If you've tried perfect sleep hygiene or taking sleep meds and you're STILL lying awake at night, it's not your fault. Today I'm debunking the 7 biggest myths about insomnia that explain why everything you've tried hasn't worked, and I'll share what's really keeping you awake so you don't have to live with insomnia forever.


By the end of this episode, you'll understand why your body holds the key to finally sleeping through the night.


Schedule a consultation to get started with the Complete Sleep Solution program so you can consistently sleep 7+ hours uninterrupted, naturally and permanently. https://p.bttr.to/3VJwvDs



00:00 Introduction to Insomnia Myths

01:09 Myth 1: Sleep Hygiene Guarantees Sleep

02:45 Myth 2: Normal Blood Work Means No Issues

04:27 Myth 3: It's All in Your Head

05:58 Myth 4: Sleeping Pills Are the Solution

06:57 Myth 5: Sleep Studies Will Diagnose the Problem

08:11 The Reality of Chronic Sleep Issues

10:12 Finding the Root Cause and Solutions

11:08 Conclusion and Program Invitation


Episode Transcript


[00:00:00] If you've tried perfect sleep hygiene or taking sleep meds and you're still lying awake at night, it's not your fault. Today, I'm debunking the seven biggest myths about insomnia that explain why everything you tried have worked, and I'll share what's really keeping you awake so you don't have to live with insomnia forever.


By the end of this episode, you'll understand why your body holds the key to finally sleeping through the night. This is the Sleep Detective podcast where you'll learn why you can't sleep and how to fix it naturally. I'm Martha Lewis. As a functional health and sleep coach for the past six years, I've helped over 200 clients find and fix what's keeping them awake so they can stop tossing and turning all night.


And wake up feeling refreshed with steady energy all day.


There is a lot of sleep advice there. As a functional health coach, I believe that most of it [00:01:00] is wrong. So let's get into the seven myths about sleep issues that will explain why everything you have tried hasn't worked. So the big myth number one is that. If you follow sleep hygiene, you will sleep. So this is the advice that is everywhere out there, right?


If you Google how to sleep better, you're gonna find the same generic tips. Avoid screens before bed. Don't drink caffeine after two. Don't drink alcohol before bed. Exercise every day. Now, I always say millions of people watch TV before bed every night and sleep just fine. Does it affect the quality of our sleep?


Sure, a little bit, but it's not the reason why a third of Americans have chronic sleep issues. And the reason those things aren't working, they aren't enough to help, is because there are imbalances in your body that are actually keeping you awake. So there's more [00:02:00] to it than just avoiding screens and exercising, for example.


So the most common. Physical imbalances in the body. I see that affect sleep, have to do with gut health, have to do with hormone balance. Most of my clients have high cortisol at night, which totally explains why you're awake if your body's releasing stress hormone to that time, there are usually liver detox issues, mineral imbalances, neurotransmitter deficiencies, and toxins such as heavy metals or mold.


And so the only way to sleep better is to find what those imbalances are and fix those things and restore your health, and then you can sleep normally. So this gets me into the next myth, which is so many people have gone to their doctor and done blood work and everything is normal. Now that doesn't mean that there's nothing wrong in your body, so [00:03:00] here's why.


Blood work is meant to indicate that something is seriously wrong and that there's likely a disease or disorder that we need to screen for. And so it's meant to diagnose something specific, but you could be progressing towards something and still be in range according to blood work. Now, another problem with blood work is that the labs reference ranges what the lab says are normal.


Based on an average of people taking the test. So it shows what's common, not what's actually ideal or optimal. So I interpret blood work differently using functional ranges, which are optimal ranges that people have when they have no symptoms and are healthy. So there's a big difference between normal or common versus optimal.


We want optimal, right? And so the functional lab tests I use show how different systems in the body are working so we can see what's out of balance. So these [00:04:00] tests catch and balances that blood work doesn't. And I will tell you, I have never had anyone's test results come back that shows nothing is wrong, even if their blood work is usually normal, or maybe, a couple things are outta whack.


The functional lab tests always show things that are wrong, but nothing serious, just imbalances. That definitely explain why people aren't sleeping. So if you go to your doctor and you know, of course they're gonna recommend following sleep hygiene, of course they're gonna do blood work and say everything's normal.


And then they're gonna tell you it's all in your head because honestly they don't know what else to say. Right? And so. Your doctor might tell you to see a psychiatrist or a counselor to get to the bottom of your anxiety or whatever else is causing your sleep issues. [00:05:00] Now, of course, mental stress and worry can sabotage sleep, and that's something that I help my clients with as well.


