Dr. Hive: Insomnia, Gut Health, Serotonin, etc.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Very short version: I've had insomnia for fourteen years, and through much work, have it under much better control. However, through my adventures with a continuous glucose monitor (which I'll post about another time), have discovered that I need to be on a much lower carb diet than I was already on (strictly gluten and dairy-free, grains or grain oils only a few times per year). My glucose is under much better control, but eating lower carb is bad for my sleep. Eating some potatoes at lunch seems to help.

As a child, I was on antibiotics repeatedly, for ear infections as a toddler and then later for numerous sinus infections and cases of strep throat. (This was before we discovered gluten was the cause of my problems.) About thirteen years ago I was a heavy kiefer drinker before I became dairy intolerant.

I suspect the problem is related to my gut flora. Although I haven't had any tests in probably seven years, when I last tested, my gut flora had very low diversity and showed dysbiosis. I also have problems with what I suspect to be SIBO because eating grains (and sometimes other starches) makes me bloat up and look pregnant. Taking a supplement called Atrantil helps, but I still avoid grains.

Getting back around to sleep, I suspect that my insomnia (at least when low carb) is related to my gut flora. Maybe it has something to do with converting serotonin to melatonin. Does anyone have any ideas for what I can do? Being low carb helps in many ways, plus I need to lose weight, but I can't stick with it if my sleep is destroyed.

[Anne]

Can SIBO be cured?  If so, I would look into that first.

Increasing your intake of fermented food might help - raw sauerkraut, water kefir, etc.

A good probiotic would also help - maybe switching between a couple of good brands.

 

Anne

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

My sugars do much better overnight if I eat a couple of hard boiled eggs at 9 pm (a couple of hours before bed).

I don't know if you can handle applesauce but I have been experimenting with a tbs. of ground flaxseed in an applesauce cup every day.  It seems to be helping my gut (also affected by being on antibiotics for six straight months one year and seven straight months the next).  It also hasn't adversely affected my bloodsugars.  (I am a type 2 diabetic). 

[bethben]

I have had similar issues to you (insomnia, food baby bloating).  I actually took a stool test and found out that I had severe gut issues.  10 out of 10 in severity.  I wasn't even able to grow good bacteria.  I have been taking Candibactin AR and BR for about a month with a small probiotic.  In a few days, I will start a pretty high dose probiotic.  I am also on an Anti-inflammatory diet which means little sugar and as many fruits and vegetables I can eat.  I have found that since going grain free, my genetic cholesterol issue that was slowly creeping up on me is no longer an issue.  It makes me think that grains are not something my body does well with at this point.  My eczema is almost gone.  I am having a little better time with sleep, but that's still an issue. Apparently healing the gut can take years.   A good naturopath should be able to help you.  I am also taking a course on bio-diversity that I can pull up if you are interested.  Pm me.  

[BeachGal]

3 hours ago, JumpyTheFrog said:

Very short version: I've had insomnia for fourteen years, and through much work, have it under much better control. However, through my adventures with a continuous glucose monitor (which I'll post about another time), have discovered that I need to be on a much lower carb diet than I was already on (strictly gluten and dairy-free, grains or grain oils only a few times per year). My glucose is under much better control, but eating lower carb is bad for my sleep. Eating some potatoes at lunch seems to help.

As a child, I was on antibiotics repeatedly, for ear infections as a toddler and then later for numerous sinus infections and cases of strep throat. (This was before we discovered gluten was the cause of my problems.) About thirteen years ago I was a heavy kiefer drinker before I became dairy intolerant.

I suspect the problem is related to my gut flora. Although I haven't had any tests in probably seven years, when I last tested, my gut flora had very low diversity and showed dysbiosis. I also have problems with what I suspect to be SIBO because eating grains (and sometimes other starches) makes me bloat up and look pregnant. Taking a supplement called Atrantil helps, but I still avoid grains.

Getting back around to sleep, I suspect that my insomnia (at least when low carb) is related to my gut flora. Maybe it has something to do with converting serotonin to melatonin. Does anyone have any ideas for what I can do? Being low carb helps in many ways, plus I need to lose weight, but I can't stick with it if my sleep is destroyed.

 

Resistant starch might help. RS is what good bacteria eat and a byproduct of that is butyrate. Butyrate keeps your gut healthy. A healthy gut leads to all kinds of improvements in health.

Some people find that increasing resistant starch improves their post prandial blood glucose reactions and fasting blood glucose and as a result, they have been able to increase their daily carbs.

What foods would work best for you depends on how your body reacts so first you'd want to learn which ones truly contain resistant starch and then experiment. It's important to understand what resistant starch is exactly because many articles gloss over the finer points. You don't want to experiment with foods that are not actually good sources of resistant starch.

Places to start learning more would be the Sonnenburgs' book The Good Gut or their lab at Stanford, the Sonnenburg Lab. Also, Rhonda Patrick's site Found My Fitness is really good. Rhonda is a biochemist who explains the pros and cons of studies done on diet and lifestyle and how to prevent problems. If you become a member, she offers monthly Q&A sessions where you can submit questions and she'll discuss the research herself or with other researchers who are tops in their fields. Dr. Gregor’s articles are also worth checking out.

Edited December 5, 2020 by BeachGal
added a link

[PeterPan]

Don't they usually say inulin for SIBO? Your food sources are oatmeal and asparagus. Maybe not together. 

You might also consider whether you have some things compounding, like a genetic issue on top of a gut issue. Or maybe some trauma leading to the gut issues. How are your bowels? You might not get anywhere with your gut if your bowels aren't working. For me, I had some trauma experiences that had locked up things. When we dealt with the trauma, my bowels started working and I could really heal. Up until then, we were just patching and I kept getting blamed. 

For genetics, you'd do something like the basic cheapest 23andme and run the raw data through knowyourgenetics.com or promethease. Look at the methylation cycle, VDR =vitamin D receptor gene, and TPH2. That TPH2 gene is for 5HTP, which is the precursor to serotonin and melatonin. So no, it's not a coincidence that someone would have both issues with serotonin and melatonin, because they have the same precursor up the chain. I now take 5HTP with a time release version to good benefit.

So what happened that you went from not insomnia to insomnia? A move, experience, illness? I had *trouble* with getting to sleep all my life but it went off the charts to full blown insomnia when I was living under high tension power lines and had thyroid/adrenal problems. So maybe dig in there on what happened.

Do you food combine? That was part of helping my gut heal. We didn't so much avoid as combine to make digestion easier. Digestion is a lot of work and fatiguing, but also slowing down the gut promotes the dysbiosis. So food combining can improve gut clearance. The nutritionist also yanked me off cheese, white flour, and red meat. 

[gardenmom5]

4 hours ago, JumpyTheFrog said:

 Does anyone have any ideas for what I can do? Being low carb helps in many ways, plus I need to lose weight, but I can't stick with it if my sleep is destroyed.

How are your adrenals? - they can cause sleep issues.  (24 hr spit test, it measures 4Xs in 24 hours.  NOT blood test.)

Have you ever been treated for candida?  - (antibiotics and carbs often lead to candida overgrowth).  There's one that will break down the walls of the yeast, and another that will kill the yeast itself.  It breaks the reproduction cycle.  Sorry - I don't have the names right now.  It's been awhile and the order history those products pages are now gone.