saracv8 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I'm on day 55 of my first whole30 (it went so well I've carried on) but find I now need an absolute minimum of 9 hours sleep a night but ideally 10. There are just not enough hours in the day! I've always slept well (8 hours every night and 9 if possible) but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and is it likely to change? I feel great on W30 but have never had this big increase in energy that I read about. I decided to do a W30 because of unexplaned chronic systemic inflammation (5 times the normal range) that was picked up in blood tests two and a half years ago. Medical tests dont reveal any cause and after reading It Starts With food, I realised I had many conditions that were all linked (eczema, dairy intolerance, allergies) so thought I would give it a go. My doctor isnt convinced it will work (apparently 'diet isn't known to affect systemic inflammation') but is humouring me and agreed to do more blood tests after 3-4 months on W30. Last bit of info that might be relevant, I had a tumour in my thyroid two and half yrs ago and had half the thyroid removed. The remaining half is working OK and I'm not on any meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary-t Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 It may be that your body is requiring more sleep to get caught up on repair and maintenance that hasn't happened due to the inflammation. I also had systemic inflammation (caused by numerous food intolerances and Celiac). At the height of those problems, I wanted to sleep as much as possible, but it wasn't healing sleep. Now, I'm sleeping 8-10 hours/night and it's deep, restful sleep. My best suggestion is to just try to be patient and kind to yourself and fit the sleep in. Your body needs to heal itself and sleep is key to that. During my "exhausted years", I stopped watching TV and set an early bedtime for myself that was non-negotiable. It wasn't fun, but it helped. I can be more flexible with it now, but I still go to bed earlier than most. I figure, in the long run, it'll pay off. It might also be worthwhile to make sure that your thyroid is currently producing enough (although if you're hypoactive, you'd have more symptoms than just fatigue). My levels tend to flucuate depending on the inflammation. Hang in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saracv8 Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 I wanted to update my post as my need for sleep has finally decreased back to 8 or 9 hours a night. It took about 5 months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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