My Insomnia
When I was chronically sick, I had such trouble falling and staying asleep.
This affected my school work.
Honestly a lot of classes thinking back felt like a blur.
I was prescribed ritalin which didn't make me feel good and then Adderall.
The Adderall made me clench my teeth during the day and I could not fall asleep at night because I felt like I always needed to pee (nocturia).
I'm not sure if that is a result of the Adderall or the moldy building I was probably living in.
In response my doctor's added another drug, ambien.
I relied on that for three or so years to just get three or four hours of sleep every night.
Not Anymore
Now I was able to get off these drugs by retraining my circadian rhythm.
So we're going to talk about zeitgebers.
What Are Zeitgebers?
Zeitgeber is the German word for biological cue.
They are little or big cues that happened throughout the day that tell your body what time of day it is.
Before man-made items were created, it was much easier to follow zeitgebers because many of the man-made and sociocultural ways we live by today are artificial zeitgebers that trick our brain into thinking it's the wrong time of day.
The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
Inside our brain we have the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). R
This part of the brain is able to turn on and off clock genes that transcribe to your body what to do. R
The organs than talk back to the SCN to keep in communication. R
It's really interesting that the traditional Chinese medicine philosophies thousands of years ago were able to figure this stuff out without knowing about genetics or parts of the brain.
You may have heard of the TCM time clock or whatever it's called and it says what organ turns on or off at what time, etc.
I don't practice TCM, but I practice circadian biology and so I'm going to give you a quick lesson on how to entrain your circafian rhythm with zeitgebers.
A List of Zeitgebers
Here is a list of zeitgebers (references on this link):
Light intensity
Sunlight and moonlight
Light wavelength, such as blue light and red/infrared light
Exercise
Water drinks and fluid amount
Food type and timing
Latitude and geomagnetism
Social interaction
Sex and orgasms
Heat and cold
Gender and age have differential cues
Cognitive performance
Fear and stress
Cortisol
Alcohol
Melatonin
Nicotine
Kynurinine
Caffeine/coffee
Leptin
Insulin and glucose
Vasopression/ADH
Nitric oxide
IGf1
Activation and detoxification
Orexin
Histamine
Serotonin
MCH
Vagal stimulations
Adenosine
Iron
What Zeitgebers And Clock Genes Are Effect in Post-Viral Illnesses
PASC-associated increases in TGFB may disrupt circadian rhythms, uncouple central and peripheral circadian rhythms and cause progression to ME/CFS. R
What Makes Zeitgebers Worse?
Here are some things that make zeitgebers harder to cue to the SCN
Anesthesia R
Endotoxemia (LPS) R
Flying and jetlag R
Light at night - see post on blue light R
Neuroinflammation - neuroinflammtion leads to desynchronization of primary and subordinate brain oscillators R
Shift Work R
A Simple Circadian Protocol
I generally recommend my clients to follow to jumpstart their circadian rhythm In those with minor health challenges.
Morning:
Take a cold shower right after waking up to increase your metabolic rate.
Wake with the sunrise and get morning sun on your body (neck and back) and in your eyes
Use a bright light device in the morning
Take forskolin (for cAMP turning down CRY1) and/or horny goat weed (for PDE5) if jetlagged/sleep deprived
Eat protein and fats in the morning
Drink coffee (or caffeine pills) around 1-3 hours after waking or alternatively nicotine (if skipping breakfast and exercisea)
Exercise (cardio) in the morning 2-4 hours after waking in sunlight
Noon:
Get sun during solar noon
Eat high protein and fats during the day
Be socially active during the day
Afternoon:
Exercise (strength) in the afternoon (4-7pm) in sunlight
Evening:
Eat higher amount of carb-rich foods (low glycemic, such as resistant starches) for dinner (3-4hrs before bed)
Watch the sunset
Do not eat after sunset
Block blue light after sunset (wear blue light blocking orange glasses around this time)
Sauna (if available)
Night:
Refrain from bright lights (TV, phone, fluorescent, etc) and use dim/red lights around the house
Wear red glasses
Do not do anything cognitively stimulating
Take hot shower before bed (body temperature)
Take glycine after shower (body temperature)
Participate in intimacy (or orgasm) before sleep (as routine)
Take sublingual melatonin
Sleep fully in the dark (I will wear my red glasses while sleeping or a sleep mask)
Sleep naked
Sleep in cold room (below 76º)
Other Things To Note:
If you choose to use hormetic tools, do your regular amounts in the morning/noon but if you want to use it in the evening, do a little bit extra as the oxidative stress can make you tired - for example HBOT or sauna.
Some stimulants may be okay for some in the morning - ie Modafinil, H3R antagonists, amphetamines, etc, but for others depending on their metabolism may do poorly with them.
Sleep drugs aren’t really recommended although suvorexant or agomelatine may be useful for some, but alcohol really isn’t recommended for sleep.
See alternative sleep hacks in my post about my sleep experiments.