We want to reduce overall stress, both in the mind and the body, but there's always something physical going on in my client's bodies that are explaining why they can't sleep. I'd say anyone with chronic sleep issues, whether it's trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, sleeping, restless. Waking up feeling exhausted.


Even if you do sleep a normal amount of hours, it's all signs that your body is out of balance. And so it's not all in your head and it's not your fault. It's not like you can't control your mind and it's anxiety that's causing your mind to race at night. Instead, is the imbalances in your body that are causing your body to release stress hormones that make your mind race, that make you feel anxious.


Now if [00:06:00] all of these things don't work right, your doctor or psychiatrist is going to prescribe sleeping pills because again, they don't know what else to do. And so it's a way to cover up the symptom, but that's the thing is sleeping pills are a bandaid. They aren't addressing the reasons why you aren't sleeping.


They aren't addressing the root cause. They are just sedating you and making you go to sleep, but not getting to the root of why you aren't sleeping. And as I'm sure sleeping pills have side effects. They actually change your brain chemistry, so to get off of them can be very difficult and take a lot of time.


They also increase your risk of dementia and even death. It's shown. And so it's not the cure, right? They're not curing insomnia. They are again, covering up the symptom. Now, your doctor might also tell you to go [00:07:00] and do a sleep study. This is also, the typical response to, okay, I can't sleep, go get a sleep study done.


This is his thing with sleep studies. They are primarily looking for sleep apnea and maybe other extremely rare sleep disorders. So if you don't have a true disorder, they're not going to actually show why you can't sleep. The sleep study might say, yeah, you didn't sleep much, but it's not gonna tell you why.


And that sleep doctor is going to prescribe a drug. Because that's what they know to do. And I also want to add that sleep apnea and insomnia are two different things. So some of my clients have both. You can have one or the other. Apnea is disordered breathing while you're asleep. Insomnia is, you might wake up from that disordered breathing from apnea, but if you don't fall asleep.


If it takes you 30 minutes to two hours to fall back asleep or you [00:08:00] never fall back asleep again, then that's insomnia. So a sleep study again is going to show apnea. It's not going to show why you can't sleep. So I also want you to know that unfortunately, sleep problems are not going to go away on their own.


And you've probably realized this at this point. I mean, many of my clients have been struggling to sleep for years or even decades, or it's been off and on, and. Some, even since childhood and they've tried so many different things and nothing has helped. So their sleep issues never fully disappeared. Maybe they have some decent nights here and there, but trouble sleeping has been present most of the time, and it may have been up and down throughout the years, so they're probably not gonna go away on their own.


And that's because, again, it's a sign that your body isn't healthy. [00:09:00] And I mean, even if you eat well and exercise and care about your health like I did, and yet I still developed, trouble sleeping. Not sleeping and any other symptoms are a sign that things are out of whack, that things aren't totally healthy in your body.


And so that isn't going to magically correct itself. And I've had so many clients try all the recommended supplements, right? Of magnesium and melatonin and CBD and THC and, and all the different things and maybe even general anti-inflammatory. Support supplements and things like that, and those may help.


If the only reason why you aren't sleeping is magnesium deficiency, the magnesium might help. Same with melatonin, same with any of them. But again, that's more of a bandaid. It's not getting to the root of, okay, why isn't your body making enough melatonin? Because that usually has to do with gut health.


Why don't you [00:10:00] have enough magnesium? It could be 'cause you're not getting enough from your diet or because your gut isn't healthy and it's not digesting food properly, so you aren't getting the magnesium that you do need from food. So the only way to sleep better is to find what's outta whack in your body.


And then correct it and restore your health and then you can sleep normally. And so I just want you to know, because if you're one of those people who've been struggling for a long time, you probably think you have to live with this forever. And I want you to know that you don't. And I get it the longer it's been, and the more things you've tried, the more hopeless you'll feel.


But I want you to know that it's possible to get better. You just have to find the root cause. And so this is totally fixable. I've helped clients who've had insomnia for decades, even since childhood, and they get. Better. For example, my client, Amy, had been struggling [00:11:00] with sleep since high school and she was off and on Ambien for years.


Within three months of working together, she's sleeping great without Ambien. So if you are ready to get to the bottom of your sleep issues once and for all you want to. Sign up for the Complete Sleep Solution Program. This is my one-on-one private coaching program where we'll work together for six months.


It includes educational analysis of functional lab testing and different assessments. So I can look at everything in your life that's affecting your sleep. And the first step is to schedule a free consultation with me so we can. Meet each other and I can start to pinpoint what's causing your sleep issues and explain how the program will help you consistently sleep seven to nine hours in six months or less, so you can sign up for that consultation in the show notes.


All right, thanks for listening and I will talk to you soon.

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