Low carb and insomnia

[Chubz]

I know there are a lot of threads about this already but I wasn't sure if people would appreciate me bumping old threads.

Anyways, does very low carb give you insomnia? Usually I go to bed super early and wake up real early to a cup of coffee, then head back to sleep for a few hours getting up around 7am. Last night I didn't fall asleep until 1am and woke up at 4:30am wide awake again. Ugh!

I even tried taking 100mg of Benadryl and that did absolutely nothing!

[movingon]

I don't have insomnia but I do find my energy is higher and I wake up less foggy than before. Maybe try to increase your exercise level during the daytime?

[Nancy LC]

Dr. Eades reccomends saving your carbs for a pre-bedtime snack, or raising your carbs a little. Maybe some berries, or something like that.

Seems like having coffee before going back to sleep would be counterproductive.

[Chubz]

I didn't have a problem with the coffee before but now I can't even fall asleep even while avoiding the coffee.

[JLx]

I had insomnia for years before taking magnesium regularly.

Check out the thread on salt; there are some comments on electrolyte imbalance on there that may be helpful. Or just try a pinch of salt next time you can't sleep or something like an electrolyte solution like Emergen-C which comes in a "lite" low carb version.

You may have to experiment a bit to see where your imbalance may be.

Or maybe it's something else such as too much light in the evening.

[mike_d]

Yeah, it can. Probably why I am still up even after taking Benadryl for my allergies. Unisom does work, but I am not at home and didn't bring any. The stimulation, if that's what it is, lessens with time -- usually less than a week. I try to avoid going in and out of ketosis, I think that can aggravate it. Anyway, when I do sleep I sleep better.

I just remembered another tip: in the evening eat some pumpkin seeds. Also like already mentioned, Mgnesium 500 - 1500 mg can help with relaxation.

[RuthannP]

Being in a state of ketosis causes me to have insomnia. It's a good thing that I have retired because I am up all hours of the night. I hate not being able to sleep the night through.