If you're having trouble sleeping soundly , your thyroid isn't the cause. You've probably heard the opposite, because trends suggest that thyroid problems explain a large portion of insomnia. The truth is, that's not the case. If you find yourself tossing and turning during the night, your thyroid isn't to blame.
Sleep itself is still a great mystery to modern medicine, and in particular, the reasons why so many people have trouble sleeping are even more mysterious to science. That is why certain theories have emerged, such as the idea that thyroid dysfunction – another mysterious aspect of health – creates sleep disorders. Blaming the thyroid in this way is like when firefighters arrive at the scene of a fire and point to the chimney as the cause, without doing any expertise. With the right approach, investigators would find that there was not even a fire in the fireplace and the boiler was not working – the chimney could not have been the cause. And yet, because it is at the center of everything, it is considered the problem.
The modern trend of "thyroid as a problem" is not based on evidence or understanding. It is mythical. Although, as Anthony Williams often points out in his books, myths can become law when repeated often enough. No practical fact can link sleep and the thyroid. It just so happens that many people have both sleep and thyroid problems , so medical theorists confuse correlation with causation. In many cases, both thyroid problems and sleep disorders are caused by the Epstein-Barr virus , which is the real reason they so often occur together.
That's right, EBV is once again the culprit for a common health complaint. But it's not the only culprit. Many different factors can cause sleep problems, and in some cases, several can occur at once. For example, EBV neurotoxins may be reducing the neurotransmitters you need to send the right sleep signals, and at the same time, your liver may be clogged, sending it into a subtle spasm in the early morning hours that wakes you up after you've finally fallen asleep. Also, you may have been eating a lot of MSG over the years, and the buildup of MSG in your brain is burning out the neurons you need to keep your mind calm before bed.
Or maybe you're in a situation where EBV neurotoxins are causing you pain that makes it hard to sleep, plus your adrenal glands are too exhausted to produce enough of the specialized adrenaline mix you need to power your sleep signals, plus some toxic heavy metals that have entered your body over the years are blocking proper neurological activity in your brain related to sleep.
A more detailed list of these causes can be found further down in the article. You should know this: in none of these cases is the thyroid itself the problem. Sleep is not regulated by thyroid hormones. Your thyroid also does not burn out your brain, clog your liver, make you feel sick, affect your adrenal glands, or fill your body with toxins. It is innocent. Those who claim otherwise are misled. The trend that claims that the thyroid explains sleep is one that combines two medical mysteries, as if two unknowns make one known. This is a situation where well-intentioned doctors accept a theory as a belief system and posit the idea, and the theory can quickly spread and gain momentum.
The truth is that sleep is crucial to getting rid of EBV and healing your thyroid. As long as you are guided by faulty theories, you will be prevented from getting to the root of your sleep problem, and without understanding what is wrong with your sleep, it is very difficult to make the problem go away.
Even if you wouldn’t list insomnia or sleep disorders as one of your chronic problems, learning how to use sleep to its fullest potential is an important part of your recovery. So far in the thyroid disease articles, you’ve discovered the virus behind the vast majority of thyroid disorders, learned about the health mistakes and misconceptions you should avoid, read all about the foods and supplements that kill the virus and restore your thyroid, and mastered some techniques to take your recovery even further. Now we come to the cornerstone: sleep.
Without proper sleep, you cannot heal properly. When you truly sleep properly and when you know how to calm your mind when you lie awake, you possess one of the most powerful weapons in fighting EBV and restoring your thyroid.
This is because sleep is essential for the functioning of the immune system – your overall immune system and the individual immune systems of the thyroid and liver. It is the ultimate restorative agent, useful for: (1) strengthening the thyroid so it can maintain homeostasis of the body, as well as repel and clear viral cells from it; (2) strengthening the liver as it cleanses itself of EBV and its waste products; and (3) allowing neurotransmitter chemicals to recover after being burned by the viral neurotoxins.
Sleep is also an incredible preventative. For example, if you sleep properly when EBV is still in its second phase ( by getting the nutritional support we covered in the article "Powerful Thyroid Healing Foods" and eliminating those foods from the article "What Not to Eat" that feed the virus ), the liver can get the support it needs to fight off the viral infection so that it doesn't progress to the thyroid.
