My Sleeping Problems, Resulting Issues, and The Beginning of Digging Out…

I have historically been a very poor sleeper, and I have been accused more than once of burning the candle on both ends with a blow torch…

In the past, those accusations were likely true, somedays burning with a match others with a flamethrower. Many times, the burning of the candle was a byproduct of a habitual state of alertness and wakefulness – many times having nothing to do with caffeine / stimulants.

The issues have largely centered on an inability to stay asleep. The causes are multi faceted

• from the occasional nightmare – I used to be good for one that would wake me up about once a month
• to the constant travel that I have in my life, largely due to my career
• to the neighbor’s dog barking way too early
• to a previously eneven and overly processed diet
• to the inability to handle stress adequately in my life
• to the lack of activity on a daily basis
• to the worry and anxiety of another bad night of sleep
• to the sometimes irregular sleep patterns in my life in general
• to a true lack of night time routine
• to too much ambient light from the tv’s and computers in my sleeping environment
• to too much morning light coming through the windows
• to a physical condition in my airway/mouth

I was just sharing this journey with a very close family member today, and I thought it was worth sharing here – my journey towards better sleep. I’ve addressed every issue outlined above to some extent, and I must say my sleeping is significantly more restful.

I’ll get into the steps I’ve taken towards solving these issues outlined above in the next post, however I’d like to outline the resulting problems from the lack of sleep that I’ve personally experienced and that I’ve witnessed in others.

A lack of sleep due to nightmares – has caused increased anxiety during my waking hours as I try to process what was underneath the nightmare. Clearly, this is a distraction in my waking hours, and many times – these thoughts came crashing in as I was attempting to focus on something more immediate during the day.

A lack of sleep due to travel – has caused a decrease in what I could have achieved the following day after arriving in the new city. I have learned to expect the day after I arrive is likely the weakest in terms of output for that week. Returning home and getting to sleep in my own bed – the next day is among my strongest.

A lack of sleep due to diet – this has caused all sorts of pain for me physically and energetically. The inflammation from this sort of diet is subtle and likely unnoticed if you’ve never eaten clean for any extended duration. The aches and pains you’ve come to expect persist into your nighttime hours, likely contributing towards your inability to sleep. One vicious circle coming right up….

A lack of sleep due to an inability to handle stress is tied in my experience to a lack of physical activity – this is something you have to push through and to drive yourself into the point of pure exhaustion by exerting yourself physically for an extended period of time. In my experience, pushing yourself physically for at least two weeks straight, no days off, will force your body to reset. If you can use your stress to fuel your physical output – you can derive benefits in both subject areas.

A lack of consistent sleep patterns and routines make for a very difficult time getting out of bed in the morning. This has the tendency to make the rest of your ‘boot up’ process harder than it needs to be as you increase your wakefulness. Slow starts suck, and a lack of consistency is many times the cause.

Ambient light is picked up by your pineal gland which has been proven to mess with your circadian rhythm during the time you are supposed to be sleeping. Your wiring is based on pitch blackness that we experienced as a species over the past thousands of years, having a weird glowing light from your Apple TV or SmartTV or your laptop or iPad is something we are not built to handle, physically speaking. So your restfulness is degraded by this.

Morning light can wake you up prematurely depending upon your schedule and this again can cause a very slow start to the day.

Physical airway restrictions, partial apneas, and even total apneas can kill you, let alone keep you in a constant state of tiredness.

All of this adds up to increased irritability, lack of energy and drive, lack of testosterone production if you are a man, increased cortisol in your bloodstream, increased appetite, degraded decision making, elongated recovery times from illness or workouts, increased likelihood of getting sick, degraded cognitive function, afternoon lags, brain fog, decreased retrieval of information you know you know, lack of mental resilience, lack of sexual performance and drive, and an overall poorer quality of life.

So why do we continue to sacrifice this portion of our lifestyle when so much of this is stuff you’ve heard before? Is it because you don’t think that this stuff applies to you? Do you think that you’ll catch up on the weekends? Do you think that an extra cup of coffee a day will compensate?

The psychology here is fascinating. I can say for certain that I have experienced all of the above at one point or another, and I think it is due to my blowtorching of that candle on both ends… Now that I’ve addressed a bunch of these issues in a meaningful manner, I’m not going back to those prior days. In my next post, I’ll talk about the steps I’ve taken to address my historically horrible sleep.