camilart Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Hi everyone, Hubby and I are on Day 26. We have been 100% compliant with the programme from Day 1, which is such an achievement, especially for me. But we are both exhausted. Not only from all the cooking (does anyone else feel they're chained to their kitchen?!?!?) but because we can't sleep. It started in the first week and it's been about three weeks now. We go to bed, toss and turn for a long time before being able to sleep, then wake up in the middle of the night - 2, 3, 4am. Sometimes we manage to go back to sleep after a long time and wake up again before or around 6am. Other times one of us, or both, can't go back to sleep at all. I'm getting very grumpy and struggling to perform at work. My best nights over the past three weeks have given me six hours of sleep, most days I get five, other days (like last night) I get a grand total of four hours of rest. It's definitely not enough for me. I haven't eaten absolutely anything that is not on the shopping list and have stuck to the meal template - a portion of meat wit loads of veggies and some good fat, three times a day. I drink lots of water. Once a day I have a portion of berries. I haven't been overeating nor undereating. I have kept my usual level of exercise - not a lot, but I take stairs, walk to places instead of driving and so on. I have no idea what's going on. I think this eating plan makes all the sense in the world and I would love to continue after my Whole 30, but I can't function without sleep. HELP, please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitgirlH Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Are you taking in enough fats? I find when i don't have enough fats in me i suffer with my workouts, my sleep, my thinking, my moods...everything. I have also started taking a Magnesium supplement which has helped me fall into (usually) a deep sleep with no problems; i have always had a very difficult time falling asleep up until i started the Mg supplementation. i'm sorry you feel so exhausted, that is an awful feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 ugh! not good! What's your meal timing look like? Do you eat dinner very close to when you are going to bed? there could be some blood sugar stuff going on that's waking you up. Other than that, it sounds like it would be a cortisol issue...are you guys very active (read: toooo active) or very stressed at work? Give me some more information and maybe we can narrow down the root cause. Oh, are you sleeping in a COMPLETELY dark room, with all the glowing electronics shut off? In the meantime, fitgirl's suggestion of a magnesium supplement is a good one. It's one of the minerals (along with iodine) that Paleo/Whole30 can be light on if you aren't careful...so maybe try that and see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennrider Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 I have been taking Natural Calm before bed. I used to have to read a few hours before I could fall asleep. I now read about 15 minutes and then I'm tired. It takes me forever to read a book, but it's worth it. I hope you get sleep soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camilart Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 Hi ladies, Thank you for the sympathy and for all the suggestions. It's all VERY weird because I can see how everything you're saying would make perfect sense... but doesn't seem to apply to us! The weird thing is, nothing has changed except the content of our diet. Our bedroom isn't the darkest in the universe (we have blinds that let some light in and unfortunately we can't change them because we rent) but it was like this before, and we never had any problems. A couple of weeks ago I even started wearing a sleep mask but that didn't help. I cook with ghee and coconut oil, pour lots of olive oil on my veggies, eat avocados and nuts. I think the fat intake is OK. We also take daily multivitamins (Primal Blueprint) that have 400 mg of magnesium in them – is that enough, for those of you in the know? The label says it's 100% of the recommended intake but maybe we need more? Again, this is something we have been taking for over a year, no changes there. We usually have dinner about 3 hours before bed time. I wouldn't say we're stressed – we used to be, but since moving to Australia from the UK in February we are living a very relaxed lifestyle. I work from home doing something I like and hubby has a 5 minute commute. Definitely not too active, more on the lazy side, but again, exactly the same as always. My husband runs, but not excessively, and hasn't really changed his exercise routine in the past month. The only thing I can think of is that it might be the lack of diary in our diet – don't people drink milk before bed to induce sleep? I'll try that once I'm off the hook on October 1st and see how it goes. Thanks again, everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennrider Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 You might need a little exercise. I did not do much the first week. When I got the energy burst, I had to move to expend some of the excess. Try adding in a walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brujinus Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I would bet you are lacking carbs. When I do low carb - and lots of non-starchy veggies IS low carb - I can't sleep well, and I've met other people with the same problem. Eat a sweet potato before you go to sleep and I think it will get better. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earlyriser Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I would agree with Brujinus (i've also met people with the same challenge). