Waking up in the middle of the night. Any behavioral/supplement recommendation?
This is a relatively occurring problem for me. I have no problem falling asleep. But around 4 hours into my sleep, I wake up with what feelings like adrenaline and a bit of a racing heart. Tension is felt in my chest. Like a stress response is being induced in the middle of the night.
I don’t suffer from anxiety, having racing thoughts during the day. I exercise regularly, both cardio and lighting weights.
I typically do 30 minutes of breath work before bed. Something’s long inhales / exhales. Other times slow breathing where I think about softening the body.
This often produces bodily responses like yawning and tearing up. I’ve seen this described as a parasympathetic response.
After I wake up in the middle of the night, I try to do the same breathing exercises. Getting that parasympathetic is key to getting back to sleep.
I’ve tried the following:
- magnesium glycinate (300 mg)
- l theanine (100 mg)
- Phosphatidylserine
- ashwagandha
I currently only take magnesium. Stacking these usually made me pretty mentally and physically groggy.
Also tried these prescriptions:
- propranolol
- gabapentin