Re: Not sleeping at all for days -Margaret

[Guest guest]

Hi Margaret,

I know I've said this before but it is wonderful to have such a great site and wonderful people to share, talk, sort through difficulties with.

Margaret, your speculations may not be pure speculation after all. I did a quick search on serotonin and there is a connection between tryptophan to serotonin to melatonin. Have a look at this:-

http://www.tinnitusformula.com/infocenter/articles/treatments/trypto.aspx

Speaking of dieting, I've a good example. My sister did Atkins and from being a happy, healthy person (aside from weight issues) she became an anxious, depressed person with major panic attacks and had to take early medical retirement due to poor health ... pretty certain it must have been triggered by a drastic change in the diet and her metabolism. She is now on antidepressants, big time and can't get out of bed!

I think you are so right with the carbs issue on N's keto diet, as his prescription for carbohydrates is miniscule and if there is a connection of carbs and serotonin, then this may be the key. However, I'm not sure why he is also extremely, extremely lethargic - most other kids on the keto diet are not like this. I wonder if he is depressed from a lack of serotonin or perhaps he has chronic fatigue syndrome ..... here we go with the speculating!

and more speculation (LOL!) . At this stage of development (puberty) carbs are so important (as I think older children/teenagers always eat so much carbohydrate type foods at this stage, at least in my experience with 5 older brothers, there were always going through several loaves of bread in a day - there must be a reason for this, perhaps more so for boys!).

I guess I can ran this carb content past N's dietician, see if we could alter the ratio of his diet to allow for an increase in carbs (even if so slight.... should show some sign of improvement with sleep, hopefully).

I guess I need to read more on this link between tryptophan-serotonin-melatonin .... BTW, has anyone ever tried L-Tryptophan to aid sleep or other (as mentioned in the article)? Maybe I could try this..... I'll discuss further with GP.

The SSRI's, I'm not sure I'd go this way but would obviously need to exhaust all other avenues.

Thanks for thinking of this link and hope you did not lose your sleep over it (LOL!)

emily xx

>> I was also thinking about this last night. This is pure speculation on > my part: I know and personally experience that eating high carbohydrate > foods can have a calming effect and even make one sleepy. Your child is > on the ketogenic diet which is more or less carbohydrate-free. When I > have been on slimming diets that have put me into mild ketosis I have > had more energy and have slept less than usual.> > Another effect of carbohydrates is to boost serotonin levels. Most > serotonin is produced in the gut of healthy individuals, but it has > been suspected that with the gut disturbances found in many people with > autism, serotonin production isn't at its best. I don't know what the > effect of lowish serotonin levels might have on the ability to sleep: > does anyone else know?> > (In some people with autism, some of the symptoms have been ameliorated > by SSRIs (eg Prozac)which conserves serotonin in the body. I don't know > what happens to sleep in these circumstances.)> > Margaret>