Can’t sleep more than 5 hours on keto


#1

So I can’t say enough good things about how much I love being in ketosis except for one major problem: I cannot buy a good night’s sleep to save my life.

I have zero problem getting to sleep and staying asleep for the first 5 hours but then BAM! It’s like somebody hit me with a shot of pure adrenaline.

Like clockwork, always at hour 5, I wake up with a racing heart and I’m so damn mentally alert it’s just impossible to go back to sleep.

Things I’ve already tried:
-upping my electrolytes throughout the day and especially before bed (sodium, potassium and magnesium)
-Meditation (I’m a seasoned meditator and I meditate 30 minutes before bed every day)
-Apple cider vinegar + raw honey combination before bed (doesn’t fully take me out of keto, surprisingly)
-Every type of natural sleep aid you can imagine just about (melatonin, valerian root, l-tryptophan and 5-HTP, l-theanine, phosphatidylserine, CBD oil… am I missing anything?)

HELP PLEASE. Is there anything left I can do or do I just have to give up on keto? I really don’t want to give it up because of all the benefits but I just don’t see myself being able to continue living life on 4-5 hours sleep.


(Shayne) #2

Here’s a question to ask before getting into ways to help extend your sleep: Are you being negatively affected during your waking hours? If not, then it’s nothing to worry about and maybe that’s your new normal.

If you are, then we start looking at other things.
Is your bedroom dark enough?
Is it cool enough?
Have you moved all electronic devices away from/out of the bedroom? (my sleep improved when I unplugged my sleep number bed and the TV in my room).
Have you tried lavender aromatherapy?
Have you tried GABA?
Is it possible that you have an apnea and could benefit from a CPAP machine (you can get an at home test, mine cost $99).


(Shayne) #3

Or it could be the Dawn phenomenon - when your blood sugar drops too low and your body hits you with some counter regulatory hormones like adrenaline and glucagon to bump it up - which also wakes you up. These two articles, one from Virta Health and one from IDM, might be helpful.

https://blog.virtahealth.com/dawn-phenomenon/

https://idmprogram.com/dawn-phenomenon-t2d-8/


#4

Hey, thanks for the reply!

I would honestly say I feel somewhere in the middle. I definitely feel like crap but I also have a ton of energy from the keto… The best analogy I could make is it’s like taking caffeine or other stimulants when you’re dog tired and you feel simultaneously very exhausted but wired and alert at the same time. Kind of a paradox to feel simultaneously tired and have energy, I know. I think perhaps if I need eight hours of sleep on a normal diet maybe I only need 6.5-7 on keto or something like that but 4.5-5 hrs I feel just isn’t enough for me, anybody for that matter, keto or not. That’s insanely low.

Well, I 100% do not have sleep apnea
Bedroom is dark and cold and quiet.
Tried GABA.
I have never tried removing the electronic devices from my room but I will try that now thanks.
Also never tried aromatherapy.


#5

I will give those articles a read, thanks


(Alan Williamson) #6

Why try to fit a square peg into a round hole? I adjusted my lifestyle. It gave me more time to do things. I arrive to work early. People think I’m a hard worker now…LOL. I’m able to leave work earlier then arrive to LA Fitness before the crowd. It is awesome. Bottom line is that I have more free time in the evening to do things.


(Aimee Moisa) #7

If you really do wake up mentally alert maybe go to bed earlier, wake up 5 hours later, and do the stuff you were going to do in the evening in the middle of the night, then maybe you will be able to get back to sleep after a couple hours and sleep the rest of the night.

Have you heard of the concept of two sleeps? Supposedly several hundred years ago many people had two sleeps at night. No electricity so they went to bed shortly after sunset the they woke in the middle of the night for stoking the fire, using the bathroom, starting the bread dough, changing the guard, and a little whoppie, then they went back to bed until sunrise.

During that time you are awake maybe you can make your lunch for the day, prep the next day’s dinner, read a good book, watch a relaxing movie, play with your pets, or clean the bathroom. You should try it and see if it feels right for you. Well, the whoopie probably would but I mean the other stuff.


#8

Following! I’m curious if you figure this out. I have this while fasting - wake up with a pounding heart and cannot get back to sleep. Right now I’m on the second day of a fast and going on about 5 hours of sleep. I feel ok but I would love to wake up feeling happy and refreshed, and that’s now how things were this morning!

How long have you been keto? There’s a lot of hormonal change happening when we go keto, and it might just be that your body needs time to adjust. Cortisol responds to changes in insulin… something happening in there I think.

