The Sleep Detective podcast: why you can't sleep and how to fix it

To sleep well, you need to be in a calm and relaxed state. Many people with insomnia get stuck in the stress response. Their body is constantly releasing cortisol and so they get stuck in fight or flight or that sympathetic state. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why you get stuck in fight or flight. How stress affects the body over time. 7 ways to calm your nervous system so you can sleep. Tips for...

My client David had been struggling with sleep issues and gut pain all of his life. His sleep had gotten worse in the last 10 years and recently he was sleeping 2-3 hours a night while taking sleeping pills. Within a few weeks of working together, he got off meds and has been sleeping at least 7 hours most nights! We're only halfway through working together and he's already seen major impr...

Functional lab tests will show why you can’t sleep. But you want to use the right ones and more than one so you don't miss anything.  In this episode, you’ll learn: which functional lab tests will show why you can’t sleep. which tests aren’t helpful and why one test isn’t enough to get to the bottom of your sleep issues.  If you’ve tried many things and nothing has helped, you need the Complet...

Women are more likely than men to experience insomnia and daytime sleepiness.  As our hormones change throughout the month, they affect our sleep in many different ways.  (Men can have hormone imbalances that affect their sleep, too. I talk more about different hormone imbalances (including cortisol and testosterone) in episode 33. But as women, we’re uniquely affected by the fluctuations of hormo...

If you're like I was when I couldn't sleep, you're probably taking all kinds of supplements to see if they will help. The problem with doing this is there are imbalances in your body that are causing your insomnia and taking supplements could make them even worse.  In this episode, I talk about melatonin, magnesium, probiotics and more and when these supplements can add to the imbalanc...

Is your blood work “normal” but you can’t sleep? Many of my clients have this experience. There’s something going on in their bodies that is causing their sleep issues but blood work doesn’t usually find it. There are a few reasons why that I explain in this episode. If you want a natural solution that uses the science of lab testing to find the root cause of your insomnia, the Complete Sleep Solu...

DHEA is a powerful hormone that promotes growth and repair. Low levels of this hormone are an early warning sign that your adrenal system isn't functioning well. In this episode you'll learn: how low DHEA affects sleep symptoms of low DHEA why DHEA is so important why you want to be cautious about taking DHEA supplements If you want a completely customized approach to fixing your sleep onc...

An unhealthy gut can lead to insomnia (see episode 6). The medical approach to assessing gut health is to do a colonoscopy or endoscopy. I use the GI Map instead and I explain why in this episode. If you’ve done (or are thinking about doing) a colonoscopy to find out if your gut is contributing to your sleep problems, listen to this first! The Complete Sleep Solution uses the GI Map and other func...

Good sleepers close their eyes, fall asleep quickly and wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. It should be that easy. When you have insomnia, sleep isn’t easy. You can’t fall asleep. Or you lie awake for hours in the middle of the night, exhausted but wired. Whether you’ve been suffering for years or even decades, understanding how sleep works is the first step to better sleep. After listening...

Everything you do affects your sleep: what you eat, how you think, your habits, etc. That’s why I look at everything in your life that is affecting your sleep in a holistic way. In this episode, I explain the 5 things you need to look at when overcoming insomnia. The path to better sleep is simple: Find out what’s keeping you awake in your body and your mind. Follow a step-by-step plan to correct...

If you've gone to therapy or tried CBT-i (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) and it hasn't helped you sleep, there are reasons why that I explain in this episode. Register for the Why You Can’t Sleep masterclass to find out what’s keeping you from sleeping. It’s happening Oct 4th, 1pm ET on Zoom. If you want to find the root cause of your sleep issues with a coach who will get to k...

Serotonin is our “happy” neurotransmitter because it helps us enjoy life. Many of my clients are deficient in serotonin and it’s affecting their sleep and mood. Serotonin deficiency directly affects sleep because your body is supposed to convert serotonin to melatonin, which regulates your sleep cycle. The reason you don’t have enough serotonin is because your body isn’t healthy. In this episode,...

