Welcome to The Doctor’s Farmacy. I’m Dr. Mark Hyman. That’s Farmacy with an F, F-A-R-M-A-C-Y. A place for conversations that matter. And if you’ve ever been stressed, which I’m sure some of you might have, this is an important conversation to listen to because it’s with Dr. Elizabeth Boham, who’s my colleague here at the UltraWellness Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. She’s a physician’s physician. I would respect her in any medical circles, especially my family, which I have her take care of. So she is the doctor I go to for advice.

For both these reasons, sleep problems can benefit from a flexible, experimental approach that utilizes a variety of strategies. COVID is making it a lot worse, the economic stress is making a lot worse, the political situation, the social unrest is making it a lot worse. The economics are making it worse. So we are in a very difficult moment right now, I think, as human beings. I’ve never lived through anything like this. And it’s not just one thing, it’s like a perfect storm of everything. And I hope we come out of it soon because I don’t know how long we can last in this. But we are in a state of chronic stress in our society. Can you talk about, what are the biggest drivers of stress for most people? Read the “ Causes” section of this article for more information. Can feeling tired but wired be a sign of a serious illness? Even if low within the normal range, low blood sugar can cause anxiety-like symptoms and aggravate existing anxiety symptoms. Since worrying, fretting, and becoming emotionally upset about anxiety symptoms stress the body, these behaviors aren’t helpful to recovery and symptom elimination.When we talk about being able to fall asleep in a reasonable time frame and what keeps us up at night, iodine deficiencies are the last thing that would normally come to mind. This, however, is one of the most basic deficiencies that can cause insomnia and that wired and tired feeling that so many of us get late at night. This is partly because iodine deficiency is directly linked to the thyroid gland – which helps to regulate sleep.

This is a frustrating situation that many people have experienced from time to time in their lives, and for some, it’s a chronic problem that can be extremely disruptive to their social, personal and professional lives! You feel completely exhausted, but the abundance of nervous energy makes it almost impossible to rest or sleep.

Annoyed at Being Annoyed (Again?) - Week 8

Following the methods of Dr Nerina Ramlakhan’s Sleep Toolkit, developed from her huge experience in the field, will help to overcome sleep problems and give the energy for the fulfilling life that you want. Limit Daytime Napping. Sometimes daytime napping interferes with nighttime sleep. If you nap during the day and find that you have trouble falling asleep at night, or your sleep is worse than usual when you nap, you might consider sleeping only at night. The Sleep Toolkit is a proven success, which has already worked for thousands of people (from executives who feel burnt-out to mothers struggling with the demands of a job and children) with hectic lives. Overturning the myth that you need eight hours of sleep every night, Dr Ramlakhan says that you really need fewer hours of quality restorative sleep. In Tired But Wired, she leads the reader, through practical and accessible steps, towards changing their lifestyle to find better quality sleep, more vitality and an inner equilibrium that is physically and emotionally revitalising.

Before you make changes to your diet, be sure to understand that there can always be adverse reactions and risks associated with making changes. It is never a bad idea to take some extra time to research what is best for you and your body. Food might not be the cause for your problems at all. It may be the mainstay of health complications; stress. Emotional stress - highly emotional experiences lead to a strong HPA axis response and a rise in cortisol levels. This can be dependent on the emotional stability of the individual, however in most cases it leads to the tired and wired feeling.Getting your iodine from food works perfectly for most people but, in certain cases, food might not be enough of a solution for someone who is suffering from an iodine deficiency. It’s so true. We can’t change our external circumstances often very easily, right? I can’t snap my fingers and change politics or end climate change or end war or civil unrest or even change the economy. There’s things I do have control over, but there’s a lot of things that are real stressors. Or if I family member who’s difficult or if I have a health condition that’s stressing me out, I can’t control that. But we have tremendous ability to control our thoughts, and our thoughts are things that influence our biology in a very direct way. Sonata has the benefit of being short acting (3-4 hours, so it can be taken for early awakening).Lunesta has been approved for long-term use.Belsomra (suvorexant) is the newest sleep medication. Regardless of the number of hours slept, sleep is usually not restorative, meaning that people wake up tired rather than refreshed. This is likely due to an insufficient amount of the deepest and most restorative type of sleep, called delta sleep. However, when the body and mind are under persistent stress, demand for cortisol is constant that then results in dysregulation of cortisol production at various times during the day.

If you think medications might improve your sleep, first consider over-the-counter (non-prescription) products like melatonin and valerian, simple antihistamines such as Benadryl (diphenhydramine) and Tylenol PM and Advil PM, or doxylamine (used in Nyquil and ZzzQuil). By week 8, at the continued low dose of escitalopram 5mg (it goes up to 20mg), John began to feel some irritability return. You are continuing to trigger stress responses (from stressful circumstances or from anxious behavior motivated by unidentified and unresolved underlying factors). With constant stress (both real and perceived) the adrenal glands become unable to secrete adequate amounts of cortisol thus setting the stage for dysfunction or adrenal fatigue.

1. The stress response

Because this symptom is just a symptom of hyperstimulation (chronic stress), it’s harmless and needn’t be a cause for concern. High doses of opioid pain relievers such as morphine and oxycodone can disrupt sleep. Ultram (tramadol) has the potential to interfere with sleep (even at low doses) because of its antidepressant-like action. Your hypothalamus controls the release of certain neurotransmitters and chemicals that soothe the body and reawaken it. Melatonin is the compound released near the end of the day that relaxes your body and mind; this can be triggered by external environmental cues, such as the sun going down. Light and dark are some of the simplest cues that our bodies follow in terms of our Circadian rhythms.