Does melatonin help when having trouble sleeping because of evening workout
When I do a high aerobic run, or join an high intensity bootcamp training after diner around 19:00 and then try to fall asleep around 23:00, I always have trouble falling asleep (compared to normal; I usually fall asleep within 15 minutes). The next day I always feel that I have not slept as well normal, and my Garmin also tells me I slept pretty bad: HRV out of range on the lower side (around 39ms, whilst normally being around 47ms); also my deep and REM sleep scores are worsened (around 30mins deep sleep and sometimes even zero REM). I was wondering, since I sometimes read that melatonine reduces heart rate and has effects on thermoregulatory systems in the body in the context of workouts, can melatonin help me having better sleep quality when doing a workout late on the day. example study talking of melatonin and workout: https://www.mov-sport-sciences.org/articles/sm/abs/2022/01/sm210044/sm210044.html#:~:text=The%20results%20showed%20that%20melatonin,exercise%20(P%20%3C%200.01).
My body does not make dopamine
I’m 48 and my whole life I’ve been a very happy motivated person. I was a member of the 1996 Olympic Gymnastics team and I stay very active and eat very well. I workout a min of 3 times a week and I try and do ice baths everyday. I’m contacting you because at around age 40 I started feeling depression for the first time in my life. I really didn’t realize it for years and I just tried to fight through it with positivity. I finally got so bad I called my integrative doctor. She immediately had me take a neurotransmitter test. It’s showed I had high serotonin but absolutely no dopamine. In fact they said my body has never made dopamine. I find that hard to believe but I’m no expert. They put me on 300mg extended release welbrutrin and 15mg extended release adderall. They say I will need to be on the Wellbutrin for the rest of my life. I do feel a lot better but I really don’t want to be on these meds for the rest of my life. Is there anything I can be doing to fix this without drugs? Can I ever get my body to make dopamine again? She also has me on a lot of supplements to help my body support the loss of dopamine. Thank you for your time
Seed Oils
I was wondering if you could weigh in on the topic of seed oils. I follow a lot of functional medicine docs and other practitioners (Mark Hyman, Catherine Shanahan, etc.) who claim that seed oils are pretty much the worst thing that's happened to our food industry, so I've almost completely eliminated them from mine and my family's diet. Emily Oster recently wrote a newsletter claiming that there isn't really much (if any) data that would suggest seed oils are bad. What are your thoughts?
Sleep when using sleeping tabs nightly
I use sleeping tablets, benzodiazepines, every night to help me get back to sleep after I am woken by nightmares. Also nightly. I have CPTSD & a brain injury. Is the use of sleeping tablets having a negative impact on my brain? Especially when balanced with the benefit of being able to sleep after a nightmare. I do do my sun light exposure morning & night - as you have taught us. Cheers and love your podcast. Unfortunately I am on a pension and I cannot afford to continue my premium subscription after Nov 18th. But you & your team are phenomenal & you’re educating all of us by helping us understand science and its extraordinary impact. Even down here in Australia! Cheers Melissa