharmacist to see what he/she recommends. I would think if it's the LDN keeping you awake, you could first try taking it at a different time, and if that doesn't work, see about decreasing it by a half a milligram. At least these are the things that my doctor spoke about. If you look up side effects, "early wake ups" and sleep disturbance are among them.
You should be able to get a comprehensive hormone testing via saliva. My doctor uses ZRT Laboratories. They will send you a kit in the mail. You fill several vials with saliva at different times of the day, freeze it, and then mail it back to them. It tests the different types of estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, etc. Again, you need a good integrative or functional medicine doctor on your side.
I saw that someone else mentioned magnesium. If you haven't already, you could try taking magnesium glycinate at bedtime. Start with the recommended daily dose on the bottle, take that for a week or so, then try adding another capsule for another week, going as high as you can without having loose stool in the morning. Glycinate doesn't cause this as easily as other forms, like oxide. Also, you could add zinc at bedtime as well because it helps in balancing hormones.
Thank you so much. I take LDN for autoimmune but hope it helps pain too! I’ll change to 9pm. Fairly sure LDN isn’t causing the insomnia as been on it 4-5 years, and had the same insomnia 20 years
I do take magnesium, but not that form, so I’ll switch, thank you.
I’ve done cortisol and DHEA saliva tests, but not sex hormones, so I’ll look into that. 😊