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DandJ Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 About 3 weeks ago I dropped sugar and grains, and decreased fruit to 1-2 servings a day, unlimited veggies, and lots of healthy fat and feel great but like you had a hard time sleeping, waking several times a night. From what I read, it may be the process of our bodies learning to burn fat v. Glucose. It is like chaos in our body for a bit. I think the more drastic the reduction in carbs, the more symptoms. Even though whol 30 is not up posed to be low carb, it is compared to what most people were eating prior to. I am doing much better the last few nights and I have increased the carbs. Good luck because we know wht a difference good sleep makes! Oh forgot to say I have been eating a little hard cheese those first 3 weeks and it I'd not matter for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMT_582 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I'm so glad I'm not the only one. I've long had some sleep issues, but they've only gotten worse on Whole30 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyD Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I had this EXACT thing happen to me during my Whole30+. I started going to bed at 10-10:30 p.m. and then I would wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. and be up for 2 hours before I would fall back asleep. My room is entirely blacked out, I take Natural Calm, I haven't eaten dairy in years and slept great up until that point, I eat enough fat and carbs... you know, everything that's supposed to be right. I actually started just treating these 2 hours as special alone time so I wouldn't get so stressed about it, thinking maybe it was stress. That didn't change anything either. I have no idea what happened, but I stayed Whole30 for over 50 days and now I eat a Whole30-style diet with the exception of some white potatoes. I found out I was pregnant a week and a half ago, and now I don't fall asleep until midnight, BUT I sleep 8 hours straight now. Go figure. I'm assuming I stay up late because of excitement, but the fact that I sleep 8 hours straight when for over a month I've only been able to block about 6 every night is different. I doubt it's pregnancy hormones doing that this early, so maybe it is just an issue that works itself out after enough time. ?? It may be worth sticking to eating totally clean for a while longer to see if this does resolve on it's own. I wish I knew the answer since this affected me, too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my body is done doing this crap to me because, frankly, it is annoying to wake up for 2 hours in the night all the time!! If you find something that works, please post it here because I'd love to know too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quotidianlight Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I wish I knew the answer since this affected me, too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my body is done doing this crap to me because, frankly, it is annoying to wake up for 2 hours in the night all the time!! If you find something that works, please post it here because I'd love to know too! Waking up for 2 hrs mid night may not actually be a "problem". There is historical evidence of 1st sleep (4hrs) followed by 2 hrs of wakefulness (mommy daddy time singing checking for tigers etc) then something called 2nd sleep being the historical normal with 8hrs straight sleep being somewhat new. If you are in a couple completely dark space and eating well this may be you default normal. Do a search for 1st sleep 2nd sleep. There's a lot of info on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quotidianlight Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 What time are you going to bed? Are there ANY lights in your room? When do you eat dinner. I highly recommend the book lights out. It may be that you go to bed too late or in too bright a space and your body clock can't finish resetting like it wants. I think when we eat primal our bodies reset to earlier time. Lights, clock faces cell phone etc can really confused that process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyD Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I've heard that it might be normal for humans to wake up for a period of time in the night, which is why I tried to embrace it. Thanks for giving it a name. I searched for that and wound up reading all kinds of interesting ideas of how to use that time. It's nice to read stuff written by others who've learned to love that kind of sleep. I also read things that made me realize that I may have had this style of sleeping for many years in my 20's, but treated it like insomnia and didn't just honor what was going on. Wow, maybe I could have saved myself a lot of suffering if I had known this!! Ok, so if it starts up again, now I know a better way to think of it. I appreciate being able to give it a name and know that this isn't actually weird at all. It's the stressing out about it that makes it hard to go back to sleep for those final two hours, but when I did get back to sleep, I really did feel rested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I am frusterated with my sleeping too. I'm on day 11 and I have two young children who wake me up sometimes but it is getting back to sleep that is hard. My room isn't completely dark so I need to get some blackout curtains. (I tried a sleep mask but it was uncomfortable). I too get enough fat, have been following this program to a T and eat some starchy veggies like sweet potatoes and squash. I know it is still early in the program but I'm just bummed because I was so looking forward to better sleep and waking up rested. I'm wondering if the Natural Calm helps you stay asleep or just fall asleep initially. I don't have a problem falling asleep. It's just that I"ll wake up to the slightest sounds or my husband snoring or my kids crying and then lay there so tired. By the time I fall asleep someone or something else is waking me up! Is it too early to assume that I should be getting good nights sleep?? (I was eating paleo before this program since December so my body is somewhat used to it, I'm just not typically this