If you have trouble sleeping, all of this can seem stressful. You might be thinking, "That's enough, I get it. Of course I'd fall asleep if I could." Since the irony is that falling asleep helps to heal the problems that are causing your sleep problems in the first place, you may worry that because sleep doesn't come easily to you, you're completely deprived of this valuable resource. It can feel like a vicious cycle.
Put your worries aside. First, when you understand what is behind your sleep problem, insomnia will no longer have the power to hang over you like a mysterious ghost. When you can identify what is preventing you from sleeping, which is of great importance to you, you gain an advantage and sleep immediately becomes less of a problem. Second, there are secrets of sleep that you can learn to use to your advantage so that its healing benefits are not inaccessible.
When you delve into the secrets of sleep, the cycle turns from vicious to virtuous. The better quality sleep you get, the more you can eliminate the issues that make sleep problematic in the first place. As you heal, sleep becomes your primary source of rest—one that nurtures you and recharges you so you can face the next day with the vitality you need to pursue your purpose and make the world a better place.
Identifying sleep problems
Sometimes it's no secret what's behind a restless night's sleep. If, say, you have a teenager who's been out partying late, then you know exactly why your mind is still restless even though you've already gone to bed. If you've recently gone through a breakup or had a disagreement with your partner, if you're worried about an important exam or meeting the next morning, if you're grieving a loss or an experience that has shaken your confidence, or even if you're bursting with excitement about the day ahead, you already know what's behind your insomnia.
There are also nights when none of the above happens, or when it's just in the background enough that you can turn it off when you go to bed. That puts you in the category of mysterious sleep problems. Sometimes the most stressful part of it is the mystery, the not knowing what's behind the problem. As the day progresses, a certain anxiety starts to creep in, because you can't predict what the night will bring. Will this be one of those nights where you'll get through it unscathed, drifting off into a peaceful sleep until it's time to get up? Or will it be a night of torment where you fear that with each passing hour you'll be sleepier and less alert for the next day? If it's not an anxiety disorder that's keeping you awake, the unpredictability of a sleep problem might.
Sleep studies are a common technique used in medicine to determine what's going on when someone's sleep is problematic. You visit a sleep lab, they hook you up to diodes, then you try to drift off to sleep while technicians in another room monitor your body's activity. Your doctor then evaluates the results to see if a sleep disorder is present.
Unfortunately, sleep studies rarely answer the question of what is really wrong and how to fix it. In the case of sleep apnea, for example, a condition in which breathing is interrupted or too shallow during sleep, a sleep study can be very useful in diagnosing the apnea and determining its severity. The patient will then be prescribed a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine with instructions on the settings to use, and that's it. CPAP can make a difference. It can even help significantly. The difference in how a patient feels after a restful night's sleep with it can be earth-shattering for some.
But what about the cause of sleep apnea? What if a patient wants to alleviate the underlying condition that's causing them to have trouble breathing during sleep? Often the best advice the medical community can offer is to try to lose weight. ( We'll get to more about sleep apnea in a moment. ) So sleep research has its limits.
If you want to deal with a problem, the first step is to identify its characteristics. When it comes to problematic sleep, there is not just one type, so not all of them can be explained and solved in the same way. Here are some common problems that people face with regard to sleep:
- At first you can't fall asleep, but after a few hours you finally drift off. When you wake up, you don't feel rested.
- You fall asleep easily, then wake up in the wee hours, unable to get back to sleep before it's time to get up. The frustration of not being able to get back to sleep exacerbates your already stressed brain, and when the sun starts to rise, it causes even more anxiety.
- As above, you fall asleep easily, then wake up during the night, although in this case you eventually manage to fall back asleep in the early morning hours.
- You drift in and out of light sleep throughout the night, never falling into a solid state of restful sleep. Sometimes this can be accompanied by a frequent need to urinate.
- You stay up all night, but not because you want to. You're not out having fun, falling in love, or studying for an exam—you're in bed, suffering through the night from insomnia. When morning comes, you're completely restless and crash at various times throughout the day, even though naps may seem out of reach. At night, you start all over again.
- You're exhausted all day long. You have a hard time getting through your tasks, and all you can think about is going to bed and closing your eyes. When night falls, you're suddenly "awake" and it's hard to calm down enough to fall asleep on time.
