u/cal-bri-lettuce90

About me: 36M, 181cm, 86kg, athletic build.

The problem: For about 1.5 years I've been getting 3–5 hours of sleep a night. Falling asleep is fine. The issue is I wake at 1–2am almost every single night and can't get back to sleep.
On the odd night I get 6–7 hours, I feel great: mentally sharper and way more productive at work. So I know what I'm missing.

What I've tried so far:
Bloods: Testosterone came back pretty low. I first tried raising it naturally with supplements and enclomiphene, but I'm fairly sure the enclo gave me really bad night sweats, which made my sleep even worse. I switched to TRT and have been on it for 10 weeks. Quality of life has definitely improved, but it hasn't fixed the sleep.

Cortisol-lowering supps: Holy basil, phosphatidylserine, ashwagandha, skullcap, reishi, l- theanine, apigenin, glycine, magnesium glycinate

Snack Before bed: protein/ fatty snack before bed

Peptides: Epitalon and DSIP

Training timing: AM vs PM workouts make no difference

Morning sunlight: Within 30 minutes of waking

Blue blocker glasses: 1.5 hours before bedtime

Meal timing: Last meal before 6pm

What I'm considering next:
CBT-I (CBT for insomnia)

Looking into gut health, although my gut seems fine (minimal gas, normal stools and motility)

My question: If you've been through the same thing and tried a lot of options, did anything actually fix it for you? Especially interested in hearing from anyone with the same "fall asleep fine, wake at 1–2am" pattern.

A few questions:

**•**	Has anyone noticed the same breathing and cardio improving while fasting?  
**•**	Any idea why this might happen physiologically?  
**•**	If it’s food related, where would you start looking? (intolerances, histamine, bloating triggers, etc.)

Aside from the breathlessness and a small reoccurring cough , no major daily symptoms occasionally loose stools (not often), sometimes bloated, never constipated.

When I jog I can go for a lot longer without stopping when fasted, just feels clear and I can get a deeper breath in.

Stats: 36M, 181cm, 81kg, fit, not overweight.

Any pointers appreciated 🙏 I’ve never looked into gut health testing. Would a gi map be of any assistance here?

36year old male, 181cm, 81kg

Just over 4.5 weeks into TRT and honestly the sides have been minimal, which I'm grateful for. But a few things are nagging me:

1. Bloating -noticeable water retention / puffiness, in the tummy region, i look 6 months pregnant
2. Waking up around 2am almost every night like clockwork.
3. Erections aren't great either - not where I'd expect them to be at this stage.
4. Oily facial skin Which doesnt bother me at all

Beyond that, no itchy/sensitive nipples, no acne, none of the usual "high E2" flags people talk about. So I'm not convinced this is estrogen running away on me.

My read is it might just be my body adapting while levels are still climbing and haven't stabilized yet - but I'd love a reality check from people further down the road.

My diet is super clean. I am on TRT only, dont really want to add multiple compounds if i can remain as is.

I was planning to wait until the 8-week mark to get bloods done and see what's actually happening under the bonnet before changing anything figured there's no point testing before levels have settled. But keen to know if that lines up with what others have done.

For those who had similar early on:

• Did the bloating fade once you hit steady state (~6 weeks+)?
• Did the middle-of-the-night wake-ups sort themselves out, or did something specific fix it for you?
• Did erections take a while to come good, or did they need something dialled in?
• Anything you'd change, or just ride it out?

Appreciate any input 🙏

I’m 36. Spent 15 years as a carpenter before wanting a change on the trade and jumping into a corporate sales / project management role my first ever office job. I’m 2.5 years in.

Here’s the thing: I’m the top performer on my team by a wide margin. On paper I’m crushing it. But I’ve never felt worse.
I can’t stop noticing inefficiencies everywhere broken processes, decisions from management I can see going wrong before they play out. When I raise it, genuinely trying to make things better, it goes nowhere every time. And the coworkers I sit beside all day are a big part of what’s grinding me down.

The first year was fine. Around the 18-month mark something shifted I think my construction background finally collided with enough sales experience that the penny dropped, and now I can’t unsee any of it. It’s turned into a constant low-grade seething. It’s wrecking my sleep and I dread going in.

