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Why you can’t fall asleep or stay asleep or why you wake up early
Updated: Mar 23
If you can’t fall asleep because your mind is racing or because your body won’t relax even though you’re exhausted, it’s not all in your head.
If you have trouble falling asleep, your body is probably releasing too much cortisol at bedtime. Cortisol suppresses melatonin and makes your body think that it’s day time. Besides insomnia, you may also have anxiety, feeling wired but tired and get a second wind at night.
The most common reasons why your cortisol is too high at night are:
Low blood sugar
Food sensitivities
Mental stress
Do you wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time going back to sleep?
This is the most common complaint my clients have about their sleep. There are a few things going on in your body that could be causing this:
A pathogen in your gut
Low blood sugar
Mineral imbalance
Liver detox issues
Hormone imbalance (low progesterone or estrogen, high testosterone)
When I was waking up at 4am, it was because I had a parasite, an unhealthy liver, and hormone imbalance. I corrected those and now I sleep great!
Do you wake up too early in the morning? Is it at 3 or 4 or 5am and you’re exhausted but you’re up for the day?
There’s something going on in your body that is causing you to wake up too early! Your body is releasing cortisol when it shouldn’t and it’s suppressing melatonin, both of which cause you to wake up. Once cortisol is coursing through your veins, it makes you feel alert and focused even if you’re still tired. It takes at least an hour for your body to clear that cortisol so that’s why it’s impossible to fall back asleep.
The most common reasons your body is releasing cortisol at night is from a pathogen in your gut (a parasite, bad bacteria, or yeast) or your liver is congested. Sex hormone imbalance and mineral imbalance can cause you to wake up early, too.
How to fix your sleep
I know all of this can seem overwhelming. But the good news is that I can help you find what’s keeping you awake so we know what to fix. I use functional lab testing to uncover what’s going on in your body that’s causing your insomnia and then I give you a simple, step-by step plan to improve your health so you can sleep normally. This is the only way to truly solve your sleep problems long-term. Everything else is just a band-aid.
One of my clients emailed me that she “slept well last night...it has been easier to go back to sleep most nights.” This is in less than 1 month working together!
If you’re tired of struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep, book a call with me to find out how I can help you get the rest you need.