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Wes considered himself a good sleeper his whole life. Then he spent 18 months waking up at 3am, lying there for an hour or two, trying everything he could think of. Nothing worked — until we ran comprehensive functional lab testing and found what everyone else had missed.


In this episode I walk through his full case: what the tests showed, what we did about it, and the one change at month five that finally unlocked 7-8 hours of sleep.


If you've tried the standard approaches and you're still waking up in the middle of the night, this one is for you.


00:00 Sleeper to Insomniac

01:16 What Wes Already Tried

01:54 Cortisol and Hormone Clues

05:31 Gut Test Red Flags

07:37 Neurotransmitters and Minerals

11:01 Early Lifestyle Tweaks

13:05 Supplement Strategy Explained

15:58 Gut Protocol and Binders

19:10 The Breakthrough Timeline

20:46 Five Month Win


Episode Transcript


[00:00:00] 


Martha Lewis: Wes considered himself a good sleeper his entire life, and then one day that changed for a year and a half. He was waking up at 3:00 AM lying there for one to two hours, physically worn out, mentally exhausted, and getting more frustrated by the day. He tried so many things, which I will explain so many things that made logical sense and none of it worked.


Here's what made his case so interesting to me as a detective. He had already done so much before. He found me, like many of my clients, he wasn't someone who hadn't tried anything. He was someone whose investigation just hadn't gone deep enough. Yet tonight I'm going to show you exactly what we found when it did the root causes, the protocol, the lifestyle changes, and the moment in month five when everything finally clicked.


All right, so when Wes came to me, he was waking up every night around 3:00 AM. He went to bed pretty early, so he was still getting five to six [00:01:00] hours of sleep, but not enough, not how much he wanted to be getting. He was tired, irritable, discouraged, which I'm sure you can all relate to. He slept better on the weekends, which was a clue that some of this was, um, work stress related.


Now, these are the things he tried before finding me. He gave up alcohol completely. He used to have a couple drinks every night. He went to a sleep doctor for testing. He started seeing a therapist to see if that would help to help with stress. He did extensive blood work with a functional medicine doctor.


He took a gut health test, one of those at home test. He tried, you know, various supplements for stress and hormones. So this is what his test results showed, and these things start to explain why everything he tried. Didn't help enough. So first of all, he had very high cortisol at night, and at this time [00:02:00] I was running what's called the Dutch test.


Now I run the hormone zoomer, which is very similar. It even gives a little more information, but they're both urine tests that you take multiple samples throughout the day. So we see your cortisol pattern throughout the day and his waking cortisol. As you can see here in the red is way above what it's supposed to be, and the waking cortisol is actually representing what the body was, how much cortisol was in the body during the night.


Because when we collect our urine in the morning, that's what the body has, um, you know, collected during the night as well. So this means that his cortisol was super high in the middle of the night. And, um, he also, this test also includes a middle of the night sample and then combines both of those for that waking.


So even if he did urinate in the middle of the night is collecting that as well. And the [00:03:00] hormone zoomer I use now, it has a urine test and a saliva test. And so you also collect saliva in the middle of the night if you wake up. Then, so. High cortisol in the middle of the night. No wonder he's waking up and not able to go back to sleep.


Now, what was interesting was his cortisol pattern was kind of wonky, and I see this in quite a few of my clients in that the urine test measures two different kinds of cortisol. So it is measuring metabolized cortisol, which is how much the body is making. It's also measuring free cortisol or how much is available to be used by the body.


Now these should match. But his, he had very low metabolized cortisol, so his body's not making much cortisol anymore, but then he had a lot of free cortisol, so it's sticking around and this can happen when the body's stressed for a long period of time. It can't make enough cortisol to keep up with the demand anymore.


But then when there are certain [00:04:00] imbalances causing inflammation, especially gut infections and issues with liver detox, then that cortisol sticks around to help deal with that stress and inflammation. So I commonly see this and you know, as we work together, if people choose to retest, then we want to see that more coming back into balance with each other.


