Many of us complain about not getting enough sleep. But some people have the opposite complaint. They sleep too much (hypersomnia).

Did you ever consider these could be symptoms of Hashimoto’s?

On average we as adults should get between 7-9 hours of sleep each night. If you get less sleep it could contribute to disease. Our bodies heal during deep sleep. REM sleep helps with mental energy. If we don’t get adequate sleep, our body can’t heal. If you get too much sleep it may be a sign of an underlying disease, like Hashimoto’s.

When we don’t get enough sleep the body remains in stress which is one of the quickest ways to develop adrenal dysfunction, which can cause autoimmune thyroid disease.

We know that not getting enough sleep when you have insomnia. But that is also true when you have hypersomnia. Because the quality of sleep you get is poor. When you have hypersomnia you must sleep longer because your body often misses the REM sleep we need to restore mental energy.

If you suffer from either insomnia or hypersomnia, here are some changes you can make to facilitate better quality sleep:

• What time do you go to bed? We’ve talked about this many times. We should all be in bed, lights out by ten pm. Ideally, we should turn off all technology by nine pm.
• Do you watch TV in Bed? If you’re in bed, you should be sleeping, not using your cell phone or tablet. You should not watch TV in bed or surf the web on your tablet.
• Do you sleep with a light on? You encourage deep sleep when you sleep in a dark room. You will get to that REM sleep cycle in proper time. Sleeping with lights on delays that deep sleep and also delay’s the brain regenerative REM sleep that takes place after major deep sleep has occurred for the night. Sleeping with the lights on also makes it harder to get up in the morning. If you’ve slept well you’ll have that natural boost of Cortisol hormone that helps us wake up in the morning. If you have healthy adrenals you will have a boost in cortisol in the morning to help them wake up. Please note, that cortisol rises in the middle of the night, while it’s still dark, and any light could delay the effect of morning cortisol.
• What is the temperature of your bedroom?. You should sleep in a room that is between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Too hot, you wake-up in the middle of the night, toss and turn and have nightmares. Too cold may and you disrupt sleep because our bodies try to regulate our internal temperature.
• Do you dream? Did you know that melatonin needs Vitamin B6 for proper production. If you can’t remember your dreams, you may be deficient in vitamin B6.
• How late do you eat?. I’ve talked about how we shouldn’t eat after 6pm because our meal should digest before we go to bed. The biggest job our body has, is to digest what we eat. It’s considered a parasympathetic activity. Similar to sleeping and healing. By eating after 6pm you aren’t allowing your digestive system to completely digest your meal before going to sleep. This will keep you from sleeping. It will also keep your body from healing. Your body heals while it sleeps. If it’s using the energy to digest food, then it can’t be healing.
• Have you done a parasite cleanse? Parasites, as we are learning area big culprit for many people. Most people don’t even know they have them. They sit in your gut and intestinal tract and cause issues, keeping you up, causing you to wake in the night or extremely early.
• Do you take melatonin? many people find melatonin and magnesium citrate assist with sleep. Don’t forget about vitamin B6 now.
• Have you considered your mattress? Here’s one we don’t consider. What is your mattress made of? Does it contain polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)? This is a toxin that, although keeps the bed from going up in flames, the substance is connected to an increased incidence of Hashimoto’ s and can trigger or accelerate the condition.

We have enough stress in our lives without adding to it by not getting the quality sleep we need to heal our body and mind. When we consider making the changes I’ve mentioned, you may find that your are waking up much faster with more energy. And you may improve your adrenal health.