If you’re waking up to pee several times a night, and having trouble falling back asleep, there are reasons why. And we can fix it so you can finally get a good night’s sleep!


Find out more and sign up for the Insomnia Insight program.


Resource mentioned in this episode:

Episode 123: How to breathe for your best sleep


Episode Transcript:


Have you tried everything from natural to pharmaceutical just to get a good night's rest? Join me, Martha Lewis, certified sleep expert and functional health coach as I unpack what's really keeping you up at night and how to change it. This is the Sleep Detective podcast and I'm going to show you how to sleep well so you can enjoy your life.


Hello. Hello everyone. All right. The weather, I live in Jackson, Wyoming and it is 20 degrees this morning. There is frost everywhere the weather is changing, but we have had an amazing October so far, so I cannot complain. Alright, today I want to talk about how to stop peeing at night because if you're waking up to peace several times a night and then having trouble falling back asleep, there are reasons why and we can fix it so you can finally get a good night's sleep. So I'm going to talk about the four main reasons why you're waking up to pee at night and the different ways that you can work on fixing this. So the number one reason why you're waking up to pee as high cortisol. So high cortisol at night shouldn't be happening, right? Our cortisol should be lowest in the middle of the night because cortisol wakes us up and gives us energy.


So in a healthy body, cortisol is lowest first thing in the morning, and then it should spike to its highest level within two hours of waking up, and then it should gradually go down throughout the day so that it's low at bedtime in the middle of the night and you can sleep easily. So the most common reason why people wake up in the middle of the night is because their body starts releasing cortisol then, and so we can find out why that's happening and fix it. So one of the main reasons why the body releases cortisol at night is from inflammation. So cortisol is an anti-inflammatory hormone. So anytime there's inflammation, your body releases cortisol, but again, cortisol gives us energy, it keeps us alert, and so it's also going to wake you up if that's happening in the middle of the night. Now also, when your body's releasing cortisol to fight inflammation, your body isn't releasing the hormones you need to suppress urination at night.


So that includes the vasopressin hormone or the antidiuretic hormone. So your body's releasing cortisol, then it suppresses vasopressin, and so you're waking up to pee. So that's why it's really important to reduce inflammation in the body. And so we need to find out where that inflammation is coming from. It can come from food sensitivities, it can come from low blood sugar. So whenever your blood sugar drops too low, your body releases cortisol. Gut pathogens are another common cause of waking up in the middle of the night, and that's because things like a parasite and bad bacteria and candida, a type of yeast, they're all nocturnal. So it is the middle of the night that they are eating and excreting and releasing all these toxins and causing all this inflammation. And again, then your body's going to release cortisol. I know for me, so I use the Dutch test to look at cortisol pattern.


It's a dried urine test, and my cortisol was through the roof in the middle of the night. It was higher than it was any other point in the day. So it totally explained why I wasn't sleeping and it was from this parasite that I had probably had for 13 years and it was just slowly over time causing damage to my gut and affecting other systems in the body. When you have a pathogen as well, that also puts an extra burden on your liver. Your liver is also most active at night trying to detoxify toxins, but then that pathogen is creating all these toxins and the liver can't handle it, and so they're circulating around again, causing a lot of inflammation. So using the Dutch test to see what's going on with your cortisol is key. The Dutch test also shows liver function because it looks at your hormones, your sex hormones, and it shows how they're being broken down by the body, especially by the liver.


So I can see how different parts of liver detox are working such as methylation and sulfation and glucuronidation now. And then the GI map is a stool test that I use to look at gut health and that shows what's living in the gut, including pathogens. Those two together can really help give me a lot of information as to not only what your cortisol is doing and if it's high at night, but what is actually causing that. Then heavy metals are another toxin that can lead to high cortisol at night as well, and I test for that with the hair tissue mineral analysis. Now the second reason why you are waking up to pee multiple times a night could be from mouth breathing. We are supposed to breathe through our nose, but when you breathe through your mouth, it causes a diuretic response in the body, which is going to make you have to pee.


