Please Take An Empath Poll...

I was reading some posts today and was reminded of some traits that I think are common with empaths. I think it has a lot to do with how our minds are wired. But I thought I'd test this theory with polling from the community. And I appreciate the participation from those who want to weigh in. Please answer each of the two below questions with a yes or no and any comments you'd like to add.

#1: Do you consider yourself a night owl with an internal clock that keeps you from falling asleep until late hours of the evening/early morning?

#2: Do you sleep poorly most nights with a lot of tossing & turning and waking up often?

#1: Yes

#2: Yes

I have a fitbit I use to tract my sleep. 6 hours average per night this week. I usually sleep about 3 hours at night and 3 during the day. 

The early morning is the best time of day. 2am to 5am I like to be awake. Any evening event will disrupt the pattern. Sometimes I skip sleeping all together.

YES--Yes

I hate evenings--I hate to go to bed.. I procrastinate going, so its really late when I get tere.. then I keep waking up,, I cant wait till morning.. But then I am so tired all day..... If I could I would never sleep.. Which has made me very sleep deprived.. and I get very run down

1. No - the opposite. I am a dedicated early bird

2. Yes - esepcially the last 3 months

1. I'm an early bird. LOVE mornings!

2. I usually sleep very well, except for this morning and found myself staring at the walls at 4:30. Frustrating! 

1. YES. Certified night owl here. Sleep lab tested me and told me that w/o drugs I would never fall asleep before 2-3 am, which I already knew was true. About 20 yrs. ago, I had to start taking a blood pressure drug that knocks me out, so I am now able to go to bed at 11:15 each night. I prefer to stay up later, since night is when I feel best by far, likely due to severe adrenal fatigue from not being very good at handling being an empath. I make myself go to bed, so my schedule is in line with others and things I must do during the day.

2.  YES. I have fibromyalgia and late stage Lyme Disease and for the past 32 yrs. have awakened every 2 hours, all night long. I feel much more tired when I get up than when I went to bed and never schedule anything for mornings. 

#1  Yes.  I try to go to bed around 10pm because I have to get up by 6am for my job.  But, around 10pm I seem to get a second wind.  I can find all kinds of things to do. Most nights I am up until 11 or 12pm.  

#2 Yes.  I toss and turn.  I wake up at least 2 times during the night. Usually I am able to fall back to sleep but sometimes I will have 3 days in a row where I cannot fall back to sleep even though I am dead tired.

Thanks for everyone’s votes and comments. This poll is shaping up about as I expected. I wanted to add in my vote to the tally. I'm a yes to both questions myself. I am typically pretty tired when I get home from work to the point of wanting to fall asleep some days. But then similar to what @ruth-calkins noted, I get a second wind around 10PM that is like a shot of caffeine. I struggle to fall asleep before 12:30PM most nights. And staying asleep has been a real challenge the last 10 years. I toss and turn and wake up continuously at night and always have a deep thought or strange dream on my mind. It just seems like my mind is so active when I should be sleeping. I use a lot of natural sleep aids to help settle me down to fall asleep.

So far the tally is that we have 8 yes votes and 2 no votes to question#1. And then for question#2 we have 9 yes votes and 1 no vote. I'm hoping to get some more votes from the community over the next couple days to get a better sample size. And then once we have a final tally I wanted to share some things I have learned from research that explains these empath sleep patterns.

I cannot wait to hear about hop-daddy's research on the sleep interruptions and how they relate to being an empath! I am foaming at the mouth in anticipation.....please hop-daddy, do not make us wait too long.

As someone who has studied Fibromyglia extensively and who ran a support group for 14 yrs., I  learned early on that research by Dr. Yunis at McGill University had proven that you could take healthy medical students, wake them up every two hours, and produce fibromyalgia within two weeks, because alpha wave interruption of delta wave sleep will prevent repair of muscles, and eventually cause a lot of other more serious problems as well if it goes on chronically.

So, I am amazed at all these otherwise physically healthy people who are waking up every two hours over a long period of time and yet do not have fibromyalgia, unless all of you are diagnosed with it and just did not mention it. I am wondering if the problem has been my being an empath all along now..... which means I've wasted 32 yrs. looking for physical solutions and treatments that would cure me That would certainly explain why I didn't find any! 

@womanwhowalks:

I have general restlessness when I sleep. I go through periods of weeks where I too wake up about every two hours during the night. It's usually a powerful dream that awakes me or the feeling that something is waking me up (whispers, energy, feeling of a presence etc...). I have had a lot of that lately.