I know it’s a different hormonal world that doesn’t specifically affect you, but if you take a look at the menstrual cycle threads on here, you’ll see this a lot: “my cycle was totally wacky for a long time but now after several months it’s settled to the most regular (and easy) of my life.” Not for everyone, but that’s the usual pattern, and I suspect that something similar happens with other pathways but it’s just not quite as obvious or trackable as menstrual changes.


#10

Why try to fit a square peg into a round hole? I adjusted my lifestyle. It gave me more time to do things. I arrive to work early. People think I’m a hard worker now…LOL. I’m able to leave work earlier then arrive to LA Fitness before the crowd. It is awesome. Bottom line is that I have more free time in the evening to do things.

Well, are we so sure that it’s okay to go long term on just 5 hours of sleep? Seems incredibly low. And I’m averaging more like 4 to 4.5 honestly…

Have you heard of the concept of two sleeps?

Yeah I have recently heard of it on this forum. Honestly I don’t think there’s any way I could go back to sleep though, even after I made some good whoopie lol

How long have you been keto? There’s a lot of hormonal change happening when we go keto, and it might just be that your body needs time to adjust. Cortisol responds to changes in insulin… something happening in there I think.

Very new to it honestly, 2 weeks about. I’m gonna carb refeed and pray to god I get my sleep back, then assuming I get 1-2 nights good 7-8 hour sleep, I’ll give keto another shot.

Thanks for the replies all! Love this community.


(Aimee Moisa) #11

I haven’t been doing this very long, only 5 or 6 weeks, and I don’t know much about carb re-feeding, but from what I’ve read around the forums I think 2 weeks might be a little early. I know you’re exhausted, but eating carbs now will just make you crave carbs more, and being exhausted will reduce your will to get back on the wagon. That part is something I have a LOT of experience with, I’m never going to set a toe off the wagon 'cause I just know myself enough to know I’ll never get back on.


(Thurston ) #12

I have the same issues but I had it before I started keto about 3 months back. I was diagnosed T2 and have done a bunch of reading and I do believe it’s dawn phenomenon in my case. I can go to bed anytime between 8pm and 11 pm and I’ll wake up like you 5-6 hrs in. I’ve been having a bit of luck with a magnesium tablet at bedtime.

Good luck and keep us posted.


#13

but eating carbs now will just make you crave carbs more, and being exhausted will reduce your will to get back on the wagon

Thanks for the advice, but I have zero weight issues or cravings issues, I’m keto purely for mental benefits.

I do believe it’s dawn phenomenon in my case

Yeah, I’ve this mentioned somewhere, think this forum… I heard Tim Ferriss suggest phosphatidylserine at is helps block cortisol, which some type of direct interaction with insulin/glucose apparently… I have some, I will try it after my carb refeed an report back.


(Aimee Moisa) #14

Ah, yes. Sorry. I’m so stuck in my own perspective of keto for losing weight that I forget others might not and can be a little more flexible in their thinking. For me it’s a matter of life and death, for you not so much. KCKO! :slight_smile:


#15

I didn’t notice you say there’s actually a problem as a result, did I miss it? Or is your problem simply the count of hours? If you have no symtoms of not getting enough sleep, call it a win. Many of us sleep less on keto. Im MUCH more alert on wakeup at 5-6hrs than I am at 7-8, I wake up a zombie when I get “normal” amounts of sleep.


(Katie) #16

I was going to suggest experimenting with carbohydrates; maybe try increasing more at dinner (the body digests carbohydrates better when we sleep). Maybe have some sweet potato or other starchy carbohydrate at dinner (perhaps start with a small serving).

Waking up prematurely often is an issue with cortisol and other hormones. I recommend getting hormones tested. Look into the best way to do that though because for testing hormones saliva and urine is better than blood, but doctors default to blood.


#17

I have this while fasting too. It really weirded me out at first, not in a bad way, but also I didn’t have the pounding heart thing, just complete alertness at 3:30 or 4 am. The only thing that made it suck (other than 4 am boredom) is that after breaking my fast, I did feel like I had a sleep deficit to make up. I’d be tired really, really early in the evenings for a couple of days, and I’d sleep for a good 10 hours. I’ve learned to plan around that, but I know if you’ve got family and other obligations, this could make it more complicated.


#18

Hmm, that’s interesting. And you haven’t found that changes over time? How’ long have you been fasting? (I would love to hope that this will work itself out if I keep fasting!) I don’t think I’m more tired after fasting days but I haven’t fasted regularly enough to be sure…


#19

I’m still figuring it out, I’m still fasting pretty regularly but my sleep schedule has just been messed up for other reasons the last couple of times so I can’t tell if it’s improving yet. Let me know how it goes for you next time.


#20

ok, will do - thanks!


#21

Oh forgot to answer your question, I’ve been fasting only for maybe 6 weeks, so it’s totally possible it will change yet.