Sleep Issues

When did it become so hard and what helps me.

It’s been so fun to be able to write these pieces for you all and also therapeutic to share things that are so near to my heart without having to worry about an algorithm. I’ve been talking a lot in our membership and other places about how I struggle in December, but not just because of the Holidays. I’m fine and enjoying the craziness of it. Still, it's starting to affect my sleep between the extra Holiday parties and gift exchanges and all FOUR girls playing basketball on different teams this year without soccer or volleyball taking a break. 

Years ago, around my mid-30s, I had a health crisis. I say crisis because I refused to get diagnosed with dis-ease. I could tell a lot was off, and my immune system was operating on a meager percentage. Still, the worst of all was that I had crazy insomnia with four little kids who had to go multiple places in a day, a flourishing business that kept growing even though I was sinking, and a husband who also needed my support and love. He’s also a business owner, so while our lives are flexible to work on the road and in other states and cities, it’s not cohesive to take even a morning off many times. Sometimes, our responsibilities are so demanding that it can be unbearable to keep up.

During this time in my life, I was taking a lot of band-aid approaches to my health and even trying different combinations of therapeutics to invoke a restful state at night.

My Mom, who loves me more than any other human, was 3000 miles away. I was in a dark place, y’all. I was battling depression and demons I didn’t think I was capable of. I cried daily, and I pleaded with God that if He would give me one good night’s sleep, I would be everything He needed me to do. I spent most nights praying manically, and the rest of the night, I would watch Parenthood. I have a love/hate with the show. It’s so good, but I watched it in the darkest days of my life. I got so crazy; I even started resenting Mother Teresa… like what?! I remember hating her for doing so much good, even with the Dark Night of the Soul. 

Why am I telling you all this? Because insomnia makes us bat **** crazy. Losing sleep is a part of motherhood, I get it. But did you know two days in a row of poor sleep can inhibit proper hormone production? Imagine how nuts I was feeling after 18 months of poor sleep. I hid it well because I felt shame for NOT being able to be everything for everyone. I even hid it from my husband. It got so bad that for nine months, I couldn’t even turn my neck. I remember my parents being worried because I was such a low weight that it was starting to become noticeable. Because I was still moving my body and making as good of a food choice as possible, it wasn’t a huge physical impact outwardly besides being 10 lbs underweight, which is pretty evident on my frame.

After a long haul of functional and integrative help, but also healing my spirit, I was able to overcome these health issues and ultimately avoid being diagnosed with severe disease. By the Grace of God, I was given the proper people to help. It was only by grace and all that prayer that my family didn’t fall apart during this time. I was not a pleasant person, and I don’t remember much during the darkness, but I remember coming out of it and knowing I could never let that happen again. 

Insert all the additions of integrative health into CCN! I learned immensely from my suffering and realized that food is the foundation of all health, but there is so much more to regulating the nervous system and mitigating stress than just a healthy diet. I feel blessed that I’m still here, standing and teaching you all to have better lives.

But you know what I HATE more than anything? It is when a healthy person says, you need to improve your sleep! Nobody wants lousy sleep… nobody wants to deal with insomnia and dark nights of the soul. So don’t tell people what they must do; tell them HOW. 

If I knew now what I didn’t know then, I could have cut to the chase in 30 days or less. I just never would have gotten so overburdened mentally and physically, to begin with.  This may relate to you or someone you know, or maybe it’s just a warning to always to be protective of your parasympathetic nervous system. Why am I sharing all of this? Because in December, with the darker days, I always feel so triggered that I can get insomnia this bad again. I know I never will, but when I lie down and don’t fall asleep within 15 minutes, I start feeling “fight or flight.” Then I remember exactly what I’m capable of to calm my nervous system back down, truly surrender, and to surrender genuinely knowing that I’m ok. 

This is a time of year when I need nighttime supplement help and daytime cortisol management! 

How? 

• Celtic salt with my water to support energy into the cell and adrenal health

• No coffee after 11 am and limit morning coffee; even though I LOVE coffee, I wouldn’t say I like how it makes me feel. 

• Multivitamins and Omega 3 – these need to be high quality and bioavailable 

• Magnesium glycinate before bed

• Cortisol manager before bed

• Neurocalm homeopathic three times a day

• Daily meditation and nighttime gratitude meditation

• Red light therapy

This is a season. It will be brief, and I must be diligent to enjoy it as much as possible. I’m not making recommendations for you; I just wanted to share a real-life story of what works for me!