Chronic Sleep Issues, Ideas and Training

Bugs and Issues
21

Congrats on the good blood work, I’m sure due to your intentional efforts to be healthy and also congrats on slight/incremental sleep improvement even though it’s not as much as an improvement as you would like.

Like anything health related, it will take time with a balance of both consistency and flexibility as you learn what works for you.

Expect set backs along the way too and frustrations from when you think you figured something out and then experience a relapse even when being consistent.

Cheers,

(not a profressional, just and co-insomniac)

22

I’m starting to see some signs of improvement. They haven’t come without some setbacks, and it’s been slow, but it’s being made. After weeing, then completely discontinuing the thyroid medication, my RHR and HRV have gone in the positive directions. Exercise tolerance has improved to the point that I can now do a ride on the trainer and don’t have to artificially adjust the FTP in order to deal with the 40% floor. Seemingly no negative impact from stopping the medication. No impact on energy levels, body temps etc. Not entirely sure I needed it in the first place other than lab values weren’t optimal at the time during the severe sleep issues.

After getting the MAD (mandibular adjustment device) that moves the jaw slightly forward during sleep, my sleep has improved. I still wake in the middle of the night several nights/week, but I’m most of the time able to get back to sleep. Though the sleep lab said my breathing disturbances were not significant, maybe there were just enough to disrupt my sleep. Either way, it was worth the investment and things are improving. According to my wearable, the REM component of sleep has nearly doubled and after several weeks the deep sleep is also now increasing. I’ve been able to get a couple 8 hour nights each week, with a 7, a couple of 6s and the obligatory 5-hour reminder that I’m not out of the woods yet.

I have gotten outside on the road for the first time since October ‘25 about 2 weeks ago. I was able to keep my HR under my MAF target of 125 bpm. Since then, however the setback has been the HRV and also power at MAF has dropped. The only thing I can come up with is that I over did it. Even at MAF, the durations over that time period must have been too much as I’m still recovering from the sleep issues, not the rides themselves.

This part has been frustrating as I’ve been back to my sad baseline from the winter for more than a week. It causes doubts and makes me question if I’ll ever get back to where I think I should be one day. Seems a few good nights or weeks of better sleep isn’t enough to overcome years of poor sleep. A slower approach is needed.

Which brings me to a question, how would you structure a plan? I have Tuesday through Sunday to ride. Wednesdays and Thursdays are my weekends where (if I can do it physically without damaging myself) is when I would do my longer rides.

All rides will be done using the HR+ feature or when I get outside keeping my HR <125 bpm for the foreseeable future.

Tues 30 min
Weds &Thurs 60 min
Fri off
Sat & Sun 30 mins

I’m thinking I should not push the volume up and rather wait and watch the power increase at MAF HR for now. While this is a frustratingly low volume for me, it’s probably a solid safe approach. Once improvements are no longer being made, I could increase the volume on either the Weds or Thurs ride or one of the Sat or Sun rides.

Looking forward to any input.

23

This stuff gets very complicated (our bodies) all I know is to me the chances are you will make considerable gains with your continued focus and consistency. It’s very hard to predict what will be the right thing to do and when it will happen. I think in your case just focus on health first and let the rest fall into place (when your body is ready). And I am convinced for most health first means reduced intensity until they are ready for more. So error on the side of less intensity until you can see that adding it is ok.

I struggle with recovery due to age and inconsistency but lately feeling like I can handle more. Usually my sleep starts going to hell with more intensity and lately it is not… I am hoping I am progressing… in this regard… I have been a bit inconsistently consistent this winter :slight_smile: and getting more consistent now the weather is getting better… we will see.

That was a long amount of text saying very little… Keep your intensity brief but fun for now is all I can suggest.

24

I am pleased that you are seeing signs of improvement.

On the cycling part.

Using HR+ to keep HR <125 bpm seems sensible to me.

Watching for power to increase at that HR seems sensible to me too.

You might consider experimenting with the ride duration. What happens, for instance, if you do 45 mins each ride? If you do Tues 60, Wed 30, Thurs 60 (if you can fit it in), rather than back to back 60s?

Contrary to what you might expect me to say… If you are riding outside and you do feel the urge to push a bit harder for a short burst, maybe on one short climb, or a dash for a town sign, I don’t think it will do any harm.

25

I will likely not be able to make the hour rides anyway just yet. Today I seemed to bounce back a bit but the last few minutes of a 30 minute ride the power started dropping. So an even slower progression may be needed.

I probably should space the longer rides out to every other day. I’m just used to doing them back to back on my weekends out of habit.

On the outdoor rides I did send it on the final hill before home on a number of occasions. That was definitely fun and I actually hit a higher 1 minute power than I did last year, which is encouraging. Several weeks ago I had the frame of mind to forget the numbers and just go ride like a kid again, then I went on the rides and the HR stayed low. I’ll probably just stay disciplined and on the trainer for now until I can exceed 60 minutes. Getting carried away and opening it up and going a bit too long got me in trouble.

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