There is a thing called the Cortisol Awakening Response which is basically all about waking up. There are three hormones in this CRH ( Corticotropin-releasing hormone), ACTH ( Adrenocorticotropic Hormone) and Cortisol.
The interplay between these hormones creates the ultradian cycle. Without going into the details it is normally every 90 minutes.
If Cortisol is high then people are awake and cannot sleep. This is in the sympathetic state. This is obviously a continuum of values, but in a sense we can think about a switch.
One thing I have been studying is the relationship between melatonin and this cycle.
What I have discovered is that at the end of the cycle if serum melatonin is going down then the cycle switches into the sympathetic state.
Hence if you take melatonin just before bed, and the amount is large enough to overwhelm serum quantities when the cycle next changes because of the 30 minute half life of serum melatonin the ultradian cycle that next occurs will be pushed towards the sympathetic state.
If you take melatonin in the previous cycle (say 2 hours before hand for safety) the serum level will be dominated most likely by endogenous melatonin and hence will be in the parasympathetic state.
This is why melatonin can wake you up if you take enough at the right/wrong time.
Most time release melatonin does not last long enough, but in a limited way it can overcome this.
The cornerstone of CBT is the idea that thoughts create our feelings and that many of our thoughts are distorted. Therefore, if you are telling yourself or having automatic thoughts that lying down to meditate is ‘a waste of time’, ‘so boring’, ‘never going to work for me’, ‘my brain is different’, CBT would predict that you will feel bored, restless, impatient, and hopeless, or something like that. The work would entail really understanding what, if any, thought distortions exist. Most importantly, however, is the initial question of whether someone wants any help at all.
Hope this wasn’t too intrusive. I am reading a CBT book currently, so I’ve got this stuff on the brain.
I was a lot happier about using meditative practices when I learnt that it is the slowing of breathing that actually creates a physiological effect. Calming the mind goes into the HPA axis as well. Before that I thought meditation was woo woo.
An international study led by the University of Granada (UGR) has revealed that melatonin, known for its ability to regulate the sleep/wake cycle, can restore the composition of muscle fibers and protect skeletal muscle from damage caused by obesity and type 2 diabetes, known as “diabesity.”
The results, published in the journals Free Radical Biology and Medicine and Antioxidants, show that this hormone improves mitochondrial function, reduces cellular stress and prevents programmed cell death, offering a new therapeutic strategy to combat this metabolic disease.
More information: Diego Salagre et al, Melatonin induces fiber switching by improvement of mitochondrial oxidative capacity and function via NRF2/RCAN/MEF2 in the vastus lateralis muscle from both sex Zücker diabetic fatty rats, Free Radical Biology and Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2024.12.019
Diego Salagre et al, Melatonin Ameliorates Organellar Calcium Homeostasis, Improving Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Apoptosis in the Vastus Lateralis Muscle of Both Sexes of Obese Diabetic Rats, Antioxidants (2024). DOI: 10.3390/antiox14010016
I don’t think I’ve seen this source listed anywhere for high dose melatonin capsules, so here I am.
In the comments of the video you posted, I noticed Ryker Black buys his melatonin from Pure Bulk. I then discovered Pure Bulk also sells 100mg capsules with no fillers.
(You can select powder or capsules, so pay attention to that option).
You can sign up for 12% off your first order. That makes it $45 for 120 caps of 100mg.
FWIW, last night I took my highest dose yet at aprox 100mg, and coincidentally or not, I had one of the best HRV scores I’ve had.
I did that by swallowing too many chewables (blech, will not be doing that again, my tummy is not happy) so I’m looking forward to more experiments with the caps. My sleep is pretty good these days anyway, but I see a positive difference in my stats when I take extra.