Mind Alive Blog

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

 

Vitamin D and Insomnia

From January to May, I get many calls from people struggling with sleep. AVE and CES, for the most part, have been found to be fairly effective for improving sleep. However, it is always important to address the actual cause of the insomnia.


If you sleep quite well in the summer, but not in the winter, and there are no particular stressors in your life, there might be another cause of the sleeplessness. The underlying cause is almost guaranteed to be vitamin D deficiency.

A few years ago, I had such dreadful insomnia that I was a basket case by February. This was the first year that I did not go to a tanning center during the winter to make natural vitamin D, and I became terribly deficient in “D.” While the AVE and CES helped, since the insomnia was due to a nutritional deficiency, I was only partially relieved of my symptoms. Now that I’m on vitamin D, I sleep a solid 7 1/2 to 8 hours a night and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go.

However, not all vitamin D is created equal. I tried 7 brands of the little white pills and not one worked, even when I was taking up to 5,000 IU a day! I finally tried a liquid vitamin D, by Pure Encapsulations (http://www.purecaps.com/), and felt myself change within the hour. I began sleeping like a rock and felt the best I’ve felt in years. I was taking 20,000 IU a day, which was too much, and after two weeks I was experiencing insomnia again. It is interesting because too much D also triggers instant insomnia, but for a different reason. It turns out that when someone takes too much D, blood levels of calcium take off, which leave the magnesium/calcium ratio very low as there is now too much calcium compared with magnesium. Low blood magnesium levels are well known to be associated with insomnia. I know of a lady who cured her insomnia by eating bananas (which are high in magnesium).

It turns out that the best ratio of vitamin D is about 2,000 IU per 100 lbs (45 Kg) of healthy, slim weight (but not skinny weight). Being that my lean weight is roughly 170 lbs, I take 3,000 – 4,000 IU a day and it works just right.

Vitamin D increases serotonin levels in the brain. Therefore, the best time to take D is at bedtime. Put 2 drops on the tongue and wash it back with a shot of water (otherwise you could get dry-mouth). If you wake up in the middle of the night for a potty-break, as I often do, take another drop or two with a little water and go back to sleep.

In years past, I often took sleeping pills to help with sleep and they hammered my nervous system, plus I habituated to them quickly, which actually made the insomnia worse. The worst thing you can take for sleep is diphenhydramine, the substance in Nytol, Sleep Aid and Benadryl, to name a few. Avoid these toxic drugs at all costs!

Other natural supplements that help with sleep are:

St. Johns Wort

Tryptophan

I find that gel-cap Wort is more effective than the dry capsules, although both work. Tryptophan also works very well, but don not take it until you wake up in the middle of the night as you need about 5 hours from the last time you ate or drank any nutritious substance. Tryptophan is a rather large molecule and nutrients interfere with it from crossing the blood/brain barrier, so take it on an empty stomach. Not all tryptophan is created equal either. Much of it is actually 5HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan), which for many people, will not absorb into the brain. It just activates the serotonin receptors in the intestine and triggers diarrhea.

To learn more about vitamin D, go to: http://www.mindalive.com/articlenine.htm

Dave Siever

- dancing in the dendrites!

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Comments:
Hi David,
I had heard you on 630Ched not too long ago and decided to try your advice on the Vitamin D; we are using the Solar D Gems 4,00IU at the moment.
I can’t believe what a difference this makes in my sleeping habits, more so my husband who is a terrible sleeper. I have had to take sleeping pills so that I can get through the nights of his tossing and turning.
I know I would like to try that machine that you had the “Leafs” on a few years back; can we come into the store for that? Should we order online, is it very expensive?
Thanks for your research it’s helped us tremendously.
Lisa
 
The Toronto Maple Leafs used our PAL units. You could also try our new Delight, which has the most popular sessions and a more user-friendly format. You can purchase in store (and save on shipping costs) or order online. You can also come down and run a demo session for free in our office. The PAL retails for $260 CDN, and the DELIGHT is $295. Both units come with the bags, Omniscreen glasses, headphones, stereo patchcord, battery and manuals. The DELIGHT also comes with an eyeset case and an AC adapter.
 
I found out recently that "insomnia" isn't necessarily a difficulty in sleeping, but the habit society has of forcing off a morning person schedule on everyone. Those of us who operate better in the evening and cannot get our body clock to synchronise with the larks are always at a disadvantage.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1303702/Could-faulty-bodyclock-reason-sleep.html
 
I agree with the idea insomnia is a state of mind. That leads to recovery coming from a change of focus and mental conditioning rather than a quick resort to drugs . Drugs in the long term can only make insomnia worse. Insomnia Treatment should be about changing routine and behaviour.
 
Hi Dave, I was at a VC pitch event in NYC. One of the CPG ideas presented was a startup sleep aid containing a "patented mix" of Valerian Root, GABA, melatonin, and 5-HTP. What do you think of these?
 
There's nothing wrong with supplementing with herbs and amino-acids. It sure beats drugs. I can't comment on this particular product. -dave
 
Found this doing a Google search, because I wasn't sure if D deficiency could be linked to insomnia... something that's been troubling me recently. I too find issue with most calciferol supplements, as I have to take up to 15,000 IU/day from certain brands to get any effect. Will look into the one you recommended. Thanks for sharing!
 
I'm awake now and just started taking D3 on my doctors suggestion yesterday it's now 5am and i have to work at 7 I'm going to try only taking it in the morning as i feel this is what is causing my insomnia although i was taking Benadryl to sleep before so perhaps it's the combination of stopping one and starting something else
 
Yes. I agree. When using a quality LIQUID vitamin D (pills don't work), the average woman should not exceed 3000 IU/day and the average male should not exceed 4000 IU/day. More than this this can cause the blood stream to flood with calcium, which throws off the calcium/magnesium ratio and will wake you right up! Also, I have taken plenty of oral D and have measured my D levels several times.
I have found that I must tan in the sun near noon (when UVB rays are strongest) or in a tanning bed with a minimum UVB rating of 5%, or the oral D does NOT work at all. This is because in real vitamin D production (via UVB light), sulfated cholesterols are produced and this activates the D (see Fenell's research). Roughy 8-weeks after tanning, when the sulfated cholesterols are depleted in my body, I no longer respond to oral D either.
Regarding Benedryl, Nytol, Sleep Aid (Diphenhydramine) it works be reducing the neurotransmitters (NTs) that increase arousal. Unfortunately, it is highly reactive in that the brain develops a tolerance quite quickly. Strange as this may sound, if you alternate the Benedryl with very SMALL doses (1/4 tablet) of Klonopin (a GABA enhancer), at no more than 2 does of each / week, you may never build up much tolerance to either - and get fairly good sleep. - dave siever
 
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Incorporated in 1981, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Mind Alive Inc specializes in brain technology. Our flagship technology is audio-visual entrainment (AVE), and we manufacture the DAVID brand devices. Other products include the Oasis line of cranio-electro stimulators (CES) and transcranial DC Stimulators (tDCS). Mind Alive is the leader in all of these technologies and has patents for both AVE and CES.

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