- You manage to fall asleep and stay asleep all night, only to wake up feeling like you need another eight hours. This can go one of two ways: (1) Your loved ones tell you that you snore loudly and/or that you stop breathing or breathe very shallowly during the night. They may even tell you that you woke up snoring, even though you immediately went back to sleep and have no memory of it. (2) You have ruled out breathing problems, but the exhaustion persists. No matter how early you go to bed or how late you wake up, you don’t feel refreshed after sleep.
- Just as you are about to fall asleep, an involuntary jerk of your arm or leg wakes you up again. This can happen several times in a row.
- You're tired and ready to sleep, but some strange sensation is keeping you awake. It can range from neurological (tinnitus, buzzing, restless legs syndrome) to skin problems, aches and pains, and racing thoughts.
Once you have identified what is causing your sleep problem, you can move on to determining what the causes are.
Causes of sleep problems
Many factors, sometimes in combination, can contribute to a person not being able to get a good night's rest. We hear a lot about how devices keep us awake with their unnatural light and brain-stimulating content. This is certainly one of the elements to consider and one that you have probably encountered if you have trouble sleeping. You know that you should keep computers, phones, tablets and alarm clocks away from your bed, that your bedroom should be dark and quiet, and that you should start getting ready for bed well in advance.
What if you've tried all of this and your sleep problem remains a mystery? It's no surprise that the Merciless Four—radiation, toxic heavy metals , viruses, and DDT, as well as some of their helpers and variants—play a role.
Viral activity
Viral problems are one of the main causes of sleep problems. Epstein-Barr virus , herpes zoster , cytomegalovirus, HHV-6 , and even some bacteria can poison our bodies and keep us awake at night. This is because viruses like Epstein-Barr release neurotoxins that are disruptive in three main ways: (1) they cause hypersensitivity in the central nervous system, which controls sleep; (2) they create body aches, which can prevent you from relaxing enough to fall asleep; and (3) they can reduce the activity of neurotransmitters, and since they allow communication between brain cells, this can prevent the transmission of the correct sleep messages. Thus, viral neurotoxins can cause problems related to the inability to fall asleep for hours or waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep.
Insomnia caused by viruses is often confused with a thyroid problem because, as we said earlier, insomnia and thyroid problems often occur together. This is not because an underactive or overactive thyroid causes sleep problems, despite what you may hear from other sources. The truth is that thyroid dysfunction and sleep difficulties are symptoms of EBV – that’s why they coexist. Often, it’s the stage four virus that causes insomnia, which means that a thyroid problem is already underway, whether or not your doctor has detected it.
Toxic heavy metals
First on the list of sleep disruptors is the presence of toxic heavy metals in the body. These heavy metals are especially problematic in the brain, where they don’t just stay in one place, but oxidize, creating waves of toxic substances that spread and damage brain tissue in their path. Heavy metals can also disrupt electrical impulses and cause problems with electrolytes and neurotransmitter chemicals, which shut down the neurotransmitters that would otherwise send the correct sleep messages throughout the brain. This dysfunction can lead to a host of sleep problems, including inconsistent sleep, lack of deep sleep, and the inability to fall asleep at all. Teenagers in particular can be affected by toxic heavy metals , which interfere with sleep.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) Toxicity
A huge portion of the country is sleep-deprived due to MSG toxicity. This common ingredient goes straight to the brain, where it derails electrical activity with toxins and co-toxins that burn brain tissue. Once in the brain, MSG stays there ( unless you break it down and remove it using detox techniques ), causing long-term problems that can include sleep problems. That's because MSG is a blood enemy of neurons. It sticks to neurons and makes them electrically hypersensitive, so when an electrical impulse passes through the neuron, it heats up more, causing a chaotic, disproportionate reaction. It's as if MSG turns the neuron into a sparkler. And like a sparkler, a neuron with this fuel-like coating of MSG eventually burns.
The neuron's irreconcilable feud with MSG can lead to racing thoughts, itchy feelings, difficulty calming the mind, and the feeling of being obsessed with something you can't shake off before bed. Many people who have to do a lot of meditation or calming techniques before settling down for the night, or who constantly wake up during the night, have higher amounts of MSG saturating their brain tissue.