strict) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Strathdee Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Waking up for 2 hrs mid night may not actually be a "problem". There is historical evidence of 1st sleep (4hrs) followed by 2 hrs of wakefulness (mommy daddy time singing checking for tigers etc) then something called 2nd sleep being the historical normal with 8hrs straight sleep being somewhat new. If you are in a couple completely dark space and eating well this may be you default normal. Do a search for 1st sleep 2nd sleep. There's a lot of info on it. I wonder if this is true for paleo kiddos, too! My youngest wakes up like clockwork in the same window every night. She goes back to sleep easily, but it would totally make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quotidianlight Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I would think so. I think as long as they are well rested the next day and they eat well, sleep in a good environment and don't snore, I wouldn't worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyD Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 I am frusterated with my sleeping too. I'm on day 11 and I have two young children who wake me up sometimes but it is getting back to sleep that is hard. My room isn't completely dark so I need to get some blackout curtains. (I tried a sleep mask but it was uncomfortable). I too get enough fat, have been following this program to a T and eat some starchy veggies like sweet potatoes and squash. I know it is still early in the program but I'm just bummed because I was so looking forward to better sleep and waking up rested. I'm wondering if the Natural Calm helps you stay asleep or just fall asleep initially. I don't have a problem falling asleep. It's just that I"ll wake up to the slightest sounds or my husband snoring or my kids crying and then lay there so tired. By the time I fall asleep someone or something else is waking me up! For me, Natural Calm helps me fall asleep, but I don't know if it helps me fall back asleep if something wakes me up. I know what you're talking about, not being able to fall back asleep after stuff/kids get you up - especially if it happens more than once a night. That may just be a stress reaction you might have to work through. Do you do yoga? I'd really recommend doing yoga everyday for a while and seeing if it helps you out. Yoga has been the only thing that has helped me break the stress response to having a zillion things wake me up in the night. Where I used to live, it was always one stupid thing after another most nights, and I would wind up not falling back asleep anticipating the next stupid thing. It was only after I did yoga most days that I started to break that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitgirlH Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I take 500mg before bed (magnesium) and I have one 250mg tablet with two of my meals. The only negative effect I have had would be the loose bowels. Milk before bed is thought to be calming but that's the magnesium I expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitjm5 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Our bedroom isn't the darkest in the universe (we have blinds that let some light in and unfortunately we can't change them because we rent) but it was like this before, and we never had any problems. A couple of weeks ago I even started wearing a sleep mask but that didn't help. I'm not a lady, but I think I can help. I'm a shift worker, and had HORRIBLE sleep when all I had were blinds/curtains. Enter http://www.shiftshade.com/. I bought two, cut them to size and my room is MUCH darker now (nothing to screw or nail in). I'm not associated with the company in any way, but wanted to share what worked for me. I even took it a step further and bought weatherstripping for the bedroom door to block light leakage there. I set the thermo to 73 degrees and put on two fans. I sleep like a baby and wake up before I'm supposed to. Hope that helps. My wife and I finishing up day 9 and our sleep has been restless the last couple of nights. Not sure why... I'll be following this thread. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I tried the Natural Calm and like it. I've just been adding hot water as the directions say. Can you add it to something else like herbal tea or does it have to be just water? Just wondering because I don't really care for the taste. Only bummer is I have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Strathdee Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I think you're fine to mix it into tea :0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chichi Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 I know this is an old thread but I just found it-- I'm nearing the end of my 3rd Whole 30 and I feel like this is my only problem with the program for me! Can't fall asleep at night, wake up a hundred times. It induces something like mania because I get past the week of tiger blood and into the week where I'm still not sleeping but still have lots of awake energy but it turns into a sort of wired, scatter-brained exhaustion. My caffeine consumption has gone way down this time (previously had a cup and a half of coffee between 5-6 and another cup between 1-2, now I've cut out my midday caffeine), I am exercising regularly, and eating a lot of starches and fats. Everything else about the 30 days feels like it's going great. Has anybody got this nut cracked? Do you just wait it out? I don't know how long it takes your body to adjust to being fat-adapted, if that's the issue here. I definitely feel like I've been satiated between meals, and have had to post-pone meals by 2 or 3 hours because of work sometimes and it doesn't get me feeling absolutely panicky like it used to (assuming because my blood sugar isn't crashing the way it did before). I also happen to be on day 26. Anybody who has experienced this come out the other side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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