This is going to sound far fetched, but hear me out - I am 55. When I was young I slept like a rock, like most people. Fast forward to a few years ago and I could barely get through the night. I would wake at 3:30am and just not be able to get back to sleep. During the day I was exhausted and in a mental fog.

I had other symptoms too:

* Heart palpatations, especially at night. My brain interpreted it as anxiety. It wasn’t

* Extreme sleepiness, both after meals and at bedtime. Yet, when I would try to go to sleep I would often lay for an hour.

* Constipation

* When I lifted weights, I would start strong but then would be exhausted after one or two sets. I would rest, but my muscles never seemed to recover during my workout

* Excessively thirsty all the time

Note that I did not think these were all related. On the contrary, most of these I didn’t even realize were a problem really. I just thought that was how I was. Then I read something (I think it was a comment on HN) that mentioned something about potassium deficiency. I researched it and realized that it can cause many of those symptoms that I had. I started taking some slowly at first (you read about all the dangers of too much potassium) and I immediately noticed some improvement. Turns out that you need 4700mg of potassium in your diet and only 1000mg of sodium, but that is often inverted in the modern diet.

I suspect I have a undiagnosed kidney issue that does not allow me to retain potassium like normal people. That, coupled with my high sodium diet made it so that I is constantly flushing out my potassium when my body is trying to get rid of the excess sodium.

I now take potassium throughout the day, primarily a couple of hours after meals and before bedtime. (I also take magnesium at bedtime)

The transformation in my sleep has been nothing but amazing. I used to be one of those people that constantly talked about getting enough sleep. I would regularly sleep 9 hours and still feel like I barely got enough. Now I sleep about 7 hours and feel fantastic. I wake up refreshed and my head is so clear during the day. I still wake up at night (to pee), but I always get right back to sleep.

I suspect that your brain uses electrolytes in the flushing process when sleeping. I have a pet theory that the prevalence of alzheimers and other cognitive decline is due to our high sodium and low potassium/magnesium diets. I always understood the value of vitamins and minerals, but did not appreciate the fact that electrolytes are like the gas and oil of a car engine. They are used daily, but deplete and need to be constantly renewed. Your engine can run when your electrolytes are out of whack, but so many basic functions are compromised. It is not just about running and sweating.

I want to make the required disclaimer to talk with your doctor about this and be careful, as too many electrolytes can be as bad as not enough, so don’t be stupid. I will note that I did talk with my doctor and, though he was receptive, he just wasn’t equipped to explore this level of granular topic. He was used to seeing people that were two steps from death, so when he saw me as an outwardly fit 55 year old, he thought I was doing fine.

I hope this helps someone!