@cheshire-cat, I was hoping to get some more takers on the poll so that I'd have some additional community feedback to back some of my research. I hope to have it all ready and posted by mid week.

1. No, early person

2.  Yes, always have had problems with waking up during the night, 2 hours is about right for me.

1- no, though when I was younger I was a night owl.

2, YES! I'm always tossing and turning.

Thanks for all votes in our poll. Here’s the tally from everyone who participated:

Out of 16 respondents, 75% said they are night owls now. And out of 16 respondents, 88% said they sleep poorly and awaken often. I think the results, despite a fairly small sample size, show that falling asleep and staying asleep is a consistent challenge for most empaths.

I did some research on various empath websites to find further confirmation and explanation of this trend. And my findings reinforced the belief that sleep issues plague most empaths. I feel my findings are not necessarily earth shattering. But it does help connect the dots on this pretty common empath trait. And it also helps explain why so many empaths struggle with various health issues.

Here are some notes on what I found in my research:

The Empath-Night Owl Connection

*The theory that I found repeatedly is that empaths crave the solitude that exists late evening after the day is done and most of your family members are asleep. If you are like me, you probably have a pretty quiet home after 10PM. We all know that empaths need alone time to decompress and recharge the batteries. And empaths find that much needed quiet at late evening hours.

*There was also another theory that I found that noted that late afternoon to about 8PM is a stressful and trying time for an empath. That’s when everyone is rushing around taking kids to activities and rushing home from work. The roads and freeways are jammed up with traffic and tensions are high. It was also suggested that when people get home from work that there can often be a lot of conflict between family members (husband & wife battles, arguments between siblings and with their parents etc…). So there is a lot of intensity in the air that we all pick up even if we are not dealing with this stress directly in our own lives. I would say that I personally often feel anxiety as I drive home from work for no obvious reason. Then a couple hours later I feel really tired. And then when it gets close to 10PM all of a sudden I feel as if I just had two expresso shots and spring to life until I get tired around 1PM. This seems to closely follow the energy trends that occur in life where negative energy spikes late afternoon to early evening and then clears up when most of the world goes to sleep.

The Empath Poor Sleep Trends

*It’s pretty common knowledge that when someone has a lot on their mind that they are likely to toss & turn in their sleep or even have insomnia. But yet that can be a nightly occurrence for empaths. I think the explanation simply is that we take in so much during the day that our mind has a lot to untangle during sleep. Simply put, we have a lot on our minds mostly because we pick up so much from others.

*There is also a second explanation for the poor sleep that empaths get. And there is a medical reason for this that I found very interesting. We empaths deal with more stressors than a typical person on a daily basis. And that can lead to adrenal fatigue. When you have adrenal fatigue your body chemistry is all off and cortisol levels rise uncharacteristically. At first you will experience weight gain and a weakened immune system making you vulnerable to illness. And then when this continues you can get chronic inflammation, allergies, and auto immune diseases. I also wanted to point out that humans are supposed to have cortisol levels that start each day at a high level as part of the “wake up” process of the day. And then cortisol levels are supposed to drop to almost nothing by bed time (low cortisol levels help make you sleepy). The problem for empaths is that when you get adrenal fatigue, your cortisol levels don’t come down enough at night so you they are stimulating you to stay awake. And when you have a particularly stressful day or days, your high cortisol levels can wake you up in the middle of the night and leave you staring at the ceiling. And since cortisol is known as the stress hormone, it can be unpleasant to have higher levels of cortisol at any point (day or night).

*The last part that I wanted to touch on is the spiritual side of being an empath that is harder to measure. But we all have had weird dreams or visions while we sleep. And we also sometimes are visited by spirits as we sleep. This is another cause of sleep disturbance for some empaths.

I think the takeaway from what I researched was that we empaths are at risk of wearing ourselves out. It is both how we are wired and is also due to the fact that we take in so much each day. In the poll we had 25% of respondents vote that they had no problem falling asleep at a reasonably early evening hour. And we had 12% that said they slept well through the night. My guess is that these voters are pretty well adjusted as empaths and have done an excellent job of shielding and grounding. And I would also guess that as a result, they are probably a lot healthier than those of us empaths who live with poor sleep quality every day. I think this tells us that we can improve our sleep and health by doing a better job of grounding before bedtime. I realize that is easier said than done. But it would seem that it should at least be a goal to clear out the negative and get better sleep whenever possible.