Sleep issues weren’t a thing 200 years ago. Humans used to sleep an average of 8 ½ hours a night; now we average 7 ½ hours. This isn’t surprising considering how much has changed in the past 150 years. There are 3 reasons why we have a hard time sleeping today that I explain in this episode. In the Complete Sleep Solution, I address all 3 of these reasons to find everything that’s keeping you awak...

Many of my clients ask me if I recommend that they track their sleep. In this episode, I give the pros and cons of tracking your sleep so you can decide what's best for you. I can help you find the root cause of your insomnia whether you track your sleep or not! You don’t have to live with insomnia anymore. Click here to sign up for the ⁠Insomnia Insight program⁠ . You'll know exactly what...

The “pill” and other forms of birth control destroy your sleep and your health. In this episode I explain why. The first step to sleeping better is to get off birth control. The next step is to work with me so I can find why your hormones are out of balance and help you get them back in balance so you can sleep normally and feel great, even during your period. Click here to sign up for the ⁠Insomn...

If you Google "how to sleep better" you'll find the same tips: don't watch screens before bed don't drink caffeine past 2 p.m. follow a relaxing bedtime routine exercise everyday etc. These tips don't work for most people with chronic insomnia and I explain why in this episode. We can find what's keeping you from sleeping normally and correct it! Click here to sign up...

Many of my clients have family members who also have sleep issues. And so they think that their insomnia is genetic. In this episode I'm going to explain how much our genes play a role in our sleep. Just because your parents or other family members suffer from insomnia doesn’t mean that you have to! The way to get over sleep issues is to  Find out what’s out of balance in your body Address tho...

There are two parts of your brain that battle each other. One part (the prefrontal cortex) wants you to sleep better. The other part (your primal brain) doesn’t. In this episode, you’ll learn about these two parts of the brain, how your primal brain sabotages your sleep,  and why it’s so hard to make changes that will help you sleep better. My client ML just went to Ireland and wrote, “I was so ne...

Heavy metals could be causing your sleep problems. I’ve seen this recently in many of my clients. They have high levels of mercury, aluminum, copper, lead and arsenic as well as others. In this episode, you’ll find out: What heavy metals are and how they get into our bodies How heavy metals affect the body and your sleep How to test for heavy metals Why it’s important not to overlook heavy metals...

In this week’s episode of The Insomnia Fix, I give you a simple exercise to help with worry and fear. The talk about a possible recession sparked me to share this exercise with you because I know that changes in the economy can cause worry and anxiety. This exercise works for any stressful situation. You’re worried about losing your job? Your boyfriend breaking up with you? Having to move to take...

Mineral imbalances can cause insomnia. You hear about vitamins all the time, but you rarely hear about the importance of minerals for health and sleep. All of my clients have some sort of mineral imbalance which makes sense since they aren’t sleeping well. In this episode you'll learn: how different mineral imbalances affect sleep how to test for mineral balance why you don't want to overl...

Keeping your blood sugar steady is critical to sleeping well! If you wake up in the middle of the night, there’s a good chance it’s because your blood sugar levels aren’t healthy. This can happen even if you eat healthy and avoid sugar and carbs. In this episode, you’ll learn: What happens when you’re on the blood sugar roller coaster. How my client Peter’s sleep was affected by blood sugar. The s...

My client Andrew came to me after sleeping poorly for over 10 years, since he was 14 years old! It would take him 9 hours to get 5-6 hours of sleep. In the last year, his sleep deteriorated even more. He was only getting 4-5 hours a night and he was ready for a change. He also had stomach issues and worried about sleep all the time. In this episode, Andrew shares: What his lab tests showed was goi...

Do you know that the gut and the brain are connected? If one isn't healthy, then the other isn’t either! To sleep well, both your gut and your brain need to be healthy. Find out how the gut and brain are connected and how to keep both of them healthy in this episode. At the Complete Sleep Solution, we do functional lab testing to find out what’s happening in your gut and brain that’s keeping y...

My client Andrey was only sleeping 2-3 hours some nights and he was feeling tired, anxious, and depressed when we started working together. Within a month of starting supplements and other changes, he started sleeping better. For the past 6 weeks, he’s feeling better than he ever has before! In this week’s episode, Andrey and I talk about his experience working together, what the lab tests showed...