So if you're snoring or breathing with your mouth open at night, your body's going to have that diuretic response. You're going to wake up, you're going to have to pee. So I actually interviewed Sachin Patel, my podcast a while back, and we had this great conversation about mouth breathing, about sinus congestion and mouth taping so you can tape your mouth at night so that then it makes you breathe through your nose. So I can link that podcast episode is called How to Breathe for Your Best Sleep. And so this is a great resource if you're having this issue. Now the third reason why you are peeing multiple times a night could have to do with mold toxicity. And this actually if you are exposed to toxins from mold and about 25% of the population has a gene that makes it hard for them to get rid of those mold toxins.


And so those mold toxins actually grow in the body. They're called mycotoxins, they cause a lot of toxicity. They put this huge burden on the liver and they can lead to sinus congestion at well as well. So that could be a reason why you are also mouth breathing. It could have to do with mold. So what happens when you're exposed to mold? Then again, these pathogens are going in you, these toxins, they're causing all this inflammation, they're affecting cortisol, they're affecting liver function, they're damaging the gut, and they just wreak all kinds of havoc throughout the body. And so if you have weird symptoms like I have again, a whole blog post and podcast episode about this and the symptoms of mold toxicity, but frequent urination is one of them as well as sinus congestion and allergies. But even weird symptoms like tingling and pin prick feeling and light sensitivity and things like that can be a sign of mold toxicity.


And then mold toxicity can also lead to what's called high oxalates, which can also cause urination at night. So there are foods that are high oxalates, like raw leafy greens, soy and nuts. So for people who are having a green smoothie every day or who are vegetarian need a lot of soy and nuts, you might be eating too many oxalates, which is contributing to the problem as well. So mold toxicity is something I see in a third of my clients, and this is commonly an overlooked piece of their puzzle. So I work with a lot of people who have seen other practitioners, they've gone to naturopaths, they've gone to functional medicine doctors, of course, they've gone to a regular doctor and nothing has worked. And a lot of times it's because these practitioners didn't know to look for mold toxicity. So this is one of the things I screen for as soon as people sign up for my program.


So we're looking to see, and if you have six to eight or more of these symptoms of mold toxicity, then it's highly likely that this is happening for you. Then you can choose to do a test to confirm this, or we can assume that this is what's going on and I will give you a protocol to fix it. And we also need to make sure that you aren't currently living in mold and being exposed to it. So this is definitely something that I walk my clients through in my programs. Now the fourth reason why you might be peeing a night is from mineral imbalance. So I use what's called the hair tissue mineral analysis to look at minerals and the primary minerals are calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. And they should ideally be in balance with each other. But all of my clients who I test, and this was an issue for me too, either their minerals are out of balance or they're just depleted overall.


And so that can lead to sleep issues, mood issues, and it also directly affects how well your body is absorbing water, which is going to affect urination. So low potassium has been directly linked to having to pee at night, and I see a lot of our clients have low sodium and potassium and too much calcium, and then magnesium is also high, but it's a body isn't absorbing it. So it's a very complicated test to interpret, but I do that tricky work and just tell you, explain in simple language what's going on and tell you how to fix it, which is most important. So knowing your mineral balance and deficiencies is also key to getting your whole body back in balance so you can sleep well, and so you don't have to wake up and pee all night long. So those are the four reasons why you're waking up to pee at night.


High cortisol mouth breathing, mold toxicity and mineral imbalance. So it's going to be at least one of those if not multiple ones of those. So if this is something you are interested in fixing, I can definitely help you with that. My Insomnia Insight program is a six month group program that uses four functional labs and assessments for things like mold toxicity, blood sugar issues, lots of different things to figure out what is keeping you awake at night. I always call it like a puzzle. Everyone has their unique puzzle with their unique puzzle pieces, but we need to find all the pieces of the puzzle to be able to fix this because if you do have mold toxicity, but you also, your minerals are out of balance or then you're not going to get better if we just suggest address the mold. We also need to address how the mold has led to mineral imbalances and hormone imbalances and poor gut health and all the things.


