8 weeks in, sleep still trash — normal or not?

2026-09-21 1146 views 13 posts
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grant_reviewer OP
#1
2026-09-21 14:00

Hi everyone — 44F, and I read grant applications for a living, so I'm basically paid to lurk and take notes, which is what I've been doing here for a while. Eight weeks into this current routine, and the scale has finally started moving a little, but my sleep is a disaster — up at 2, up at 4, and my watch keeps informing me I'm getting almost no deep sleep at all.

I walk the dog twice a day and lift three times a week, so it's not like I'm not tired. Did anyone else have the first couple months completely wreck their sleep before it evened out?

And what do you wish you'd written down at the start, because I honestly can't remember what my normal felt like anymore.

n
nathan417
#2
2026-09-21 16:48

Welcome. 8 weeks is early. SHBG numbers commonly run 32 to 49 by week 10, then settle back down. Deep sleep takes closer to 3 months.

h
health_dimitri
#3
2026-09-21 18:50

My resting HR never settled — kept climbing until I got thyroid and ferritin checked. Both came back low-ish.

d
donna_k22
#4
2026-09-21 19:44

Ferritin angle is interesting. Did you have it before starting?

c
cara
#5
2026-09-21 23:31

I had no pre-ferritin either. Only CBC. My sleep was bad before too, so hard to blame one thing.

p
paul46
#6
2026-09-22 04:32

Waist down 1.5 inches is the real win. The 2pm crash sounds like my lunch. What’s yours look like?

n
nancy340
#7
2026-09-22 22:25

My old lunch was chicken rice broccoli. Probably too carb heavy—I faded after.

t
timothy825
#8
2026-09-23 09:02

Rice at lunch wrecked me. Switched to potatoes and a short walk. n=1, but morning energy improved.

p
paul46
#9
2026-09-24 05:58

Careful with n=1 stuff. Labs matter. E2 31 could be fine or not depending on assay.

c
cara
#10
2026-09-24 15:04

What assay? Sensitive vs standard makes E2 31 a different conversation.

t
timothy825
#11
2026-09-25 11:03

Sensitive assay is the one to ask for. Week 8 labs I've got logged: 31, hematocrit 47 too.

n
nancy340
#12
2026-09-25 18:01

Mine was 47 too, and my doc wasn’t worried, but hydration and sleep apnea can skew it. I ignored snoring for years, then a home sleep test showed mild apnea. That explained some of my 2pm flatness, though not all of it. Not saying that’s your case.

The E2 assay point matters too—my clinic used standard for a year before switching to sensitive, and the numbers looked totally different. If sleep is broken at week 8, I’d track wake times and snoring before changing anything. What does your Whoop show for respiratory rate or blood oxygen?

n
nancy340
#13
2026-09-26 11:22

My wife say sI snore. Never connected it to the 2pm flatness. This intro just turned into a sleep study thread.

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