If you already live a healthy lifestyle and have tried everything to sleep better and maybe your doctor even told you that you think too much or it’s because you’re anxious, you’re just like Abraham who I talk to in this Sleep Breakthrough episode. 


We talked about his sleep, what he’s tried so far, what is causing his sleep issues and then I gave him 3 things to work on now to help his sleep.


Sign up for a free Sleep Breakthrough call that will be aired on this podcast! You’ll fill out an assessment and then we’ll meet on Zoom and I’ll tell you 3 things to do right now that will have the biggest impact on your health and sleep. Schedule your call here.


Schedule a consultation to get started with the Complete Sleep Solution program so you can consistently sleep 7+ hours uninterrupted, naturally and permanently.


Resources mentioned in this episode:

  1. 6 things to do (and 3 not to do) when you can't sleep
  2. Change your thoughts to change your sleep


Episode Transcript


Martha Lewis: If you already live a very healthy lifestyle and have tried everything to sleep better and nothing has really worked, maybe your doctor even told you that it's anxiety or that you think too much. You're just like Abraham, who I talked to in this sleep breakthrough episode. So we talk about his sleep, what he's tried so far, what is actually Likely causing a sleep issues and then I gave him three things to work on now to help his sleep. This is the sleep detective podcast where you'll find out why you can't sleep and how to fix it Naturally, I'm Martha Lewis and as a functional health and sleep coach I've helped over 200 clients find the root causes of their health and sleep issues So that they can restore their health and sleep Well, even if they already live a healthy lifestyle and I've tried so many things and nothing has worked. Today, I have Abraham with me for a sleep breakthrough call. So thanks for being here.


Abraham: Thank you for having me.


Martha Lewis: Yeah, of course. So I read through, you know, the intake assessment that you filled out so I could start to kind of pinpoint what might be going on for you. So let's just talk about those things for a bit, because it sounds like you've been having sleep issues for a while.


Abraham: Yeah, yeah, maybe 20 years possibly.


Martha Lewis: Okay. Yeah. And will you tell everyone what you're dealing with?


Abraham: It has, uh, changed a little. Um, I was initially, uh, having it where I'd wake up in the morning feeling hung over and tired and really groggy. And then it went to waking up, uh, 3 a. m. like clockwork every night, um, and then, and now it's actually where, a point where I'm extremely tired every night, but I just can't fall asleep. I feel like even though I'm so tired, I feel very, like very alert, I would say.


Martha Lewis: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And that could definitely be, you know, cortisol at night when it shouldn't be. And that's going to make you feel that way. So, yeah. So that totally makes sense. Um, yeah, what else are you dealing with? Any other health issues or symptoms?


Abraham: Um, honestly, you know, I'm, I'm in very good health. I'm always, You know, exercising, live a very healthy lifestyle, go to bed at nine every night. And, uh, I mean, I try to, but many times I don't fall asleep till three in the morning, five in the morning, you know, so yeah, I'd say sleep has really kind of caused me a lot of problems.


Martha Lewis: Yeah, totally. I mean, it sounds like you're having some digestive issues. Maybe some skin issues, a little anxiety, things like that. Does that sound right?


Abraham: Yeah, I noticed, um, noticed recently that anytime I have cheese, I get like an instant rash. Um, I, it was initially on my arms and then it went to my scalp. Um, so, so I eat very little cheese. Um, I eat very little dairy. You know, most of the things I eat are all whole foods, unprocessed, so.


Martha Lewis: Yeah. And what about gluten? I think you've thought that that was an issue for you too, right?


Abraham: Yeah. I rarely bread. Yeah. Um, my wife went through a phase of, uh, cooking sourdough and stuff and we were eating a lot then, but it just, just felt a lot of congestion from it. So we really don't eat much bread at all.


Martha Lewis: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I see that mainly as a sign there's something going on in the gut because, I mean, Yes, eating bread and how it's produced these days is, is tends to be pretty reactive for most people, actually, um, like, but if the gut is healthy, then even if that bread or gluten causes some inflammation, it's like, When it's healthy, it can just repair itself really quickly.


Abraham: Right.


Martha Lewis: But it's gotten to the point where it's not healthy, then it's like reacting to these foods all the time, and it gets more damaged and reacts to more foods. And so.


Abraham: Yeah.


Martha Lewis: I see food sensitivities as like a result of the problem, but not.


Abraham: Right.


Martha Lewis: Still problem.


