Out of the rut - advice for sufferers of DSPS

Its now two and half years since I started this blog and I do appear to have this under control.. just about.

Here are some factors to consider. If you answer YES to 5 of the following statments matches you, read on for more help.

1. Is your body mass index over 25? You can calculate you BMI at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm

2. Do you find that sometimes you become more alert at night time and sleep is the hardest thing to do then?

3. Is it 3/4/5 in the morning before you can get to sleep?

4. Is 10.30-11.00 in the morning your body's preferred waking time almost irrespective of when you get to sleep at night?

5. Do you find that you sometimes get sleepy or even fall asleep soon after eating during the day time?

6. Is night time snacking something that you do because you crave it or because you know or believe it will help you fall aleep?

7. Have you sometimes wondered if you have at least one of the following conditions
* Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS)?
* Thryoid malfunction (especially hypothryroidism - low thyroid) but your doctor says its normal or low, but not abnormally so?
* Insulin resistance

8. You have been diagnosed with depression, but antidepressants (SSRIs) don't really make you feel wonderful again?

9. Do you get "brain-fog" and decision making becomes very hard or you make the most unbelievably silly mistakes if you do make decisions?

10. Is your blood sugar higher than it should be but you are not yet officually diabetic?

11. You no longer seem to dream as much as you once did.



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Here's what I think the problem is......

Our bodies are designed to store fat as an insurance policy against food shortages.

This happens especially as the fall/autumn draws into winter.

Its a natural process that has happened for millennia and is genetically programmed in.

As we gain fat, our bodies become insulin resistant.

Insulin resistance blocks the rate of energy take up by the cells in your body. This is why you feel that you have little energy to do anything... you actually don't!

Its also why you get "brain-fog"... your brain is just a collection if cells too! If your brain is starved of energy, it won't work properly either.

Because you are not "burning" energy, your blood sugar is likely to be higher than normal because the cells are not using it up. It's danagerous. Some doctors call this "pre-diabetic". If it carries on you can end up with full blown diabetes.

One result of this is that more sugar is left around to be converted to body fat. Hence you gain weight.

The more weight you gain, the more resistant to insulin you become. Yep, its a vicious circle!

There is a strong tendency for this to happen either as winter approaches OR if you have been through some very stressful event in the last 12 months or so. By the time you are in the dead of winter comes or 3 months after you first started to feel at bit low, you could be feeling at rock bottom.

Your sleep pattern is completely shot through. You want to be awake all night and even when you wake up, often late in the morning, it does not feel like you had a good night's sleep.

I think I know know why dreaming stops in people with this condition, but would only be interested in sharing this with genuine sleep researchers. I think this is a "real" lack of REM sleep not a "less likely to remember" issue. This genuine lack of REM sleep probably worsens the "brain-fog".

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Here's what I did.

1. In the last 2 years I have shed 17Kg (37 pounds) by following VERY STRICTLY the Atkins diet and exercising regularly. Sure, the exercise was hard work, but it has paid off. I used Ketostix to monitor progress.

2. In those 2 years, I have had periods where I relaxed the diet slightly and allowed some carbs, BUT... only those that are VERY VERY slow releasing. I would for example eat spinach, shredded cabbage, lettuce, onion, 100% rye crackers, rye porrage. ABSOLUTELY NO potatoes, rice, pasta, anything with flour (wheatflour or corn starch) ... so no bread either. And absolutely nothing with sugar or its derivatives. It took me 3 months on a strict plan to lose the first 7kg (15 pounds), 3 months to lose the next 3 Kg (7 pounds), 6 months to lose the next 3 Kg (albeit on a more gentle version of the diet, and a whopping 9 months to lose the next 3Kg. But I am just about on the brink of my target range. I'd like to lose another 3 or 4 Kg and may do the diet strictly again. This is because winter is approaching and the natural thing to do at this time of the year is to EAT CARBS by the bucketload, so I figure that doing the absolute opposite will make it clear to my body that we are not ready to play that game this winter!! And I intend to intensify the exercise regime just to rub it home.

