The Interplay Between Insomnia and the Hormone System

Hormones are chemical messengers that play a crucial role in regulating processes like growth, metabolism, immune function, and stress response. Ideally, the levels of all hormones is just right. As you might have guessed, getting optimal sleep is one of the keys for the proper functioning of the system. Just one poorly slept night can already disturb hormonal balance and trigger changes that impact your health and wellbeing.

Here are some ways a lack of sleep can affect and disturb hormonal system and balance:

Effects on Cortisol

Often referred to as the stress hormone, cortisol is regulated by the body's internal clock and sleep-wake cycle. Poor sleep can disrupt the normal cortisol rhythm, leading to elevated cortisol levels during times when they should be decreasing. This can contribute to increased stress, mood disorders, and potential metabolic disruptions.

Impact on Growth Hormone

Growth hormone, responsible for tissue growth and repair, is released predominantly during deep sleep. Lack of sleep can lead to decreased growth hormone secretion, impairing tissue healing, muscle recovery, and overall physical health.

Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Risk

Produced by the pancreas, insulin plays a critical role in regulating blood sugar (glucose) levels in the body. Optimal balance is important, because too much glucose in blood causes cellular damage. Lack of sleep and poor sleep quality challenges the situation causing reduced insulin sensitivity which is a major risk factor for metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes.

Appetite Hormones

Just one night of poor sleep can affect the balance between appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin. The levels of leptin hormone that signals satiety, tends to decrease, while ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates hunger, tends to increase. As a result, there is a tendency to start overeating while to fix the situation, getting enough sleep can promote ideal balance.

Thyroid Hormones

Disruptions in sleep can adversely affect thyroid function, influencing the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid hormones (T3 and T4). Altered thyroid function may lead to metabolic irregularities, weight changes, and changes in energy levels.

Conclusion

As hormones work behind the scenes, it's very likely that most people are unaware of the many potential imbalance risks, especially those caused by lack of sleep. This is why sleep education is important. Healthcare providers should always look at sleep patterns and quality when they are evaluating patients. Ideally, health care should always target both sleep and hormone-related issues reflecting the complex interplay between sleep quality and the hormone system

To get the best possible sleep every night, one key is to calm the nervous system. Learning how to do this, is the aim of the Moving into Sleep Method which is a new somatic self-care technique, based on educational neuroscience In minutes, you can calm your nervous system by doing gentle sleep-inducing movements and get quality sleep even when the conditions are challenging.

Read more about the Moving into Sleep Method

Thanks for reading,

Oliver

“Better sleep is just a gentle movement away”

Keywords: Educational neuroscience, Insomnia treatment, Psychophysiological insomnia, Primary insomnia, Learned Insomnia,

Too high or low support will twist your neck muscles, which can affect your whole body.

If you prefer to lie on your back, make the support thinner than when you lie on your side.
Fold the towel so that your neck feels well supported and you can roll your head easily from side to side.
Note that the alignment of your neck often reflects first the way it is when you stand or sit.
Therefore, after some time, it might be necessary to adjust the hight

If you lie on your side, create a support so that your neck is in line with your spine.
Experiment with different heights, until you feel your neck is as relaxed as possible and free to move.
If necessary combine a folded towel with a flat pillow
Be aware that some pillows get compressed during the night and won't give you consistent support.
A folded towel, on the other hand, maintains its shape very well.
Once you have created the right support for your head, move it a little backward, so that nothing or as little as possible touches your cheek.
A gentle touch on the cheek triggers a rooting reflex, which activates the neck muscles to turn your head.
Ideally, the core support is under the side of the skull, behind the ear, where you can find the center of balance of your head.
Note also that your neck doesn't need any support. Therefore, avoid squeezing a soft pillow under your neck as it will bother you by limiting body circulation and free movement.

The support you get is firm, yet comfortable and the flat surface promotes comfort and ease in movement.
Some weeks ago, my mother-in-law told she had a stiff neck every morning. When I asked her how she supported her head, she told having a basic, soft, and quite a thick pillow. I then told her how I support my head with a folded bath-towel, sometimes combined with a thin pillow. This allows me to adjust the support so that my head is well balanced and free to move. It is a great solution, functional and cheap.
As always — thanks for reading.

Questions and comments are welcome!