Abraham: Right. And it's, it's really incredible how confusing it is to try to pinpoint what the problem is because. You know, like I, I ate beans the other day and just had gas like crazy all day long. And, uh, and it's just so hard to know, is it this food? Is it because of some pathogen? Is it because of mold or, you know, like many things you mentioned, um, it's such a mystery. I've tried, I've tried eliminating coffee. I've tried eliminating certain foods and I just can't, can't get it.


Martha Lewis: Yeah. Yeah. And that's probably cause it's not just the coffee or just the foods. It's like what's causing you to react to the foods. And I mean, bloating and things like that, um, and gas, like I commonly see that with H pylori, which is a bacteria that overgrows in the stomach. So, you know, so that could be it, or it could be a different pathogen completely. Um, I know you told me before we started that you're in Costa Rica and, and we can technically get like a parasite, for example, anywhere, even in the United States and, you know, Europe and things like that. But I think we're more likely to get that in, in other countries and when we're traveling. So that could have something to do with it as well.


Abraham: Yeah. And we're, we're surrounded by animals here. Yeah. We have a lot of cattle, dogs, cats, everything. So very likely. Something like that.


Martha Lewis: Yeah. Yeah. Um, definitely. And so, you know, you mentioned trying experimenting with diet and things like that. Is there anything else that you've tried to deal with this deal with sleep?


Abraham: Well, I noticed back in the States, I used to drink coffee with a lot of cream. And, and I really feel like that was congesting my liver, causing me to feel hungover every morning. So, so now we make our own fresh coconut milk and that has removed that problem, but also still not able to sleep properly. So, um, I, as I mentioned before we have our own, you know, our own cattle, our own chickens, our own eggs. We, we grow our own, uh, a lot of our own produce. Um, so we're eliminating a lot of the chemicals, pesticides, all that stuff. But, um, I feel like there's possibly some kind of leaky gut or something that, you know, maybe, believe it or not, Costa Rica, they use, is the number one place in the world where they use, uh, Monsanto products.


Martha Lewis: Oh no.


Abraham: So, yeah, it's hard to believe, but it's possible some of this stuff, the fruit we buy could be damaging, uh, the gut lining, who knows, you know?


Martha Lewis: Yeah, definitely. And, I mean, this could have been, you know. So even though like your, it sounds like you're living this super healthy lifestyle now, it's like, yeah, this could have been from 10, 20, 30, you know, even as a child, like being exposed to these things. So it just puts the stress on our bodies. And again, a healthy body can tolerate it, but once it kind of, I talk about it like a stress bucket, like there's only so much stress our body can take of all different kinds. Right. If that bucket's overflowing, then, then every little thing is going to affect it and keep your body out of balance. So. Yeah. So it's great you're living such a healthy lifestyle now, for sure, and, you know, that's only helping things, but there's obviously something going on. Um, so, you know, in my programs, I use lab testing, but since we're not doing that today, I do want to kind of start with like the low hanging fruit with some of the habits and things that I noticed. Um, I mean, yes, like I recommend looking into gut health. I think that sounds like an issue and then the gut is going to affect our neurotransmitters. It's going to affect our minerals. It's going to, um, it affects our hormones. Like if there's a pathogen and your body's constantly making cortisol to deal with inflammation that that pathogen causes and those creatures are nocturnal. So it's like the middle of the night that they're most active and then your body's releasing cortisol in the middle of the night. So, that is what can wake you up. So it's like, I mean, it's never just gut health again, because it's affected everything else in the body. So yeah, yeah. But I think there's some low hanging fruit that you could try first and, you know, and see if those things help. And I don't know if you know about these things or not, but you know, just simple things like what you're doing before bed of like not watching screens. Um, especially before bed. So I think, I think you wrote, tell me if I'm wrong, but that you're like working or watching TV in bed.


Abraham: Yeah, many times. It's very weird. My sleep goes in cycles. Like the last three nights, for instance, I laid down. And within five minutes was asleep. That's not very common. And then I'll go through three weeks where I lay down, and I can lay there for hours, till three in the morning with no technology, nothing. And I just lay there. So I, I just got to a point where I'm like, you know what, I'm just gonna fart around online.