3. Drink plenty of fluid (tap water is great! ..no additives). Avoid alcohol. I did allow the occational diet drink.

4. Don't buy anything you cannot eat.

(That's gonna be hard for anyone with families 'cos surely you don't want to deprive them of sugary food like chocolate and ice-cream, cookies, colas, and salty/oily food like potato snacks. Hmm .. well maybe you should! Its stuff like that which is causing so much diabetes and overwight in our society. Its OKAY for a while, but longer term you are building a problem. Best not to have it in the house then you can't be tempted. Better for them to eat fruit and raw vegetables like carrots. (By the way, most fruit is off your diet until you get into the normal BMI zone (18-25 or so).

5. Make a rule. DO NOT EAT LATER THAN 8 PM IN THE EVENING... 6 or 7 PM is even better.
This is REALLY important. Breakfast is not called "break fast" for nothing. The ancestors that called it that new a thing or two. As is the wise old saying "eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch, and as a pauper at supper-time". It will promote good and effective sleep.

6. Drink plenty of fluid, and use powdered psyllium (ispaghula) husk as a dietry suppliment to keep your bowel movements going and your stools soft. This because the strict Atkins diet can switch off your bowel movements, and your exess need for fluid to metabolise body fat as fuel can make the stools reallt hard and hard to pass.

Sound hard? Can't do it? Hmm... wanna live to a ripe old age? Wanna feel NORMAL again? Wanna get back into those old jeans at the back of the closet?

Yes you can do it! You may experience hunger for the first few days. When it happens, eat eggs, bacon, meat, fish...but absolutely no carbs. It will speed you into benign ketosis and when that few days is over, you will not feel hunger again. SO LONG AS YOU KEEP STRICTLY TO THE DIET. One ice cream, a soda pop, a small choclate bar or a potato, and you will within seconds undo all the hard work you did in those few days AND IT WILL TAKE ANOTHER FEW DAYS BEFORE YOU CAN UNDO THE DAMAGE DONE IN THAT MOMENT OF MADNESS.

And here is the good news! When you are losing weight on the Atkins diet, your body is fuelling not on sugar but a modified form of the excess fat you have been storing. And this process is NOT insulin dependent. So you will start to have more energy, your body will actually become a little warmer as your cells start functioning properly again. You may even get a little sweaty, but be content that this means you are losing that excess weight even faster. You find that you can sleep normally again, and at the proper time. Your brain fog will lift, and you can lead a normal sort of life, except your diet is anything but normal.

But the aim of this is to get your BMI down into the normal range and prevent the insulin resistance that cause your DSPS like symptoms.

When you get into the normal BMI range, your diet can become more varied. But you will probably be best advised not to go back to eating chocolate and ice cream and sticky buns or chips or cookies on a regular basis. Have them as treats, maybe once a week, and never have them stocked in your kitchen. And never shop when you are hungry!!!!

When you are off the Atkins diet (either as a temporary break in the weight loss program or when you reach your target BMI) eat only foods that have a low glycemic index such as home made soups contain lentils, a bowl of chilli con carne, and use finely shredded cabbage, lightly steamed as replacement for rice. Keep your portion size low, and drink plenty of fluids and psyllium in sugar free fruit squash will add variety and fill yourself up.

Its important to stay active so try to keep to some fitness regime. I go swimming regulary and do Nordic Pole Walking. And I go to the gym too if I can once or twice a week. Use the stairs and not the elevator. Take a bike to make short journeys instead of the car. It all helps.

I now sleep better than I did before and the alarm call is now not dreaded. I think better. I look better. I'm still a little outside my target BMI but it has gone from just over 30 (obese... oh shame!!!) to a fraction over 25 (just outside the top end of the normal range). Getting the next 5Kg (11 pounds) off is going to be hard work. But I will get there because I know I can do it. I weigh myself religiously. And if the needle goes the wrong way, alarm bells start ringing and I modify my behaviour accordingly. Both what and when I eat, how much, and how much exercise I do. Quick corrective action really does get you back again.

Well, that's my advice to you.

Good luck if you can do it and I hope it helps you as much as it seems to have helped me.

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