MSG is everywhere, so be careful. As we already know from Anthony William's books , one of the most deceptive places it hides is in the ingredient natural flavors, which can sneak into even the healthiest-looking packaged organic foods and supplements at the health food store. ( For a more complete list of the ways MSG is hidden in ingredient lists and restaurant food, see the chapter "What Not to Eat" in the revised and expanded edition of The Healer Medium .)
Liver problems
Your liver works hard for you all day long. It fights off pathogens and toxins, purifies your blood, and creates bile to break down excess fats in your food. Just like you, your liver needs time to rest, so when you go to bed at night, your liver also goes to sleep. It shuts down for a while and goes on autopilot. Around three or four in the morning ( everyone is different ), your liver starts to wake up again. Thanks to the rejuvenating sleep it just got, it starts processing toxins, bacteria, viruses, and waste ( like dead cells, including dead red blood cells ), collecting them like it’s taking out the trash on the sidewalk so that when you wake up in the morning and hydrate, you can throw it all out. This healing and cleansing process also prevents bilirubin from building up.
If your liver is sluggish due to a diet high in fat and processed foods, then when it tries to do its job in the wee hours of the morning, it goes into a subtle spasm, contracting and twisting. Most of the time, this isn't something you can feel. However, the liver's little dance creates enough of a disturbance in your body to wake you up. This explains those nights where you fall asleep normally, then suddenly wake up in the early morning hours, and after a period of time are able to fall back asleep. This could also explain those miserable nights where you keep dozing off and waking up all the time.
Digestive problems
Similarly, digestive issues can interfere with sleep. The nervous system is very sensitive and works in tandem with the digestive tract. Thanks to the north-south (brain-gut) connections known as the vagus and phrenic nerves, anything that happens in the digestive tract is immediately relayed to the brain. So if you have digestive pain, bloating , cramps, or a sensitive stomach, these symptoms can trigger the nervous system and keep you awake when you’re trying to fall asleep.
Digestive activity can also wake you up, even if you don't feel any discomfort. You often have no idea that, say, the ileum ( the part of the small intestine that connects to the large intestine ) is inflamed from excess adrenaline, and so every time food passes through this area, it fires off nerves that connect to the brain. As you blink awake in the dark, you won't be able to detect anything happening in your belly, and it will feel like you've woken up for no reason. In fact, dinner was digested during sleep, and peristalsis simply caused the food in your digestive tract to pass through a sensitive area.
Emotional turmoil
We often experience disappointment in our lives. Your best friend turns on you, your soulmate goes in another direction, your parents get divorced, your body gets sick for seemingly no reason, people around you think you are to blame for your illness. In all of these experiences, we lose trust. And if the loss of trust is great enough, or if too many breaches of trust accumulate over time without being balanced, we can experience emotional turmoil. But it is not just emotional – there is a physical component as well. As Anthony William reveals in his book The Medium Healer - Revised and Expanded Edition , traumas large and small can create burnout and scar tissue in the brain. The result is sleep deprivation. So many people experience this in their lives, and it's never fun. For some, it can be devastating to their sense of who they are as individuals and the people around them. As difficult as it is, through these experiences we can gain strength, recharge our souls, and rise from the ashes of emotional turmoil and PTSD.
Sleep apnea
As we mentioned earlier, sleep apnea is one of the sleep-related conditions that medical research has begun to unify. Over the past decade, more and more people have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and even TV shows have started making fun of middle-aged characters and their CPAP machines. Scientists have discovered that chronic snoring is not harmless. It is often indicative of breathing problems that prevent someone from entering a truly restful sleep cycle, so doctors are starting to prescribe these CPAP machines, which force air through patients' airways while they sleep.
This is a great approach for people with obstructive sleep apnea, which can be the result of a number of physical obstructions. Some common causes of obstructive sleep apnea include excess mucus, such as postnasal drip; inflamed and enlarged mucous membranes in the throat; inflammation of the bronchi, tonsils, or adenoids; septum problems; chronic sinusitis; lymphatic obstruction; general swelling; edema, and excess weight that puts pressure on the throat and chest. As with all the other sleep problems we’ve covered here, obstructive sleep apnea isn’t a life sentence—it’s all about antiviral, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory foods to bring you relief.
