I will first describe my situation and then ask my question:
SITUATION:
I have a mild sleeping disorder that I would like answered by sleep
and / or diet specialists.
I am a 25 year old professional. About 5 years ago (at college), I
noticed that i do not sleep well if I eat late (say, after 730pm,
assuming 10pm bed time). I take up to 3 hrs to fall asleep and do not
sleep deeply. It didn´t happen every time, but most times. I did not
do much about it other than try eating early every night. I am not
sure if I had the problem before then, but have had it ever since.
I had a stress-induced insomnia problem for about a year, which I
recovered from about a year ago. Since then, I have paid more
attention to the things that effect my aility to sleep, and in
particular diet-related. Here are some of the things that I have
noticed:
- The diet-related insomnia is usually associated with heavy heart
beat at 80-90 beats/min (lying in bed, i can hear my heart beating
hard and loud, and i can feel my chest move) and my mind races with
random concerns, like when I am heavily stressed, even though I am
not)
- If I eat early, and eat only carbohydrates (rice and vegetables) I
usually do not have trouble geting to sleep and sleeping quite well.
Though eating late still means I do not sleep deeply and wake up
feeling like i slept for about 10 minutes. Much better than eating a
protein-heavy meal though
- Some days, even if I can´t recall sleeping badly, i feel very groggy
as if i had 10 minutes sleep. Have not placed why this is. Happens
less frequently since i started eating carbohydrates only for dinner,
and as early as possible, but still does happen.
- Pizza is the worst culprit, Eating pizza after 8pm would usually
result in 2-3 hrs of lying in bed trying to fall asleep, and 1 in 4
times would be accompanied by VERY bad Gastric reflux.
- I am highly sensitive to caffeine and other stimulants. COffee at
5pm and I can forget sleeping at 10pm.
- Drinking alcohol with meals (mostly wine or beer) usually has a
similar effect. Sometimes I fall asleep and wake up 4-6 hours later
feeling like i got 10 minutes of sleep, but wide awake and unable to
sleep any more. Heart rate is usually up at around 80-90 and beating
hard and loud.
- Stress obviously heightens the problem. But, even when totally
unstressed (2 weeks into a holiday, say) i have the diet-related sleep
problems described above.
- The sleep issue arises whether I am in training and very fit or not
(distance running / general fitness), and even if I am exhausted from
a hard day of training / work and lack of sleep for a few days
- The same thing happens day or night. Very rarely I will go for an
afternoon nap (if, say, i got little sleep the night before or am
generally tired), and even then, if I have eaten recently, I will not
fall asleep. Same symptoms as described above
- I have seen 4 types of doctors for a diagnosis. None have been useful.
i) GP - referred me to a dietician
ii) dietician - gave me a diet to follow, standard low fat high carb
and protein and vegetable diet. She had no idea about impact on sleep.
Diet did not work
iii) Doctor who examined blood sample under the microscope. Said there
were some traces of undigested food in my blood stream, but otherwise
I was a picture of health. Could not healp with the sleep issue.
iv) Iridologist (examines iris to detect things that are wrong with
your body). Again, I seem to be a picture of health, though my heart
and liver are hereditarily weak. Recommended good multivitamins, new
diet, and hawthorne supplements. Diet was off the shelf heart problems
diet. DId not help sleep issue
- For a while during the insomnia era, I tried the "Eat right for your
blood type" diet. This had a great impact on my insomnia for a while.
Once i dealt with my stress, the insomnia abated and then finally went
away. But eating a steak for dinner (as recommended for O-type´s)
keeps me awake, so i gave it up. I now eat protein heavy meals for
lunch and carbs for dinner. Sometimes with a LITTLE bit of meat
There are some other bits of information that may be useful:
- My mother and sisters all have some sort of dietary problems. We are
all very slim, but my mother has had problems with wheat products and
dairy products. My sisters the same, but to less of a degree. I have
never had any real problems other than the sleeping issue. My Gran had
diabetes
- The only other diet-related problem that I have had is cholestera: I
had high cholesterol as a child (10 yrs old) and was put on a 3-yr
cholesterol diet. Since then, I have eaten carefully and my
cholesterol levels have been very safe.
- I have searched the web extensively, and find nothing that can help
specifically with my questions
QUESTIONS:
I either want advice or advice on where to get advice, so
1. Is there any notable research and conclusive findings on impact of
diet on sleep, whether for the population at large or for specific
groups with dietary disorders (other than the blood-type diets)
2. What are the likely causes of this disorder? What dietary rules
should I follow to make sure I get better sleep? Note that I am not
happy with the mere "do not eat protein and try eating early and avoid
caffeine and alcohol" recommendations. I wand scientific basis for
recommendations, not merely observations (which obviously I could do
on my own)
3. Are there any specialists that I could see that might be able to
do a more thorough examination and give useful recommendations? |
Clarification of Question by
harrypotter9-ga
on
03 Aug 2004 11:09 PDT
Hi Anthony,
Thanks for responding. Please accept the following clarification
without taking it personally. I recognise the place and usefulness of
your recommendations for insomnia sufferers, but this is not the right
answer to my questions.
I am not looking for 1 specific diagnosis. If you can give one, great.
But I do not expect you to be able to diagnose me specifically without
at least running some tests. However, my question does specifically
requires at least potential diagnoses, ie. the likely suspects.
I have found several sources on dietary tips for insomnia sufferers.
There are 3 reasons this is not the rsponse I am looking for:
i) I have several sources on these already
ii) I do not have insomnia in the general sense. Eating the wrong
stuff is not one of many contributors to poor sleep. It is the
contributor. I need to focus specifically on eating, not first on
lifestyle changes and by the way here are some eating tips that may be
useful.
iii) I find it hard to swallow treatments when the cause is not known.
So what I need in terms of an asnwer is along these lines:
"The possible reasons that diet affects your sleep are as follows:
1. Pancreas condition preventing adequate generation of enzyme A,
resulting in food types B and C being indigestible and thus putifying
in blood stream, resulting in body doing D to deal with the toxins,
which has the side affect of increased blood pressure and E and F,
which lead to restlessness and inability to sleep
OR
2. Blah
OR
3. Blah
In order to figure out whether you are suffering from condition 1, 2,
or 3, do the following:
1. For L days, try doing M. If N happens, you have condition 1. If
not, move on to 2 below
2. For O days, try doing P. If Q happens, you have condition 2. If
not, move on to 3 below
3. Etc...
Now, the recommended dietary precautions for these potential
conditions are as follows (where recommendation 1 indicates
recommendations for condition 1 listed above):
1. Avoid eating G and H foods ever. Avoid eating I and J food types
within K hours of going to sleep.
2.
3.
Please feel free to ask for further clarification, or tell me to what
degree you think you could help in responding to my question.
Thanks
Harrypotter9
|