Martha Lewis: So totally. Yeah. So, you know, I always say like watching screens before bed is not what's causing chronic sleep issues. Like there's more to it than that, but I found that just some of those habits might be able to help you get more sleep. Now if you've already tried that and it hasn't helped, it means there's something deeper going on, but it's still, you know, being exposed to blue light and kind of like our mind racing from whatever we're watching isn't going to help you fall asleep faster, right? So doing so not avoiding those things can help and yeah And what I also wanted to mention is like we want our our bed to have this strong association with sleep and so if you're if you're doing anything besides sleeping or sex in bed, then ideally, we want to do that elsewhere so that your brain has a strong association. Cause when we, you know, when we aren't sleeping well, then it's like, okay, now bed is associated with lying awake for hours, scrolling online and, and not sleeping. So I do recommend changing the environment and if it's been like 20 or 30 minutes approximately, um, I don't recommend looking at the clock or anything like that, but if it's been a while and you can tell you're not going to sleep, like if you feel wired, then get out of bed, go to another room, keep the lights down and do something without screens. Reading, um, stretching. If you're, if something is on your mind, journaling, things like that. Cause if your body is, if the reason you're awake is cause your body's releasing cortisol, it's going to take some time for your body to kind of process and get rid of that cortisol and then you'd be able to sleep again.


Abraham: Right, right.


Martha Lewis: So we don't want to do anything to increase cortisol even more. So that's why I'm recommending that. And then, same like if that's happening in the middle of the night. And it's so if you wake up at 3am and aren't going back to sleep, then I also recommend getting out of bed, going doing something till you feel sleepy again, and then going back to bed. Have you ever tried anything like that?


Abraham: You know, I have. There's such a psychological aspect to this where it's like, there's so much frustration. Yeah. Like, I just feel like I've given up, you know, just being honest, and, and I'm just I know that looking at the, the screen is not good, but, uh, I can try that again, you know, but, um, I, like I said, I think there's something going on there much deeper that's, that's, uh, causing a problem, but I'll try that for sure.

I'll try that.


Martha Lewis: Yeah. And again, if you've already tried this that haven't solved the problem, it does mean there's something deeper going on. I am in this call just trying to tell you what I can, that you can work on with, you know, without needing the lab testing, but that's to a point where it's like, if these things don't work, okay, then we need to figure out what's going on because there's something going on. And, you know, so the last thing I was actually going to bring up was the psychological part and kind of the mindset about sleep because I know that it gets in our head and again, it's not the reason why you aren't sleeping. If there's a pathogen, if there's liver detox issues, you know, all the things like, um, but getting frustrated, feeling anxious about it, worrying about it, complaining about it, like all of those things aren't helping, right? Like they're only adding to the problem. So and I think this is easier to do like once you're really tackling also the physical part of what's going on, but working on the mindset is one of the first things I start my clients with because the physical things take some time to, to even find, you know, like it takes a month to get the lab results back and then start the plan. And so. That takes some time, but we can start working on your experience of not sleeping right away. And I can actually refer you to another episode I did, um, about like how to change your thoughts to change your sleep. But one of the first things I recommend doing is like noticing how much you're thinking about it, how much you're talking about it, you know, I know when I was dealing with this thing, like I complained to my husband as soon as I woke up, I got to work and complained to my coworkers. Later, I complained to my friends. I'm researching about it all the time. I'm thinking about it all the time, right?


Abraham: I've gotten to a point where I can't even function. Like I can't work out. I can't work. I can't do anything. Like, and my wife's sick of hearing about it. So she said, she told me, she said, you got to figure this out or we're going to have problems.


Martha Lewis: Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. So one of the first things you can do for both her and you is to stop talking about it.


Abraham: Right.


Martha Lewis: And yeah, and then start noticing, like you could even keep track of it on your phone. Just like a little tick mark every time you're like thinking about sleep or thinking about how tired you are or want to complain about it and notice how much that's happening. Then start to start to tell yourself different things. So, and it's not like you have to be like, Oh, this is no problem. I love not sleeping, right? Like, yeah, not the reality, but it's, it could be something like, I'm going to figure this out. Or I know I'm going to be okay, no matter what. Cause when we're lying, especially when we're lying in bed awake in the middle of the night, like the worst part is thinking of how you're, how it's going to affect you the next day. Right. It's like, Oh, I'm going to feel like crap again. And I'm not gonna be able to work out and work's going to suck and all of this. And it's like that just spirals and can. Um, yeah, so the first thing you can start doing is, is start kind of reframing that and then again, it helps if you get determined to figure it out. But, um, yeah, just, just start with the mental part. And again, I can, I'll refer you to an episode and for everyone listening, this will be in the show notes as well. Um, same with other things I'm recommending, but that's what I would recommend to start. And, um, yeah, Yeah.


Abraham: Yeah, that sounds good.


Martha Lewis: Awesome. Well, do you have any questions for me?