I honestly can’t tell if I’m burnt out, if sales/corporate just isn’t for me, or if it’s specifically the co/workers people I’m around.
For anyone who’s felt this: did you stay or leave? If you stayed, how did you make peace with it? If you left, was it the right call? How did you keep your head straight through it?

This current feeling is totally different to when I was in construction, when I was in construction i needed a change after 15 years, could it be my personality?

**•**	Some people say once you come off, you feel rough for a while, but eventually your natural production comes back to baseline.  
**•**	Others say the proper approach is TRT, then HCG, Nolvadex, and Enclomiphene to restart things afterward.  
**•**	And some insist you have to run HCG alongside TRT the entire time, or you risk shutting things down for good.

So which is it? Is the permanent shutdown thing a myth, a temporary recovery period, or a genuine risk if you don’t manage it right?

Keen to hear from people who’ve actually been through it or come off successfully. What was your experience?

The thing I keep coming back to: it lines up with a stretch where my job’s gotten really stressful. I stew over upper management constantly, and I can’t shake the feeling that’s what’s driving this. Part of me wonders if changing jobs would just be the silver bullet that fixes the whole thing. Once I wake up I cannot get back to sleep at all. I am wired, I cannot get myself back to sleep I just lay there awake, my body is also pretty warm.

Here’s everything I’ve already thrown at it:

\*\*•\*\* Ashwagandha
\*\*•\*\* Phosphatidylserine
\*\*•\*\* Basically every “lower your cortisol” supplement on the shelf
\*\*•\*\* Honey before bed to keep blood sugar stable overnight

Some of it maybe took the edge off, but the wakeups are still bang on schedule.

So I’m turning it over to the hive mind:

\*\*•\*\* Anyone had the exact same thing fine for years, then months of clockwork wakeups and traced it back to stress or a job?
\*\*•\*\* If you changed jobs or dealt with the stress at the root, \*\*did the sleep actually come back?\*\*
\*\*•\*\* Or is this something deeper I should be looking at circadian rhythm, nervous system, apnea after all?

I’ll take anecdotes, protocols, hunches, whatever you’ve got. Tell me what actually worked for you.

The thing I keep coming back to: it lines up with a stretch where my job’s gotten really stressful. I stew over upper management stuff constantly, and I can’t shake the feeling that’s what’s driving this. Part of me wonders if changing jobs would just be the silver bullet that fixes the whole thing.

Here’s everything I’ve already thrown at it:

**•**	Ashwagandha  
**•**	Phosphatidylserine  
**•**	Basically every “lower your cortisol” supplement on the shelf  
**•**	Honey before bed to keep blood sugar stable overnight

Some of it maybe took the edge off, but the wakeups are still bang on schedule.

So I’m turning it over to the hive mind:

**•**	Anyone had the exact same thing fine for years, then months of clockwork wakeups and traced it back to stress or a job?  
**•**	If you changed jobs or dealt with the stress at the root, **did the sleep actually come back?**  
**•**	Or is this something deeper I should be looking at circadian rhythm, nervous system, apnea after all?

I’ll take anecdotes, protocols, hunches, whatever you’ve got. Tell me what actually worked for you.

Marker Oct25 Jan26 May26 Units
PRL 7.5 6.0 3.3 ng/mL
E2 25 33 25 pg/mL
Prog 0.3 0.6 0.6 ng/mL
Total T 462 375 692 ng/dL
Free T 87 82 143 pg/mL

Enclo doubled my bloods and the E2:T looks dialled… so why am I still flat, moody and waking at 2am drenched?

36M, 178cm, 80kg, otherwise healthy.

Currently doing a 2-week washout. Plan is to return at 12.5mg EOD, stacked with DHEA + pregnenolone.

Last 6 weeks was on 12.5mg ED and number on papers were good however feeling didn’t match see attached image last Column is numbers after 6 weeks of enclo

**•** Anyone get that “one perfect week” then a crash on enclo? Was it an E2 swing, adaptation, something else?
**•** EOD vs ED — did dropping frequency smooth out the peaks and troughs for you?
**•** Worth adding DHEA + preg here, or am I just stacking variables I won’t be able to read?
**•** Night sweats + 12–2am wakeups on a SERM — pointing at estrogen? cortisol? something else?