HPA Axis and Sleep Schedules
Recently ive seen a doctor who has recovered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
It turned out that he had an Epstein Barr infection and once he was treated antiviral drugs, he felt somewhat better, but was still sick.
The thing that he told me helped him to fully recover was keeping a strict sleep schedule. Waking up early and going to sleep at the same time every night. He said that this was one of the most important things in his recovery.
If it worked for him, i thought it might work for me. I didnt think it would help, because all CFS patients seem to be really different. But i gave it a shot.
I started waking up at 8:00am and going to sleep at midnight every night. Making sure to get as close to 8 hours sleep a night as possible (no more, no less).
My goal with this new schedule was to normalize my sleep patterns, and hopefully my circadian rhythms and hpa axis.
Since ive been on the yasko protocol supplements (and klonopin & benadryl), ive been able to get a full nights sleep. But i have a tendency to oversleep, and have a really hard time waking up. My schedule was horrible, i would go to sleep anywhere between 1:00am-3:00am and sleep till 10:30 oo 11:30.
But, after a couple weeks of sticking to this schedule (and staying on the Yasko supplements), my sleep is much improved. My concentration also started to improve. I get weird bursts of energy, where my body feels warm, my muscles relax (my muscles are always really tense), and my concentration improves. I feel almost well sometimes, but it doesnt last.
I think it has to be some kind of improvement in hormonal function, because i cant think of anything else that would come in bursts like that. I know that the HPA axis, insomnia, and CFS are all related, so it makes sense to me that maybe my HPA axis might becoming more normalized.
So whatever those energy bursts are, i need more of them. Im hoping for slow steady progress. The yasko protocol combined with this sleep schedule seems to be leading on the right path. So far ive been on the schedule for 1 1/2 months and i hoping with more time, ill have more improvement.