| Whats New in SHINE Part IV: Waking Up in the Middle of the Night |
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Jacob Teitelbaum MD is Medical Director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers
(www.fibroandfatigue.com). Senior author of the landmark studies "Effective Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia -- a Placebo-controlled Study" & "Effective Treatment of CFS & Fibromyalgia with D-Ribose". Author of the best-selling book "From Fatigued to Fantastic!"(3rd ed-Penguin/Avery Oct 4, 2007) , "Three Steps to Happiness! Healing through Joy", and "Pain Free 1-2-3- A Proven Program to Get YOU Pain Free!" (McGraw Hill, 2006). He does numerous media appearances, including CNN and FOX National News and is a frequent guest on Oprah and Friends with Dr. Oz.. He lives in Kona, Hawaii. Visit his web site at www.Vitality101.com
You can benefit from Dr. Teitelbaum's wisdom and experience by visiting us at The Environmental Illness Resource regularly to read articles from his latest newsletter!
Monday, October 31st, 2011:
Just as I did in the first 3 parts of this series, in part 4 I again focus on sleep. This time I look at a pattern that bedevils the nights of most patients with CFS and fibromyalgia — waking up between 2 and 4 a.m. in the morning and being unable to go back to sleep. Why does this happen and how can you prevent it? Is it nighttime adrenal and low blood sugar problems? Acid reflux? Other causes? This week you'll find out!
Don't you hate it when you wake up, glance at the alarm clock, and realize that it's 2:00, 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., you're wide awake — and unlikely to go back to sleep anytime soon? Well, if misery loves company, you have a lot of company. This type of insomnia is very common among my patients with CFS/FM. For many years we didn't understand why this happened. What was waking so many people up? Why were they being so abruptly exiled from Dreamland? The good news is that we've discovered the cause. The even better news is that because we know the cause, we also now know the cures.
First, an explanation of the cause: Your body functions in natural cycles. You inhale and then exhale. Your heart beats and then rests. The same cyclic pattern is true of your hormones — levels naturally rise and fall, often in synch with the day/night cycle of the planet. In fact, there's even a master clock in the brain that responds to light and regulates hormones. And that clock reports to an area of the brain called the hypothalamus — the very area that has "blown a fuse" in CFS/FM! As a result, natural levels of the hormone cortisol can be reversed in patients with CFS/FM. Generated by the adrenal gland, cortisol is called a "stress hormone" because it helps your body respond to any physical, mental or emotional challenge. That includes helping control levels of blood sugar (glucose), your body's main fuel. Needless to say, the tide of cortisol should be high during the day (when you're active and need to be on your toes) and low at bedtime (when your body is ready for eight or more hours of refreshing R&R). But it was recently discovered that in many folks with CFS/FM that pattern is reversed. Cortisol is too low during the day, causing daytime fatigue. It's too high in the evening, when you should be feeling sleepy. And it's once again too low in the middle of the night, causing blood sugar levels to drop — which wakes you up.
Here are a few very effective recommendations: 1. Get natural and prescription sleep support. To begin, you should review my recent articles on natural sleep support and prescription sleep support and sleep hygiene. After that, consider trying these two excellent natural sleep formulas:
2. Eat a high-protein snack at bedtime. Wake up wide awake or in a sweat during the night? In those with adrenal exhaustion (very common in CFS), low blood sugar is common during the night. Just eating 1 ounce of cheese, turkey or other high-protein food at bedtime stabilizes blood sugar levels throughout the night, so you're less likely to wake up from low blood sugar while sleeping. Try it for a night or 2 to see if it helps. 3. If you wake up with night sweats, check other hormone levels. If you're a man, you may have a testosterone deficiency (see Can Testosterone Be Good for You?). If you're a woman, you may have low levels of estrogen (see Excessive Sweating: Estrogen and Progesterone Deficiency). 4. Treat acid reflux. Acid reflux — also called heartburn or GERD (gastrointestinal reflux disease) — is an incredibly common problem in patients with CFS/FM — and in everybody else, with an estimated 30 million Americans having regular bouts. What's happening? The food-dissolving hydrochloric acid of the stomach "refluxes" up through the esophageal sphincter into the esophagus and throat, where it doesn't belong. That means you're even more at risk for acid reflux when you're sleeping and when gravity can't keep the acid in the stomach where it belongs. During sleep, you inhale the acid, break into a sweat, and wake up wide awake — not even realizing you've had reflux! A simple test? For 1-2 nights take an acid blocker at bedtime (e.g., Zantac or Prilosec) to see if it helps. Don’t use these long term though, as they get toxic and worsen the problem. You’re just using them 1-2 nights to see if you sleep better. If they do, stop them and then follow these few simple actions to help keep nighttime heartburn under control:
Used with permission from Dr Jacob Teitelbaum's free newsletters-available at www.Vitality101.com
Learn more from Dr. Teitelbaum's books:
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