So my approach is to look at everything at once at the same time, that's going to be the fastest way to get better instead of, oh, let's look at hormones first, or let's look at gut health first. And no, that didn't work. Okay, now let's try the next thing or go to the next person. Like my goal, we're looking at everything at the same time so that nothing is missed, and so we can address everything at the same time and you're going to get better so much faster than if you just did it one at a time. So again, I'm looking for all the different pieces of your puzzle with the lab test and assessment. Then I give you a step-by-step simple protocol to get your body back in balance so you don't have to wake up to pee and you can sleep well. So I recommend one to three lifestyle changes, and then I recommend supplements, which I walk you through how to take those.


So I make it as easy as possible. And for the supplements, the goal is okay, we can see from the testing what your body actually needs. So you're not guessing magnesium or melatonin or this sleep formula and that sleep formula that's supposed to help. We can see, okay, yes, you do actually need magnesium, but you also need sodium and potassium. Magnesium isn't going to be enough. So the test results show what your body actually needs, and then I just recommend that you take them temporarily. Usually it's three months for most of what I'm recommending because again, we're doing everything we can at once to get your body back in balance so that you aren't having to take things forever. I don't want you to be taking five pills a night to go to sleep. So the goal is that we get your body back in balance and then you sleep naturally, normally without needing anything else to sleep.


So you'll get that step-by-step protocol. There are also videos, quick videos, explaining each test, but in simple layman's terms so you can easily understand what your test results show and then start following your protocol. And then I also support you for six months. So it does take about a month to get the test results in for October. You also get a jumpstart plan when you sign up. So I'll look over all your intake forms and tell you the three most impactful things to get started with right away while we're waiting for your test results. And at least half of my clients start getting an hour more of sleep a night just from that jumpstart plan. And then when your test results come in, you've already made some changes, you're already on your way, so you can start the next phase immediately and you're going to get better so much faster, you're going to be sleeping more, so much faster, and then the support starts as soon as you sign up as well.


So that involves weekly coaching calls that you can join and get your questions answered. There's also daily chat support Monday through Friday. So I use a software called Practice Better. This is where the chat lives your lab tests live. There are also modules and trainings included in the program that you have access to as soon as you sign up. And so anytime a questions come up, you just reach out in the chat and I will answer you within 24 hours, usually within a few hours. So you don't have to wait two months for another appointment to get your questions answered. You can get them answered right away. And the support is really what makes a program so successful. So for a while I was doing okay, you can just get the labs and a protocol and there's no support and people, and then I would offer that they could upgrade for support, and almost everyone did because they had questions and they wanted support actually implementing their plan.


Again, I try and keep the plan as simple as possible, but some changes are harder than others and it's different for everyone. So if you're having a hard time, say, changing your diet or checking your blood sugar or changing your routine during the day or before bed, then I'm here to help make that as easy as possible. We're here to talk about it, to take it in baby steps if needed, so that you can actually make the changes in a few months and then start seeing the results of those changes as you keep sleeping better and better. So that's how the Insomnia Insight program works. I will put a link with more information in the show notes. You can sign up right away if you are ready to go, or if you have questions and want to talk to me first, you can schedule a free consultation as well.


I want you to feel a hundred percent confident and excited that I can help you and that you see that this program is unlike anything you've tried before because I imagine you've tried all sorts of things. I know that I did when I was having trouble sleeping as well. But again, this program is different from anything you've ever tried. Even if you've done some functional lab tests and seen a functional medicine doctor, this is different because it's specializing in sleep. It's also very much a body and mind program. So yes, I'm using the lab testing the assessments. I'm looking at the physical imbalances in your body, but I also help with how you're thinking about sleep because worrying about sleep, talking about it all day, researching about it all day, it always gets in your head to some extent when you've had trouble sleeping.


And so even if you've done CBTI and had help with that, even if you've gone to therapy, I imagine you can still use some help with the mental part of that. And so there are trainings in that as well, and that's something I can also support you with in the chat and on the calls. So I hope you know that you can get better if you're waking up to pee all night long. There's a reason why we can find out what it is and we can fix it so you don't have to continue living like this. All right, everyone, have a great weekend. I will talk to you again on Monday.

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