Now, his sex hormones were also pretty depleted here. So estrogen, testosterone and DHEA was, which is the parent of all sex hormones. Were all pretty low. So that again means his body's been stressed. When cortisol low is low, DHEA is low, all the sex hormones are low. That means the body's been stressed for a long time.


It doesn't have the resources to make those hormones anymore. And then because his test shows how. The hormones are being broken down by the body. I can see how different parts of liver detox are working. So his methylation here is [00:05:00] on the low side. How some of those hormones were being recycled and what pathway they're going through or they're going down can indicate.


Issues with liver detox, especially methylation and sulfation. And then this test also looks at glutathione, which is our master liver nutrient, and that was also at the low end of the range there. So lots of clues here that his liver was having a hard time even though he had stopped drinking alcohol.


Then let me make sure I didn't skip anything. Okay. So then his gut test results. So at the time I was using the GI Map. Now I use something called the Gut Zoomer, which is even more comprehensive than the GI Map. But the GI Map showed plenty of things for him to address. So we see h pylori at a high level, which is a type of bacteria that can overgrow and, really, it affects the pH of the stomach. So the stomach is supposed to be very acidic, and that's how it starts breaking down [00:06:00] protein. But h pylori to survive will raise the pH of the stomach to almost neutral. So then we have a hard time breaking down protein and getting the amino acids, minerals, and other nutrients that we need from protein.


Now, he also had some bacterial overgrowth here, so these are. These species of bacteria are a normal part of our gut flora, but when they are too high, then they cause a lot of inflammation and issues. So, you know, a lot of times in my clients I'm seeing this overgrowth of bacteria, which means in his case it also looks at good bacteria, which I didn't show here.


But in someone who has plenty of good bacteria and this overgrowth of these opportunistic bacteria, you would not wanna take a probiotic in this case. So I used to think back when I was working in health food store and you know, working with supplements, oh, everyone should take a probiotic, but that's not true.


If you already have too much bacteria, you [00:07:00] don't want to add more. And then this elastase here being low, that is an enzyme that digests protein. And when this is. Also seen with h Pylori. You know, this can mean that h Pylori has been there for a while, protein digestion has been compromised. The pancreas is what makes elastase to try to also digest protein, but that has become compromised over time.


And so we can see, you know, I could see that he's likely having issues with protein digestion, and it can be from the h pylori.


So now for his neurotransmitters. So as you can see here, serotonin, super depleted, dopamine low, his stress hormones, norepinephrine, epinephrine, also low, and then gaba. Is actually a little high, which can mean that the body's excreting it too quickly, and so there's not enough [00:08:00] GABA left in the body to kind of help with anxiety and help keep us calm.


So I see these depleted in many of my clients and all of these, especially serotonin, dopamine, and gaba, are necessary to help us feel calm and relaxed and able to sleep. And then some of the other things, uh, that I'm looking for, and I use a different neurotransmitter test now, that test for at least 30 different neurotransmitters, but, um, glutamate and histamine.


And then there's another one on that test called acetylcholine that are stimulating neurotransmitters. And so when they're high, then it's definitely affecting the body's ability to be able to relax and sleep. And so, you know, there are things that I do to help lower those, and so I'll get into what I recommended for Wess after I go over his results.


Now I often [00:09:00] do what's called a hair tissue mineral analysis test for my clients as well. So this is using hair to look at mineral status and it really will show imbalances or deficiencies well before they would ever show up on blood work. Because the body's always trying to keep what's in the blood in balance or homeostasis.


So if calcium gets low in the blood, it's going to pull it from the bones into the blood, and same with magnesium. And so it's going to take it from other places to make it look normal in the blood. So when we're testing the hair, this is showing what the body is able to push out into the soft tissues.


And so again, the imbalances can show up before we ever see them on blood work. So the main thing I'm looking at with this test are these primary minerals, these first four minerals on the left here. This is calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium. And ideally these would all be [00:10:00] pretty imbalanced with each other in this white kind of ideal section here.