The good news on adrenal fatigue is that it is very common in our society and can be medically treated. Here’s a pretty good article that I found explaining a lot of how adrenal fatigue impact us:

https://adrenalfatiguesolution.com/adrenal-fatigue-symptoms/

Thanks for all the work in doing this hop-daddy! I think you hit the nail on the head that empaths are more prone to adrenal fatigue in this crazy society.

Re: adrenal fatigue:

I would like to add that if your cortisol is so high at night that you wake up very early and lay there shaking, or get very angry or irritable, you might want to look into taking some Seriphos, a supplement they did not list in the otherwise comprehensive article linked above. It can help bring cortisol back to normal when taken about 4 hours before your worst time.

I did not see the ASI test mentioned, but if you can afford it, a 5 tube ASI test is the only way to know for sure if cortisol is too low or too high, since the symptoms are so similar for both. I have been playing with fire because I do not sleep, and can't afford to see a Naturopath and pay for an ASI now. What I am doing is not a good idea. Remember, it must not be the usual 4 tube ASI. If you have early awakening, you need an additional 5th tube to test your saliva early in the morning when you are laying there all wired up too. For diagnosis of adrenal fatigue, a 4 tube test is normally used. This will tell you exactly which stage of adrenal fatigue you are in, which makes all the difference re: which supplements to use and how much, whether to nap or not, etc.

I'm glad to hear the info. I posted was helpful.

@cheshire-cat brought up some good points about getting diagnosed with a naturopathic doctor. Of course, see a doctor if you can to get a formal diagnosis. But doctor's visits and tests can be expensive as I went through that myself. I was told to take the below adaptogenic formula as a solution for adrenal fatigue. But if money is tight and you don't want a doctor's visit expense I would suggest ordering up some of the below to help improve your well-being and sleep patterns. It takes about 2 weeks of taking it before you will notice big improvements. This is not a drug but is an herbal remedy. The herbal ingredients are all common safe herbs and this is sold by a reputable company.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F1J8EKI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Just a quick caveat about the formula above from someone who studied to be a Naturopath for over two years (I quit when I found out it was a felony to practice in my backwards state!)

Please be careful about taking Rhodiola if you have high blood pressure. So-called adaptogens almost always cause a dramatic rise for high blood pressure sufferers, occurring about ten days after starting the supplement. Most people with AF have low blood pressure and can benefit from licorice tea as well, which raises it, as well as sipping salt water during the day and making sure they do not stand up too long at one time, but those with very late stage AF may have high blood pressure (like me).

Also, as someone who has Lyme Disease, Ashwaganda is usually not recommended if you also have Lyme and are beyond Stage I.  This is important, as all who are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia should be tested to rule out Lyme, which is often the real underlying cause of FM. 

For everyone else, it sounds great. I've heard a lot of good things about Holy Basil, Tulsi tea, and I personally take L-theanine, L-glutamine, Melatonin (a very low dose), Seriphos, huge doses of L-Tryptophan, and lithium orotate supps. It depends upon your individual symptoms and the stage you are in. For example, Seriphos lowers the high early morning cortisol seen in the early stages (or in benzodiazepine withdrawal, which is why I am using it now, despite being in a later stage normally), while in later stages you may need Isocort, which raises cortisol. 

@hop-daddy brought up a good point about money. Integrative doctors or Naturopaths are expensive and the wait to get in can take forever, when you need help now. I can't afford the ASI test, so I use Hans Selye's chart of the stages of AF to try to figure out where I am at any given time, as well as my response to Seriphos. I also highly recommend Dr. Lam's website on adrenal fatigue. He specializes in it, sends out an excellent free newsletter, and will usually answer one question for you w/o charge, and his answers are very in depth, IME. 

Great points on being careful if you have blood pressure or other serious issues. I can say that I have taken this adaptogen supplement before. And I did not notice any side effects except that the Rhodiola seems to help me think more clearly and heightens my focus. That was noticeable. And then of course feeling tired at bedtime and sleeping better was a nice effect. 

Hi hop-daddy,

    I am betting you have normal blood pressure. I was taught this is only a problem for those who already have high blood pressure. I personally had this rise in BP happen to me when I tried both Siberian Ginseng and Rhodiola. It should not be a problem for most people with AF though, since AF more often causes low blood pressure. I have seen people with BP as low as 55/35, who could not even sit up in bed for long w/o passing out, their AF was so severe. These folks are usually diagnosed with CFS. 