There is also non-obstructive sleep apnea, which Anthony William calls neurological sleep apnea. This is the form of the condition where CPAP doesn’t offer as much relief because it’s not just about the need to push air out, but also about the central nervous system and supporting nerves. Neurological sleep apnea overlaps with a sleep disorder that modern medicine calls central sleep apnea, which remains largely a medical mystery. While research has defined central sleep apnea as distinct, we’re still light years away from understanding what underlies it.
Here's what actually happens when obstructions aren't to blame for breathing difficulties during sleep: On the one hand, seizure-like activity in the brain ( caused by pollutants ). These aren't actual seizures. Rather, there are surges of electrical energy in the brain at a truly miniscule level. That's enough to cause a pause in breathing. This type of neurological sleep apnea can occur as a result of monosodium glutamate (MSG) toxicity, high levels of a combination of toxic heavy metals like mercury and aluminum, or exposure to pesticides like DDT and/or herbicides. All of these factors tend to create a chemical imbalance in the brain that causes these energy spikes. A common scenario is for someone to develop sleep apnea after moving and have no idea that it's due to pesticides sprayed in the rooms by the former occupants of their new home. Viral activity can also cause neurological sleep apnea, as viral neurotoxins can inflame the vagus nerve , which runs through the chest and affects breathing.
Adrenal fatigue
People who have never experienced adrenal fatigue probably hear the word fatigue and think that for people who suffer from this condition, sleep is the least of their worries. After all, doesn’t fatigue just mean that you’re extremely tired and can fall asleep at any time? Anyone who has experienced constant fatigue can tell you that’s not the case. In fact, adrenal fatigue can make it hard for you to sleep. The condition is characterized by your adrenal glands oscillating between producing too much adrenaline and too little of it.
A common scenario is that the adrenal glands are underactive during the day because they hold back in case of a crisis, which is why you feel sluggish or constantly need to unwind during the day. When night falls and there is no emergency, the adrenal glands release the adrenaline they have been holding back, which is what causes the "sudden awakening" feeling when the sun goes down. It is also possible that when the adrenal glands are overactive, they push out surges of corrosive excess adrenaline that burns up and depletes neurotransmitters, interfering with sleep.
Even underactive adrenal glands at night can make sleep problematic because it means they may not be producing enough of the specific mix of hormones you need to fall asleep. (That's right—you need certain types of adrenaline to help you fall asleep, enter REM sleep, and dream.)
Anxiety
Were you one of those kids who put off going to bed because they were afraid of being left alone in the dark? Or have you ever had trouble sleeping because something unpleasant was planned for the next day and you didn't want it to come too soon? We've all experienced this sleep-related anxiety, even if just from time to time. For some people, this condition is a regular occurrence, and it's usually no secret that worry and anxiety are behind their insomnia.
The question is, what's behind unexplained anxiety during sleep? In some cases, it's a fear of nightmares. In other cases, it's post-traumatic stress disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) . One of the other factors in this section has caused you enough sleep problems that your bed doesn't feel like a safe place and you can't fully relax. In these types of situations, the underlying health problem should be addressed first to eliminate any ongoing trauma or triggers.
In other cases, however, anxiety is amorphous and unnameable and cannot be traced to a specific triggering experience. This type of anxiety, similar to the one we discussed in the article “Thyroid Diseases – Explaining Your Symptoms (Part 3)” , is related to the Merciless Four causing physiological ( often neurological ) disturbances. In one type of anxiety, the nerves become “allergic” to viral neurotoxins, which increases the sensitivity of the nerves and creates an extreme feeling of anxiety. In another, toxic heavy metals that oxidize in the brain interrupt electrical impulses, causing a ricochet, causing you to experience panic, irrational thoughts, anxiety or the feeling that you can’t think clearly because the messages in the brain are not reaching their intended destination.