So he had what's called the four lows pattern, which. Means that all of those minerals are depleted and you know, below the ideal range, and again, this happens at the. When the body's been chronically stressed for a long time, so we burn through magnesium five times as fast. When we're stressed, the adrenals use sodium, potassium, and they need so much more when they're trying to make cortisol to keep up with stress and inflammation.


And so this is kind of like the end point of, of the body burning out and not having the nutrients it needs. Now I see other imbalances in different clients, so sometimes calcium, magnesium are really high. Sodium potassium are low or vice versa, all of which can affect sleep. All of these different patterns of mineral imbalances.


So definitely wanted to give him some mineral support [00:11:00] there.


Okay. So what I recommended for him initially is to change the timing of some of the supplements he was taking. So he was already taking five HTP, which is a precursor to serotonin, but he was taking it at night, which is. You know, what's recommended for sleep, but I've actually learned and found myself that, um, it can interfere with sleep when you take it at night.


So you actually wanna take it in the morning, and that will kind of build up your serotonin throughout the day and still be enough at night. And then nettles can be stimulating and he was taking those closer to bedtime as well. So sometimes you just see some minor changes here that can help make a difference in being able to sleep.


He was also exercising super early in the morning and. You know, because he wanted to be sleeping till four. He wa his goal was sleep from nine to four. Um, but he realized that then that was kind of messing with his head because if he would [00:12:00] wake up at three and then he'd be like, if I don't get back to sleep, then I'm not gonna be able to work out.


And so it really helped him mentally. He kind of decided this on his own. That he would rather work out after lunch or after work, so that there wasn't that mental piece of worrying about if he's gonna feel like exercising at four 30 in the morning. We also recommended some vagus nerve exercises and breath work again to help calm the nervous system, deal with stress.


Um, recommend increasing protein to kind of balance his macros, balance blood sugar. Um, he wasn't o, he didn't really want to test for blood sugar. He didn't want to get a continuous glucose monitor or anything, so we just worked on increasing protein at the beginning. And we also worked on, you know, he called himself a perfectionist.


He didn't have a very stressful job, but he realized, he made it stressful 'cause he wanted to be perfect. And so he was thinking about work all the time, day and night, [00:13:00] weekends. And so we worked on that, which is gonna help lower overall stress. S and then for his supplement protocols. So. I'm kind of going to explain things in the order that I recommend them because my approach is I want to build the body up first and support any deficiencies that it needs first before we work on getting rid of things that we don't want, like pathogens or toxins.


So five HTP with L-theanine. Um, so supporting GABA and serotonin and taking that in the morning, and then this formula here to also support the other neurotransmitters. So, DLPA is DL phenylalanine. That is the precursor to dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. And then these others help balance the, the neurotransmitters as well.


And then some cortisol balancing supplements. So one I [00:14:00] recommend often is called nighttime, HPA. This has ashwagandha and other adaptogenic herbs, so it helps the body adapt to stress over time. And it also has some relaxing herbs, so that's why it's called nighttime. So things like magnolia bark and lemon balm.


There are supplements out there that directly lower cortisol, but his body was already. Not making a lot of cortisol remember. So even though there was still a lot there, you know, in that case I don't recommend something to directly lower cortisol. And then we're also addressing, okay, why is the body, um, holding on to so much cortisol or releasing so much cortisol, especially at night.


Now for him, I did recommend A-D-H-E-A supplement and. I don't always recommend hormones for my clients. Anything that's over the counter like this is pretty low dose, but it did help just [00:15:00] support his hormones overall and then. This Vicon supplement is a really cool custom supplement that's meant to support minerals, and so they have different formulas.


If you remember I said his for his pattern was the four lows. So they have this four lows formula that's going to have calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and then it also has other vitamins and. Um, minerals like boron to help absorb all these minerals. It has some enzymes to help absorb them. And then what I love about this formula is we can add other things to it.


