Sleep, melatonin and smartbands

[Arbre]

Following the Bredesen protocol, I bought some melatonin pills, just to experiment.

In general, I go to sleep very early, around 9pm, and usually I wake up at around 4:30am (naturally, without any alarm clock). I usually do not feel tired when I wake up (on the contrary, I am quite energetic, and hungry).

My father used to have apnea, but when he lost weight, aparently the apnea disappeared. I have also lost weight, and I have a BMI below 25.

So, I took 1.8mg of melatonin, plus 5-HTP, and the next day I woke up around 7am, which is unheard of for me. Today, I also have waken up around 7am (but yesterday night I did not take any melatonin pill).

I am trying to see my sleep using a Xiaomi mi band 4, but I do not know if I can trust the results. Often, the beginning and end time of my sleep are precise, but sometimes not. Also, sometimes it tells me I have been awake at night, but I have not (when I was overweight and not following a keto diet, I used to wake up every night in the middle of the night, but not anymore).

Usually, the smartband tells me my deep sleep is around 1h10min (too low). But I am not sure if this measurement is precise enough or not, and if so, what should I do in order to lengthen my deep sleep.

[Jmac]

what should I do in order to lengthen my deep sleep.

I don't know anything about smart bands, but I'm working hard to improve my deep and REM sleep. I am getting ready to get a wearable oximeter (on Amazon, roughly $120). to see if my oxygen levels are in the right range. I've been following Dr. Matthew Walker's work, podcasts, etc. He has loads of good info on getting good sleep. I think his book is Why We Sleep (I checked it out of our local library).

I wrote a blog post with a looooonnnnnggggg list of all the things I've found that help sleep. I'm wearing some TrueDark Twilight glasses as I type to block not just blue but the other spectrums of light that tell our brain to stay awake. That was the last thing on my list of things to try...

Be sure to get the new book by Dr. Bredesen, Julie G & Dr. Aida Lasheen Bredesen, The End of Alzheimer's Program (it's the handbook). I'm over halfway through it and have already made some changes. Heard a few talks Dr. B gave on the book and sleep was something he talked about in one, think it was the one with Dr. Gundry.

See that your post was back in January. I just came across it doing a search on melatonin --- listened to a podcast today that said melatonin was good for those with dementia, was researching on here to see if any confirmation. Hope you're sleeping well!

[Tincup]

what should I do in order to lengthen my deep sleep.

I've been following Dr. Matthew Walker's work, podcasts, etc. He has loads of good info on getting good sleep. I think his book is Why We Sleep (I checked it out of our local library).

, but I do not know if I can trust the results. But I am not sure if this measurement is precise enough or not, and if so, what should I do in order to lengthen my deep sleep.

Dr. Walker notes these devices aren't that accurate on things like sleep stages, however he notes that comparing yourself against yourself, the comparisons are valid.

I have an Oura ring. In addition to its interpretations of sleep cycles, I look at average heart rate, lowest heart rate and heart rate variability. These are real data, not interpretations. When I first was using it, 19 months ago, my deep sleep was 0-3 min/night. My heart rate was highest at bedtime and lowest just before I woke up. According to Oura, this was because I was exercising or eating too much too close to bedtime. I knew for me, this wasn't true. After a few months, I stumbled on to Dr. Coca's Pulse test. Coca would have you take your pulse upon waking, then before and 30, 60 & 90 minutes after meals. If you saw a > 6 beat per minute elevation, it indicated sensitivity. In my case (with lifelong autoimmune issues and still having some residual issues even after adopting Steven Gundry's program), I had some non-subtle increases 15, 20 25 BPM. After eliminating these from my diet (Coca says everyone is different), my deep sleep increased to 30-90 minutes/night. My average heart rate dropped from 63 one random night in April 2019 to 45 in May, with no change in exercise. More recently, I started wearing an Apollo device at night and saw further heart rate reductions.

In one group I'm in, people take very large doses of melatonin. Not for sleep, but for all the other benefits. Some take over a gram. I take 144 mg at bedtime (powder) and try to remember to take 3 doses of 36 mg during the day. I'd have to forward you to the group to get all the studies backing this up.

I do all the other things - keep the same early bedtime (9PM), blue blocker glasses, apps on the devices, lots of sun (many days hours at 7,000') during the day on bare skin wearing only shorts. Never wear sunglasses outside. With my high serum vitamin D (>96 ng/mL) and high melatonin intake, I never burn at all, even with white northern European skin & my dermatologist loves the way my skin looks. I'm in good shape with a BMI around 24, body fat around 14% and waist to height ratio around 0.46. Also am mildly ketotic and have been keto adapted since 2009.

[Jmac]

I have an Oura ring. In addition to its interpretations of sleep cycles, I look at average heart rate, lowest heart rate and heart rate variability. These are real data, not interpretations. When I first was using it, 19 months ago, my deep sleep was 0-3 min/night. My heart rate was highest at bedtime and lowest just before I woke up. According to Oura, this was because I was exercising or eating too much too close to bedtime....

More recently, I started wearing an Apollo device at night and saw further heart rate reductions.

In one group I'm in, people take very large doses of melatonin. Not for sleep, but for all the other benefits. Some take over a gram. I take 144 mg at bedtime (powder) and try to remember to take 3 doses of 36 mg during the day. I'd have to forward you to the group to get all the studies backing this up...[/quote]

I downloaded the Coca method --- thanks!

I had an Oura ring but returned it. Didn't work well (when it did) with Android, they sent the wrong size, etc. I wouldn't have minded trying again, REALLY wanted it to work and was SO disappointed when it didn't, but they were extremely jerky about working with me on fixing, then on taking it back so can't do it again. Hoping someone else comes up with something just as awesome. I wear a Fitbit which is OK but not accurate, plus am getting the continual oximeter.

The melatonin thing is truly interesting. I've read so much back & forth about taking it --- don't take if you're not traveling, your body becomes dependent on the pills and stops making its own, etc. So was surprised when I heard the podcast by Dr. Berg saying good for those with dementia my eyes popped (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MPpiCg5HUg). I gave some to my husband last night as he's not been sleeping, MCI, has issues that keep him from exercising currently...will see. I am going to relook at it also for myself.

Oh, and thanks also re: the group. I just asked to join.