Abraham: Um, well, I would ask, you know, do you think the, the, the leaky gut is causing the problems or is it more pathogens or I mean, it's, it's, I feel like it's all tied in together.


Martha Lewis: Yeah, it is.


Abraham: And that's why you can't pinpoint it.


Martha Lewis: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, I mean, yes, gut health is more than just leaky gut or more than just pathogens. And so a lot of times. You know, people be like, Oh, well, maybe it's a parasite. I'm going to try and kill a parasite. And it's like, there's more to it than trying to kill the parasite. There's also creating an environment where when you're exposed to a parasite again, that it can't take hold and take over again. So it's really about looking at overall gut health. And it's kind of a chicken and an egg because like, you know, part of my problem was I had a parasite and I'm guessing I got it 13 years before traveling in Asia. I'll never know for sure. right? But over time it damaged my gut enough to where eventually and it You know caused all these other imbalances in my body that then eventually my body couldn't stay in balance and then my sleep deteriorated. 


Abraham: Yeah, I was just gonna say I had similar experience traveling I got really sick and very possibly picked up several different things.


Martha Lewis: Yeah, but I say it's chicken and egg because it's like, well, my gut was probably already not super healthy just from traveling and being exposed to all these things. And then it was exposed to the pathogen and that took hold and then that further damaged the gut. So it just kind of becomes this vicious cycle. You know, then the good bacteria get depleted because they're like trying to fight off the pathogen, but it can't and then you don't digest food well and develop food sensitivities and then you don't digest food well and you're not absorbing all the nutrients we need from food. And then that affects your sleep. So yeah, I did a whole episode about the many ways a parasite affects sleep and it's like 10 different things just from how it affects everything else in the body. So yeah, yeah, everything's connected. And so there's not like. Um, even if there's a parasite, that's not just it is like, okay, well that affected overall gut health and that's affected minerals and then neurotransmitters because a good bacteria and you got my neurotransmitters and hormones because when your body's stressed and constantly releasing cortisol to deal with stress and inflammation, then our sex hormones get depleted and then that can lead to sleep issues. So that's why I just really believe in like looking at this big picture. And I, I say it's like a puzzle, it's like a jigsaw puzzle and everyone has their own unique pieces of the puzzle and we want to find all of them for you to fully get your body back in balance.


Abraham: Yeah. I was going to say, I, uh, I tried so many things. I went to sleep clinics. I tried. All these different things, you know, circadian rhythm, all this stuff. And when I saw your podcast, I was like, okay, finally, this lady knows what she's talking about. So I was, I was really excited to kind of research and watch more of your stuff. I learned a lot so far from it.


Martha Lewis: Okay, good. I'm glad. Yeah. I mean, I talked to so many people and they've done the sleep studies and they've gone to their doctor and they might even, you know, be prescribed drugs or now taking drugs, even though they don't want to be. It's like, yeah.


Abraham: They told me, they told me, They told me I think too much. That's what they told me.


Martha Lewis: Right. So yeah, I love that. Like okay, it's all your fault, so just stop thinking too much and you'll be good. Right. Like what? Exactly. Yeah. It's frustrating. So yeah, that's why I'm really passionate, what I do. 'cause. I believe there are these imbalances in the body that are causing all of this and it's not your fault.

And I work with so many people like myself and like you who are healthy, right? Like we want to be healthy. We care about being healthy. We're still dealing with, with symptoms like sleep issues. So, yeah, but it is. I want you to know that.


Abraham: That's good news.


Martha Lewis: Yeah. Okay. Awesome. All right. Well, anything else you want to talk about?


Abraham: Um, no, just, just wanted to thank you for your time. Tell you, I really, really appreciate all your videos and. And, uh, emails you put out a very insightful. Oh, good. Well, I'm glad that you signed up for this and we got to connect and I will send you an email with these resources. I was talking about, um, and best of luck, keep me posted on how things go.


Abraham: Thank you very much. Well done.


Martha Lewis: All right, Abraham. So good to meet you.


AbrahamL Okay. Bye.


Martha Lewis: Okay. Bye. You are also welcome to sign up for a free sleep breakthrough call that will be aired on this podcast, just like Abraham. So I will have the link to sign up in the show notes, and when you schedule your time, you will also fill out an assessment so that I can find out what's been going on with your sleep and health. And then when we meet on podcast, I will tell you the top three things I recommend to Hopefully help with your sleep right away. So I hope to meet you there and you can sign up at the link in the show notes.

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