So I can add, I added some liver support like ceal cysteine and alpha lipoic acid and milk thistle, um, and B vitamins. And so it's just a way to combine multiple supplements in one. So this is one of my favorites to use. For my clients if, if they want to go this route.


And [00:16:00] then for the gut. So I recommended digestive enzymes to support that protein digestion specifically. Um, you know, it's going to be a blend of different enzymes though to help with all kinds of digestion, protein, fat, carbs, et cetera. And then. Before getting rid of any sort of pathogens, I recommend what is called a binder.


And I'll also say, I call this a self-treatment protocol because since I am not a doctor, I have to recommend that you take your results to your doctor, and a Dr. May or may not prescribe antibiotics for something like h pylori or for a parasite. So there are those options. And, um. My goal is to kind of help you choose and give you information so you can make the best choice for yourself.


Um, most of my clients do this more natural approach. For various reasons. I mean, [00:17:00] we know that antibiotics destroy the gut. They kill the good bacteria with the bad bacteria, and they're also, you only take them for 10 or 14 days, and these different pathogens have life cycles of around 30 days. And so I, and.


Instead, recommend a 60 day protocol to make sure that we're getting all the life stages of these pathogens. And what's also important is having a binder. So I've had people come to me who thought that they had h pylori, they got on antibiotics before they even came to me, and that's when their sleep issue started.


So they can definitely cause some damage. So having a binder is really key because as we. As these pathogens die off, they release all these toxins and so we, the binder helps bind to those toxins and pull them safely outta the body so that the liver doesn't have to deal with detoxifying those. And what I love about the GI detox is that it's, [00:18:00] it's what's called a broad spectrum binder.


So that means that it not only helps with. The toxins from pathogens. It also helps with mold toxins. It helps with heavy metals and environmental chemicals because it has multiple types of binders in it altogether. And then this Biocidin here is it, I love this one is kind of like a four in one, but another reason why.


Antibiotics don't always help with pathogens. And why just herbs don't is because these pathogens create a biofilm around themselves. So this is a protective shield that keeps things from getting in and harming them. So the Biocidin has different herbs in it that start breaking down that bio film. And then it, those herbs also have antiparasitic, antibacterial, antifungal properties.


So that's what I mean, like it's, it's kind of a four in one. And then for him I recommended something called Pylori plex. It's specifically for [00:19:00] h pylori. And so same like I'd recommend something different for a parasite and something different for bacterial overgrowth and something different for mold or fungal overgrowth.


So we worked together for six months where we have sessions and he can message any time. We ended up pinpointing blood sugar imbalance. And if you remember, I said he wasn't open to testing, but I had a feeling that his smoothie first thing in the morning was spiking his blood sugar. And so. He agreed to change that at about five months in.


So I'll kind of give you his timeline here. So I should have started here. So three months in, he was able to fall back asleep after getting outta bed and listening to a meditation. So before he could never fall back asleep, he started being able to do that. Four months in, he went from sleeping, from waking up at one to three 30 and then could fall back asleep.


So he's getting a lot more sleep. Five months in was when he [00:20:00] agreed to, to replace the smoothie with a savory breakfast, and that is when everything clicked. Now, throughout this whole time too, we kind of realized that he was undereating, he wasn't. Eating enough for meals. Um, you know, we helped with protocol adjustments as his gut healed.


So a lot of times we'll do Pylori plex for 60 days and then switch to something called Pilo Guard after that, and that helps. So, because h Pylori suppresses stomach acid, then we want to. Build that stomach acid back up or support the, the stomach in, in building that back up. So Pilo Guard can help with that.


And then of course, you know, supporting him as he made these different changes.


This is what he wrote at the five month mark. Another good, good news update 10 nights in a row, getting back to sleep in bed after waking between 1230 and 2:30 AM I'm a hundred percent certain. I haven't had 10 nights of decent rest in a couple [00:21:00] years, and you can watch his video here

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