INSOMNIA
“The problem with insomnia is that the individual suffers all day long with adrenaline (epinephrine) overload, which is related to cortisol deficiency, so he/she is unable to sleep at night” states Edward M. Lichten, M.D., clinician and researcher in Birmingham, Michigan.
HISTORY: The typical insomniac is under stress: emotional, financial, marital and physical. Chronic stress while awake is manifested by a decrease in lean body mass, type ‘A’ personalities, carbohydrate loading and skipping meals, and the inability to '“get everything and everyone taken care of.”
SYMPTOMS: The degree of insomnia varies from mild: awakening and falls back to sleep; moderate, cannot fall asleep or cannot fall back to sleep; to severe, cannot sleep without over-the-counter to prescription medications. The worse of the worse individuals cannot sleep even with prescription medications.
DIAGNOSIS: The diagnosis of cortisol deficiency and neuro-chemical imbalance is made with a Neural-adrenal saliva and urine kit from Immunoscience and serum Calciferol (Vitamin D3) level from Quest Diagnostic Laboratories. See article- insomnia. The low levels of cortisol, low DHEA, increased epi- or nor-epinephrine, low serotonin and abnormal dopamine allow the physician to intervene medically-and-naturally. The emotional and physical causes of stress must be addressed separately but balancing the adrenal hormones must be done concurrently.
PHYSIOLOGY: The adrenal cortex releases CORTISOL (prescription CORTEF™) in response to the pituitary hormone ACTH’s signal. The problem is that ACTH can only be turned down by Cortisol yet it triggers increased release of adrenaline. The absence of the Vitamin B’s and C’s that are necessary for the adrenal cortex to manufacture Cortisol from being produced, aggravate and accelerate the problem of adrenaline (epinephrine) overload. The cycle continues until intervention breaks the cycle. That break can be a 3-month hiatus (vacation or mental breakdown) or the modified Jeffries protocol that we incorporate in our office.
PREVIOUS THERAPIES: Prozac™ and anti-depressants, Ambien™ and other sleeping agents fail to address the underlying physiology of too much epinephrine and too little cortisol, DHEA, Calciferol, magnesium, zinc and gabapentin. Small doses of Ativen™, Xanax™ or Klonipin™ many be incorporated acutely, because they individuals are ‘panicked’ not ‘depressed.’ But after the acute distress is controlled, increasing dosages of 5-HTP, magnesium and vitamin-mineral-amino acids are integral to our program of recovery.
The depression results from the seemingly incurable problem of insomnia which prevents REM sleep, IGF-1 release and tissue repair. And this depression, may be curable. For those with low serum lithium levels, we start lithium replacement at 150mg daily and increase accordingly with therapy to 300mg twice daily.