     I just didn't want anyone to go through some of the things I have, like taking 5-HTP without being told it is dangerous to those with high blood pressure and that those of us who have that problem should take L-tryptophan instead. The result for me was a month of having to wear a cardiac event monitor and having my heart rhythm go into PSVTs almost every time I stood up. Lots of folks think natural means safe, but rattlesnakes are natural, lol. These things are usually MUCH safer than pharmaceuticals, but can still cause problems for some.

     I am very glad it helped you and I really wish I could have tolerated it, since I would love to be able to take an adaptogen, which I think would make having the ASI test a lot less necessary. 

     For those who do have a problem and cannot get the benefits hop-daddy got, lithium orotate also produces the clarity of brain function and improvement in short term memory fogginess that is so often a part of AF. It also helps anxiety and in some people it helps depression as well, though a high dose of L-tryptophan, B complex, and a high EPA fish oil are much more likely to help depression. (For those who have FM or CFS, make sure the B Complex uses Methyl folate not folic acid, and take a sublingual form of Methyl B12, not a swallowed cobalamin tablet).

I live in Austin, TX. I think it's interesting that with this hurricane coming I haven't been able to sleep for about three days now. Now that the storm is here I was able to get a few hours in, but I don't feel like I really need sleep. Some how I'm sustained by all the emotion. This has happened before. I've been in situations where I didn't sleep for about 90 hours. I think it's weird, and I don't think it's healthy, but I don't get tired enough to sleep. I do love these big storms. They're exciting!

I remember when Katrina came through I was living by the coast close to Houston. The same thing happened. That was the day I was finally convinced  I was an empath, and that it's a real thing. The emotions were so high I couldn't deny it any longer. 

Late to the conversations but....

I am a night owl as most of you.  As mentioned ~10pm is when my family and house starts to settle down.  The time from then until 12-2am is usually spent in some type of reflection and decompression.  4-6 hours a night of sleep is the usual, if I get more than 8 I am more tired the next day.  I do like my naps though.  Either right after work on weekdays or around 2-3pm on the weekends.  

I don't consider myself a night owl.  What is it when you need to go to sleep early but wake middle of the night?  

I only recently took to sleeping when my body wanted to sleep.  I've never slept well.  I dream all over the place.  Due to health issues, I get a few "quiet" hours upon first falling asleep...but once that wears off we're back at it again.  :)

Tossing & Turning is my norm.  My internal clock has its own idea of how sleep works.

@gigi-miner:

Your sleep issue is very common for empaths. Medically speaking, I believe most empaths are sleep deprived and are generally tired from taking in what we do from the world. All of this wears down our adrenals and cortisol imbalance becomes more prevalent. The human body is designed to have cortisol levels peak in the morning (to get us awake and ready for the day), and then wane throughout the day to the point where low end of day cortisol levels make us tired and ready for sleep. A lot of times waking up continuously throughout the night can be traced to that pesky cortisol that is spiking during sleep time due to hormonal imbalance. The good news is that this can be improved with exercise, stress management, and by taking natural adaptogen supplements.

But as @cheshire-cat noted, some adaptogen herbs can cause problems if you have blood pressure issues so seeking help from a naturopathic doctor is advisable. For reference, here is an adaptogen product that can be purchased on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F1J8EKI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Yes to both questions though I've been this way since birth according to my mother (she used to say that I never slept & the doctor told her that some babies don't require sleep & that it was perfectly normal.)  I guess it's true since even with taking sleeping medication I only sleep an average of 2 to 4 hours & often don't sleep every night.

Do we really need to to sleep in regular patters that are dictated by society? Are we trying to fight against what our nature has dictated? To forsake our nature for the benefit of society does us harm. That can't be good. I get plenty of rest and am at my best when I sleep as I need too. I know many of us have to work during "normal business hours", but I can't go alone with it anymore. I do my best at night and early morning. I see no reason to fight it. So I take no sleep aids and would rather listen to my normal rhythms. I am much happier and healthier when I do.   

#1: Yes

#2: No

@zacharias:

I agree with you as I get an energy burst and my mind gets clear and creative after 10PM each night. But I do have a day job and kids so I have to force myself to get to sleep at a reasonable hour so that I can be in sync with the rest of the world. But if you like sticking to your own sleep pattern, I say do it. It's a little hard to go against the human circadian rhythm that is hard wired in each of us. But if it makes you happy, I say do it.

Definitely a night owl with terrible sleeping patterns!

1. YES, I am a night owl.

2. YES, I sleep poorly.

1. Yes I'm a night owl.

2. Yes I sleep poorly