Intermittent fasting with insomnia


#1

I took a day off from if and 2 days in again 23;1 i have the worst case of insomnia but i don’t feel tire or groggy at all in the mornings. Usually i would have a hangover feeling of burning eyes (i think idk i’ve never been hung over), no motivation, lack of awareness, needing to take the day off from life because i’m not alert enough to even drive/

today i woke up feeling refreshed like i normally do after a great night sleep, none of those old feelings after a couple hours of sleep. in fact I think i feel even more energized than normal.

what gives, what’s going on? is that autophagy?


(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #2

Happens to me also. Every time I fast for more than 24 hours my body needs less sleep. I attribute it to the fact that your body is not using energy to digest foods so there is an excess of energy. Don’t know if that the correct explanation but it the only thing I could come up with.


#3

that makes sense rusty. i am raring to go, my brain feels so alert too i just lay there though, what a waste of energy i should get up and use the treadmill lol.


(Erin Macfarland ) #4

Fasting does increase stress hormones so your body is trying to keep you alert because it thinks you need to go out and search for food. (No judgment here, don’t attack me…) Your brain doesn’t know you’re “fasting” it just knows you’re not eating and so the increase in sympathetic nervous system activity is to give you the energy and focus to go find food. There is a lot of debate about whether the rise in cortisol (a stress hormone) is deleterious, as just being on low carb/keto causes a rise in cortisol. I believe @amber gave a talk about this subject


#5

that is so funny and primitive! lol I love this explanation, i should hit a 24 hour walmart when I can’t sleep!

i read about the cortisol thing and I was hoping it’s just a side effect from autophagy, I want to know my fat is being eaten up I suppose.


(Nicole Sawchuk) #6

Dr Fung and Megan Ramos talked about this a lot in the Fasting Talk podcast and said it was common and to embrace it. I fast a lot and while I have not experienced insomnia, I do not require as much sleep to feel good. I used to be a zombie if I didn’t get 9 hours of straight sleep. Now I feel good on 7 hours (I’ve always loved my sleep). I was never a morning person and because of my job I have to be up at 4:30 am. Now that is no problem for me! I just make sure to keep my routine consistent and just keep calm and go with the flow. As long as you feel good and don’t start burning out @Emacfarland talks about, you should be okay. Listen to your body!


(Erin Macfarland ) #7

Sometimes we forget we have that lizard brain trying to keep us alive. That’s why I said no judgement, I didn’t want to be attacked by those who engage in fasting . But it does have certain effects on our body, they aren’t necessarily bad.


(Nicole Sawchuk) #8

You are so right @Emacfarland! It’s so important we realize that we all react differently. Fasting is not for everyone and you must pay attention to the signs! I’m a super fan of fasting but it doesn’t mean there aren’t side effects that aren’t still known.


#9

i know i have some starvation gene fairly strong. I’m the first generation in my family that never experienced starvation because they came to the Usa. I am so lucky and i was always sad thinking about how much they suffered feeling hungry. I’m sure they had some anxiety because i know i have food in the kitchen, they didn’t but it has me wondering if the hunger pangs were all that bad because i don’t have any problem with this. I was reading about this fasting gene, when our ancestors went through lean periods.


(Erin Macfarland ) #10

I’ve been at this a long time and I have learned to indeed listen to your body. We may be able to override some of these side effects for a while but sometimes they catch up with you and throw you off. We think we can outthink our lizard brains but they still have the ability to influence us. It’s good to understand as much as you can about how things like fasting might affect your physiology so you we prepared when things like this come up :slight_smile:


#11

I think I better go do a search on this topic and “burn out” because I believe that’s what I experience a few times a week lately. I wake up feeling great (which is unusual for me) and I am high energy all day long, almost an elated mood, clear-headed and raring to go. This continues right into the evening when I should be thinking about sleep but instead I just lie there. While I’m in this phase it’s great but I have found that it is also followed by a hard crash, which is not so great. I would love to find a way to get a happy medium, where my highs aren’t so high and my lows aren’t so low.
Sue


#12

yasss, that’s what happened last time, started feeling crappy so i ended after 4 or 5 days but I found myself slipping back into the fast without planning it, it just occurred naturally and now I’m in the midst of it without even thinking about it,

What if we broke fast before bed and ate an hour or so before bedtime? I forgot that I wanted to do that today but i ate and I’m afraid i won’t be hungry later but I sure do want to have a good nights rest.

I will not torture myself or allow the least bit of discomfort. Hunger pangs I won’t suffer through, once I start feeling bad I know it’s food i need. Not being able to sleep was not comfortable because it was out of ordinary for me and just wasted time I felt like, not productive just tossing and turning. that has been the most discomfort I felt, being full of energy and not doing anything.


(Frank Smith) #13

I`m very sorry you are going through it. I had practically the same situation with insomnia and tried lots of different methods. So I can’t suggest another cure that will work.

Here is what I would do if nothing works. Give yourself a sleeping “slot” every night whether you sleep or not. Say, 11 to 6. Spend that time in bed. You can listen to music or audio books, but you have to give your body the opportunity to sleep. Maybe get out of bed from time to time just to refresh yourself.
Invest in a nice, soft comfy pillow and mattress (here are some useful reviews https://sleepissimple.co.uk/ – find the best one.
Change the strategy from how to fall asleep to how to cope with no sleep. Some of these strategies overlap. Drink lots of water, exercise, engage in social interaction, walk a lot at work, etc.

You will eventually fall asleep! It’s impossible not to:triumph:


#14

I came across your question before it even fully developed in my own mind but I experienced this last night and today. Not feeling tired or groggy and yet had insomnia last night.


#15

i still have sleepless nights on occasion and I feel great the next day.