What To Do If You Can’t Sleep

70 million people in the U.S. have some type of sleep problem that is treatable. Insomnia affects more than 30 million people, while another 6 million have moderate to severe sleep apnea where breathing briefly stops. More than 6 million have some type of body jerking motion that will wake them up. When the body is at rest (sleeping) this is when the body repairs, rejuvenates, heals, and burns fat. 98% of all fat is burned when you are sleeping not during the waking hours. The autonomic nervous system has two parts: The sympathetic part (high gear) and the parasympathetic part (low gear). Those parts of the nervous system shift back and forth between high and low gear depending on your activities. The “shifting” is done automatically. Many people are what is called “sympathetic dominance” which means that they are running in high gear and cannot “shift” into low gear even when they are sleeping. Someone that runs high cannot get into a deep sleep. These people would be considered light sleepers.

The adrenal glands are involved with sleep because they produce a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol works on what is called a circadian rhythm. In the morning the cortisol should be at its highest. This is what wakes you up and gets you going in the morning. At noon the cortisol should drop a little bit. If the cortisol drops too much you will get that afternoon slump and feel like you want to take a nap. In the evening the cortisol should drop slightly. Then at bed time the cortisol should be at its lowest. This is so you feel tired and sleepy. During sleep, the cortisol should gradually increase until it reaches its peak in the morning when it is time to get up. The circadian rhythm can get all “messed up” due to stress, work hours, and staying up too late, like being on the computer or watching TV. You could be worried about things or drinking too much caffeine close to bedtime. Once the circadian rhythm is out of sink you will not be able to get into that deep healing/fat burning sleep. You may also have a tendency to get up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom and urinate. If you are trying to lose weight and waking up in the middle of the night this will stop fat burning. This is a sure sign that you have an adrenal problem and the circadian rhythm is out. Getting this rhythm back in it will take a bit of work but it will be well worth your efforts. Your reward will be a good night’s sleep letting the body repair, heal, rejuvenate and burn fat.

I carry a product called Seriphos. This natural product is used as a training tool to get the circadian rhythm back in. The steps on how to do this are below but the gist of it is to take the Seriphos 20 to 30 minutes before going to bed. This will help to drive down the cortisol and get your body back into the cortisol circadian rhythm. This takes about 90 days for most people, some people may take longer. In addition to the Seriphos, some people may need additional help. If the person is having a hard time falling asleep this would be due to high cortisol. High cortisol at bedtime will cause insulin (a hormone that helps to control blood sugar) to surge which causes the adrenal glands to have an increased response. This then leads to wakefulness or feelings of anxiety. The end result is you are unable to fall asleep.   You may need an herb called ashwagandha and another called Rehmannia. These two herbs work together to bring down cortisol. Gymnema is another herb that is helpful in getting you to fall asleep because it helps to control blood sugar. You can also eat a protein snack right before going to bed which will help you to fall asleep.

To stay asleep the person may need some additional help along with the Seriphos, which in this case licorice high grade would be used. The adrenals control blood sugar when sleeping. When the blood sugar raises at night the person will wake up. This usually occurs a couple of hours after you you have fallen asleep. If you are waking up at night you should avoid sugars, refined carbs, and caffeine at least 6 hours or more before bedtime. After eating dinner you should continue to eat a protein snack every 2 hours until bedtime. Don’t worry about eating protein before going to bed. This will not make you fat. Protein helps to burn fat not store fat.

Take a walk. If at all possible you need to take a walk. You can get introverted while working all day or handling daily activities. When you take a walk you need to look at things out in the distance. Things like clouds, chimney tops, rooftops, trees will start to extrovert you and you will start to relieve stress. You need to continue to walk until you feel better even if you feel like you could not take another step just continue to walk. You are walking through exhaustion so continue to walk until you feel better. This could be 10 to 20 minutes or more. Taking a walk is a way to get better sleep.

Instructions on How to Use Seriphos

Seriphos helps to bring high cortisol down. Cortisol is a hormone that is produced in the adrenal glands. If the cortisol is too high at night when you are trying to sleep, you will not get into a deep sleep. You will have a tendency to wake up and have to urinate.

• The cortisol hormone works on a circadian rhythm. Cortisol should be at its highest in the morning. This is what wakes you up and gets you going. At noon cortisol should drop slightly. Then at bed time the cortisol should be at its lowest point which will allow you to fall asleep.
• Seriphos is  being used as a “training tool” We are going to get the cortisol back into its circadian rhythm. The high cortisol at night has to be lowered.
• Usually 3 to 4 capsules, 20 to 30 minutes before going to bed. If you forget to take them 20 to 30 minutes before going to bed it is alright to take them at bedtime.
•  It will take about 90 days to reprogram the body to sleep all night. The first few nights you may not feel any change. After 3 days you should notice a difference.
• If the Seriphos does not work by it’s self you may have to add the other herbs mentioned above.