Anxiety can also arise as a result of DDT in the brain. This pesticide, long thought to be extinct, is so persistent that we still encounter it today, and it is a blood enemy of neurons, causing these nerve cells to self-destruct, leading to sudden feelings of anxiety. Radiation can also contribute to sleep-disrupting anxiety because radiation increases histamine responses and inflammation in the body—inflammation that is not detected by classic blood tests for inflammation, such as C-reactive protein and antinuclear antibody tests. People with radiation-induced inflammation may feel hot or swollen, or their skin may burn slightly, all of which can lead to an anxious, restless state of mind that makes it difficult to fall asleep.
Sometimes anxiety is exacerbated by something going on in the gut. As we discussed in " Digestive Problems " above, nerve connections mean that the sensitivity of the digestive system signals to the brain. This is a common reason for a person to wake up in the middle of the night feeling anxious for no apparent reason. Depending on the severity of the gut irritation, the person may be able to fall back asleep after it passes, or they may remain awake the entire time they wake up.
Additional neurological problems
For those who have trouble falling asleep even for a moment throughout the night, the cause is often a serious dysfunction of neurotransmitters and neurons, combined with overactive or underactive adrenal glands. This can lead to unwanted nights where, despite going to bed at a reasonable hour, you are still awake to see the sunrise. A serious magnesium deficiency is often seen. This type of sleep disturbance is usually the root of post-traumatic stress disorder. This is not the PTSD caused by insomnia that we talked about earlier. Rather, it stems from a traumatic experience in some other area of life, whether in the distant or recent past, that has led to neurological problems. In this case, instead of being too hot, as is the case with MSG toxicity, the electrical impulses are too cold and become underactive. Without enough electricity to move through neurons, neurotransmitter chemicals, which are already depleted under such circumstances, don't get enough of a "push" to send sleep messages to brain cells.
Another neurological problem is repetitive, involuntary twitching. This often means that the brain tissue is saturated with toxins such as toxic heavy metals , aspartame, MSG, DDT and other pesticides, herbicides, toxic nanomaterials and/or other synthetic chemicals. Information should flow through the brain smoothly and continuously. However, saturation means that the brain tissue is not able to receive the information from the neurotransmitters quickly enough, and so the neurotransmitter chemicals are held back and collected in small depots until there is enough information to release it in an unexpected burst that shakes the body. ( During the day, the same process occurs in people who suffer from this condition, although they are not calm enough to feel it because they are running on adrenaline. However, if they take a nap at noon, they will probably experience the same awakening. )
No part of this article is intended to scare you. All of the problems we just listed can be healed. It’s scary and discouraging when you don’t know what’s going on and feel like it’s out of your control. That’s not the case anymore. Now you have answers, and as we’ve always said, that’s the first step to healing. Let’s explore how you can finally move forward.
The article uses materials from Anthony William's book "Healing the Thyroid Gland" . More articles on the topic are coming soon to our blog!
Other articles about the thyroid gland:
“The truth about the thyroid gland” ;“Thyroid Diseases – How It All Begins” ;
“Thyroid Diseases – Explaining Your Symptoms (Part 1)” ;
“Thyroid Diseases – Explaining Your Symptoms (Part 2)” ;
“Thyroid Diseases – Explaining Your Symptoms (Part 3)” ;
“Thyroid Diseases – Additional Complications (Part 1)” ;
“Thyroid Diseases – Additional Complications (Part 2)” ;
“Thyroid cancer” ;
“[Video] Do you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis? – Anthony William speaks” ;
“Anthony William's Tips for Treating Sleep Problems and Why Bad Dreams Are Good” ;
“Why are women more susceptible to thyroid diseases” ;
“Healer Medium's 90-Day Thyroid Therapy (Part 1)” ;
“Healer Medium's 90-Day Thyroid Therapy (Part 2)” ;
“The “divination tests” for the thyroid gland” ;
“Anthony William on Thyroid Medications” ;
“Anthony William on life without a thyroid gland” ;
“Anthony William reveals the truth about iodine” ;
“Anthony William reveals the truth about zinc” ;
“Powerful Healing Foods for the Thyroid” ;
“Which foods to avoid with thyroid diseases” ;
“Herbal remedies and nutritional supplements for the thyroid gland” ;
“How celery juice helps with thyroid disease” ;
“Tea for treating the thyroid gland” ;
“Leben Broth for the Thyroid” ;
“Healing juice for the thyroid gland” ;
“Healing smoothie for the thyroid gland” .
