If you’re reading this, chances are you’re tired. This everyday exhaustion may even be affecting your mood, your focus, your weight, and your quality of life. The truth is, insomnia is rarely just a "sleep disorder." It’s usually a symptom of a deeper metabolic, hormonal, or inflammatory imbalance.

Traditional sleep hygiene focuses on behavioral fixes that may have worked for your friends or family. You try making the room cool and dark. You don’t look at your phone before bed. You even use a white noise machine. So why are you still staring into space and not getting any sleep?! The answer is simply. Your sleep is actually controlled by complex biological systems, not just habits. When these systems are chronically stressed or inflamed, they actively prevent you from entering deep, restorative sleep.

At Primal Wellness Clinic, we use a functional medicine approach to address the most common triggers of insomnia: hormonal imbalances, poor metabolic health, and gut health issues. In this blog, we’ll discuss these triggers as well as how we can address them in order to finally get you some quality shut eye.

The most common insomnia triggers

1. Hormonal imbalance - Your circadian rhythm is your body's 24-hour master clock. It dictates when you should be alert and when you should be sleepy through two primary hormones: cortisol and melatonin. If you experience chronic stress, the entire system malfunctions due to a high production of cortisol and adrenal fatigue symptoms.

   1. Can you fix your circadian rhythm? Yes, through methods like light exposure, firm bedtimes, and addressing the chronic stress that is wreaking havoc on your body.

2. Poor metabolic health - If you’re waking up between 2:00AM-4:00AM, it’s likely because of your blood sugar. If your blood sugar drops too low, also known as hypoglycemia, your brain enters panic mode. Since low blood sugar is a threat to survival, the body releases emergency stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to force the liver to dump stored glucose back into the bloodstream. This surge of adrenaline is what jolts you wide awake and keeps you from settling back down.

   1. How do you fix this? Start by making sure your dinners are balanced. Include a protein source, as well as good healthy fats, and keep the glycemic index low.

3. Gut health issues - Your gut produces up to 90% of your body's serotonin, which is the precursor to melatonin. If your gut health is compromised, your serotonin production suffers, leading to a deficiency in the very chemical needed to initiate sleep. Making the matter much worse, leaky gut can lead to systemic inflammation. This inflammation signals danger to your brain, making it impossible for your nervous system to prioritize rest over fighting the inflammation in your body.

   1. At Primal Wellness Clinic, we can utilize cutting-edge testing to determine the root-cause(s) of your gut health issues and treat them directly.

Primal Wellness Clinic’s Advanced Interventions

• Testing hormones - This is often the first step we will take in order to determine if you have reversed circadian rhythm or adrenal dysfunction. We can then use targeted holistic support methods to reset your system.

• Gut repair - We may run stool testing to identify bacterial imbalances or infections that could be driving up inflammation and insulin resistance. This customized treatment plan heals the gut lining, restoring serotonin production and calming the vagus nerve by reducing inflammation.

• Metabolic correction - If suspected, we will use continuous glucose monitoring to see exactly when and why your blood sugar is crashing at night. This treatment involves changes to your lifestyle, diet, and evening routine.

You know that ignoring sleep problems is not sustainable. Chronic insomnia increases your risk of developing heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, anxiety, and depression. Every night of poor sleep compounds the damage done by stress and inflammation.

You deserve an answer that goes deeper than "take a pill." You need a personalized roadmap to a healthier and happier way of existing. Schedule your consultation with Primal Wellness Clinic today and start getting your answers sooner, rather than later.