I know this grosses a lot of people out, but we need to talk about it! 

If you’re consistently waking up at 3am and having trouble falling back asleep, you may have a parasite in your gut that’s keeping you awake. 

Don’t freak out though! 

In this blog post, I’m going to tell you what parasites are and where you get them, what they do to your body, how they affect sleep, how to know if you have a parasite, and what to do if you do have a parasite. 

After you learn this information, you’ll know exactly what you need to do next for your health and sleep.

What parasites are and where you get them


A parasite is an organism that depends on a host to survive. This means when it leaves your body, it is unable to survive on its own. Parasites are a type of pathogen. 

You get parasites from contaminated food and water, which can be consumed in third world countries and in developed countries, such as the United States and Europe. 

When a parasite enters your body, it lives in your gut, if your body is unable to fight it. This is one of the reasons why maintaining a healthy gut and immune system is so important. 

What parasites do to your body


If your body is unable to fight the parasite, these creatures will live in your gut and damage that area of your body, and you may experience: 

  • Leaky gut
  • Food sensitivities 
  • Burden on your liver
  • Nutrient deficiency
  • Elevated levels associated with IBS like bloating, nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea
  • Infective arthritis
  • Crohn’s Disease
  • Ulcerative Colitis
  • Hashimoto’s
  • Candida and/or H. Pylori co-infections

A previous blog post I wrote is a great resource to learn more.

How parasites affect sleep


Parasites are nocturnal and they are most active around 3am. 

When they are active, they are eating and pooping inside your gut. Their poop has a lot of toxins in it that affects your body in many ways, including increasing your cortisol level. 

An elevated cortisol level at 3am will wake you up, and make it difficult to go back to sleep, especially when the parasite is active for a while. 

How to know if you have a parasite


To date, ¼ of my clients have a parasite that’s affecting their sleep. These clients tend to have the most issues, with the exception of my clients with mold issues. We find out about their parasites from lab testing. 

There is a lab test called the GI Map that will tell you if there’s a parasite living in your body. 

The GI Map lab test is a stool test that uses qPCR technology which looks for parasite DNA. There are no perfect tests, but this one is the one I recommend, because of its sensitivity. 

Other labs use different technology, specifically microscopy or antigen, which can miss parasites living in your body. 

What to do if you do have a parasite


I recommend you take a two prong approach. What I mean is…

You definitely want to kill the parasite AND you definitely want to improve your gut health. At the same time. 

When I work with my clients inside The Complete Sleep Solution program, I give them customized approaches to this process. However, best practices that I can share with you here include usage of a binder, biofilm busters, and herbs. You really want to focus on healing your gut and supporting your liver. 

Because a parasite has so many effects on your body and health, there's more to getting better than just dealing with the parasite. To sleep better permanently, you also need to correct all the other imbalances in your body.