Lack of Sleep / hormones out of balance?

#1

Hiya,
I could really do with a little help.

I’ve been Keto since April and it really suits me in so many ways. I’ve lost 37lb effortlessly, I have so much more energy, my skins improved, acid reflux has stopped etc etc etc.

However the last 2 months I’ve had really big issues sleeping.
I fall asleep and wake up a couple of hours later, usually around 2am, feeling really adrenalized, heart beating fast and finding it hard to get back to sleep.
Lately I’m averaging 3-4 hours of interrupted sleep and I’m getting to the point where I can’t cope and am also concerned as to what’s going on with my hormones as I feel a bit wired.

I’m a 41 year old woman and have never had sleep issues before.

I’ve tried magnesium and potassium supplementation and carb ups in the evening, which both seem to help sometimes but not predictably so.

Anyone have any ideas as to why this might be happening (blood sugar?, too long between my last meal and going to bed? Hormones not happy? Something to do with my kidneys? Not enough calories / Macros need more attention? )
and any experience of what I might try to improve this without giving up keto?
I’ve tried environmental stuff eg, cool room, calm before bed etc but tbh it feels like it’s physiological and that somethings out balance that needs addressing.

Thanks in advance.

(Carolyn aka stokies) #2

There are so many potential reasons. I found that as fat stores were burned through, toxins and hormones stored in said deposits hit me weirdly and affected sleep for me as well. Do you workout? When is yur last meal? These are but a few things that could be impacting you…just some thoughts…

(Troy) #3

This
And probably share more on your daily macros, fasting of any sort , and the foods you are eating?

This
More info on this or what you mean by it?
Eating ur carbs on ur last meal? If so, what foods?
How much?

Good Luck

#4

To me it sounds like it hasn’t got much to do with keto, but it’s a natural onset of pre-menopause. Light symptoms but slowly creeping up. I am 41 as well and have noticed changes in me in past year and a half roughly. Metabolism (fat burning) slowed down around 38 onwards, I never had any problems with that before. I have sudden night sweats,not very often but they come really suddenly and go quickly too and they are at the times when I have sleepless nights too. Varied excercise helps, for example all my issues went and i felt and looked 100% better when I was on my holiday trip near the sea, walking all day. Maybe try excercising, workout, but intense, or rather, intense but short and not too frequent. Make sure you vary it after month or two, the body gets used to the effort. That should help at least a little with the hormones. I’m not trying to talk you off keto but for me it doesn’t work fully, 12 months in a year. I think women (not all maybe) need some healthy carbs and I’m trying to explore auyrvedic approach based on body types. The key is to address the hormonal balance in a natural way.

(Carl Keller) #5

Be careful with too much supplementation. I’ve heard that too much potassium can have the opposite effect of what we are looking for. And don’t forget your salt. We don’t retain salt like we used to. We are constantly purging it from our bodies (moreseo on a carb restricted diet) and need 2+ teaspoons per day. Salt also helps regulate/balance other electrolytes.

#6

Power through and be accepting that this too shall pass.

(kmg555) #7

I know it sounds very simplistic, but you may simply have more energy and alertness, and are less sedated from all that glucose being gone. I think that’s what’s happening to me.

#8

Thanks so much for all the replies.
I’m in the thick of some long shifts at work but will be back soon with some more info.
:slight_smile:

#9

I had a similar story.

The keto diet gave me more energy (good) but I was still drinking the same amount of coffee. Previously I needed that much coffee to pretty well stay awake through out the day, … I had to cut back on caffeine.

Also no eating past a certain time in the evening or I’ll have too much spare energy.

If I have a lot of calories then off I go …

If I have too few calories I will be in starvation mode and my metabolism slows everything down, tied and sleepy …

(Before keto I would not so much sleep as collapse due to exhaustion)

No easy answers, just juggling and tweaking things for me, for the most part energy levels are good but I had to work at it …

(Amy) #10

I had similar problems and definitely attribute it to a keto diet. I would wake up shaking. I feel tons better eating more carbs (50-80), but still skipping breakfast and returning to ketosis every morning. It took 3-4 of eating more carbs weeks to normalize. I have low blood pressure anyway, and on <20 grams/carbs a day, I just couldn’t keep enough fluids in me to function properly. I only needed to lose 15 lbs, and once I lost that, I suspect that having less body fat (and less stored estrogen) has sped along perimenopause.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #11

Agree. I find that if I don’t keep up with my salt I also cannot sleep. In fact, I’m up in the middle of the night now having some broth because I keep waking up for important things like: a sneeze, an itch on my back, I’m cold, I’m hot, this shirt is constricting my elbows, the cat made a noise, etc.