Is HPA axis dysregulation causing your chronic insomnia?

Summary: Do you ever feel totally exhausted but wide awake the second you get into bed? Doctors call this feeling being "tired but wired." It happens when you work so hard and are so stressed for so long that your body's alarm system gets stuck.

Normally, a stress hormone called cortisol wakes you up in the morning and drops at night so you can sleep. But for high-achieving people, cortisol stays high all night long. This completely blocks your brain from making melatonin, the chemical you need to fall asleep.

Standard advice like sleeping in a dark room or putting away your phone won't fix this. It is like putting a tiny bandage on a bursting pipe. To really fix the root problem, doctors suggest getting bright morning sunlight right when you wake up, taking warm baths before bed, and using specific supplements to help lower that evening cortisol so your brain can finally rest.

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