This is more for anyone, but I posted it in CTs forum because it is neurotype-tangential.
For those of you who are 1A/3, do you have bouts of insomnia? If so, how did you beat it if you were able to?
I used to have trouble falling asleep fairly regularly. Most likely due to excess circulating adrenaline as I am sure I have the slowest COMT ever. I was able to figure that one out with some of CTs advice/what he has written over the years (Thanks, CT!), and don’t often have problems falling asleep anymore. Staying asleep on the other hand…
For instance, last night I woke up after 3+ hours of sleep with my mind racing and could not get back to sleep for almost 4 hours. I tried taking 4-5 grams of glycine upon waking and it did absolutely nothing…I had to go eat a moderate sized meal. This is a 1-4 night/week occurrence for me and it is starting to put a strain on my marriage, lol.
I (Type 3) have to have some carbs before bed. Usually some whey in water with a bowl of cereal in skim milk. In one of his articles, I think CT said that Type 3s need carbs before bed. Also, I rarely ever go to bed without 25 mg of Diphenhydramine.
Are you feeling rested and happy without sleeping. If yes then why are you trying to sleep
not everyone requires same amount of sleep if you sleep less but feel rested then you are absolutely fine and not sleep deprived. it is very advise everyone is giving that everyone should sleep 8 hours which is very wrong. if you are feeling rested without sleeping that much than it is totally fine. if you are not sleeping due to stress or anxiety than you should fix that
and isnt sleep equivalent to death and skipping life lol.
I don’t have trouble falling asleep, but if I wake up, that’s it. ZMA does seem to help, but I still have about one night a week or so that I sleep two hours or less. It doesn’t seem to take a huge toll on me. About once every other month-ish I’ll be able to sleep for 10 hours. I don’t predict when these outlier nights are coming - they just do.
I don’t know if this helps at all, other than to say I don’t know that it’s crazy abnormal.
Actually it’s best to use smaller doses of both. 5HTP is the most direct precursor (L-Tryptophan is converted to 5HTP which is converted to serotonin) so you would think that it works best, but the conversion to serotonin is too fast and leads mostly to an increase in circulatory serotonin, not brain serotonin. If you had to pick only one, go with Tryptophan.
Thanks for all the replies, guys. Sorry I haven’t responded, I was pretty busy all week.
I use glycine + vitamin c, magnesium bisglycinate, SAMe, starchy carbs with dinner for serotonin, and occasionally a beer + diphenhydramine, lol. Obviously, these are not all done at the same time.
Yep. I always have carbs with dinner. Do you use diphenhydramine every night? I have always been a minimum dose necessary kind of person. So I try not use it unless I have to. I also take a different antihistamine (loratadine) every morning and don’t like doubling up.
Thanks! I will look through that thread.
Do you have a recommendation for increased methylation? I will usually take 400 mg of SAMe 2-3 times on days where I wake up burnt out or am still wired in the evening, and it does seem to help, but that is the only supp I use for that purpose.
I 100% agree. That said, I am jealous of those who can get away with little sleep, because I most definitely do NOT fall into that category.
In my experience, waking up “feeling good” on days you get short sleep is not an indicator if being well rested. It is actually due to even more adrenaline being kicked out to compensate. Happened to me today, went in and had an okay lifting session this morning because of the epinephrine boost, but if I don’t get adequate sleep tonight, I will be seriously hurting tomorrow.
I know the feeling. ZMA is good, but I find the B6 perks me up too much, so I take it in the mornings.