Sleep / Energy

[SockFiddler]

Day 11 today (post diagnosis and "accidentally" low carbing) and I'm finding it really hard to sleep.

There's a combination of things going on - feeling generally more upbeat than I have for a while following some good results and lovely words from friends I've told recently. Self-confidence and general excitement is on the rise. But I'm also feeling incredibly alert and creative with an eagerness to write, express, explore that I've not experienced since my early 20's. Physically, my general aches and pains have gone, my body feels less stiff and heavy, I feel far less uncomfortable in my skin.

Previously (like, just a handful of days ago), just being horizontal would make me sleep. If I didn't nap in the afternoon (2-4), again in the early evening (8 - 12) and then go "properly" to bed by around 3am (until 8am), I'd be unable to function the next day - falling asleep in the middle of activities, unable to concentrate, forgetful, unable to remember familiar things (though I did just struggle to count backwards from 14, so my mind isn't completely unfogged yet).

While it's wonderful to be feeling so rejuvenated so soon, I'm finding it's difficult to get to sleep following the above pattern (broken, as it is, because my back usually wakes me up after 4 or so hours). It's 7am now, I've been awake since 10pm and I'm still absolutely wide awake with a mind that is raring to get on with more reading, writing, learning blah blah blah.

I'm trying to be more active during the day, to put this energy to use and get tired, but it's difficult because I can't walk far and physical exercise is (for now) still a challenge.

The other downside of being unable to sleep is the hunger: I haven't been able to go more than about 3 hours without getting absolutely ravenous, and I remember reading somewhere that a fasting reading is 8 or more hours after food - I'm nowhere near being able to go that long without eating when I'm awake, so I can't really take a good fasting reading this morning as I haven't fasted!

Has anyone else experienced a sudden surge in energy that completely turned their sleeping patterns on its head? How did you manage it? Does it take long to even out? It's awesome, for sure, but also a mite inconvenient!

Thanks,

Sock

 

[Prem51]

Well I find that I wake as it gets light so at the moment I'm waking around 0500. Keeping the curtains closed doesn't help, my body clock seems to wake me at dawn.
I find that having a nap around 2-4 helps.

 

[Chook]

@SockFiddler

Carbs are addictive and exhausting and, yes, I do remember my sleep pattern changing back at the beginning of low carbing - it takes a while to adjust and I also think you feel a certain amount of euphoria at 'taking control'. Its a very positive feeling.

I sleep less than I did before I started low carb. I used to sleep between 9 and 12 hours a night (depending on what shift I was on) and now I get about 7 to 7 and a half. I try not to nap because, if I do, it mucks up the quality of the sleep I get at night - but sometimes, if I've eaten more carbs than normal, I will come over very tired shortly after eating and have to take a nap.

 

[ExD]

I saw on a TV programme about sleep deprivation that sleeping more than 8hrs a night was positivly harmful (except for children, teenagers and the elderly) so I wouldn't worry too much. Shift work makes establishing a good pattern is obviously not helpful either.
You can buy blackout curtain liners to clip to the inside of your curtains (google) and a back problem doesn't help (i suffer in the same way). There is also a self-help group called 'the sleep doctor' or something similar, but personally I couldn't manage to stick to the rules, They specified I should only allow myself 7hrs actually IN bed (which meant going to bed much later than usual) and not reading - I found these impossible rules to follow.
You may have more dedication than me. I sleep in chunks of 10mins to an hour a night, and consider it normal for me.

 

[ce81ar]

I've been low carbing for 6 weeks now and am finding that I wake every day between 5 and 6 despite previously having never been a morning person. Day to day I have more energy which is helping as have also embarked on a program to increase my fitness. The downside is that if I get to bed late I still wake at the same time so I have to be careful not to cut my sleep short by having several late nights in a row.

 

[ghost_whistler]

I wake around the same time, but i attribute that to summer.

This magical burst of energy and focus that people talk about isn't something I can relate to. I wonder how many people experience these vaunted symptoms in fact. How common is it? Does it even mean anything?

 

[serenity648]

I have far more energy since I started low carbing. I still wake up 3 or 4 times in the night, so I have a mid morning and mid afternoon nap in my chair. When i am awake, I do things. I dont fight the awakeness, I go with it and have some knitting, or chrochet or a book near me to read. I found that fighting being awake didnt give me more sleep, and I had the added stress of feeling i should be sleeping. I found an interesting article which said that hveing two sleep periods in the night, with a break and snack in the middle, was considered normal and standard behaviour up until recent times.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783

 

[ghost_whistler]

How much fat intake correlates with this increased energy?

 

[Indy51]

a fasting reading is 8 or more hours after food

Where did you get this information? I've never heard of it and it doesn't fit my experience. My morning fasting level has always tended to be higher than my reading 2-3 hours after eating. I quite often get readings in the 4's before meals, but that only happens once in a blue moon with fasting level.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I have never had a problem with sleeping. I sleep 8 hours although I do wake briefly for 1 or 2 toilet visits. These involve lurching to the loo, eyes still mostly closed, a bit wobbly, then back to bed and back to sleep straight away. i don't nap during the day, and never have done since retiring. When I was working I could easily have fallen asleep on arriving home so I avoided sitting down until a cup of tea worked its magic. I am not a morning person though. It takes me a while to come round and regain coherent thought.