I have been nursing for pregnant for the past 3.5 years. No breaks.
Pregnancy went straight into breastfeeding for 15 months, which overlapped with my second pregnancy, and I’m still nursing my 11 month old today!
I’ve always been pretty heavy, but after my second baby, and a pretty traumatic newborn period (for everyone! Read all about it here!) my body was drained.
I thought it was completely normal, and just kept on draining thinking I would regain my nutrient stores like I always had. But, as it turns out, if you basically don’t sleep for a year straight, your body can’t recover on it’s own.
Postnatal depletion defines what my physical and mental state has been for the past 11 months.
Well after my baby was sleeping soundly through the night, I could not sleep.
I would lay awake for what started as hours only getting to sleep in the early morning hours.
Then, it got worse. I would stay awake all night for a few nights straight. Be able to sleep for 3 or 4 hours from complete exhaustion and then repeat the process.
My mental and emotional states were so low, but somehow, I was still able to physically keep moving along. I would just do it.
Moms are resilient.
We get up, read with our babies and toddlers, feed them, play with them, bathe them and listen to them no matter what. Even though I hadn’t slept in days, my daughters would never know it. Their lives looked the same as they always had, and I was determined for that not to change.
I spent a lot of time on the phone with my doctor’s office.
There was something not right, and I couldn’t get anyone to take me seriously.
It wasn’t just the postpartum period that was leaving me like this, I knew deep down there was something wrong! Something that needed addressing.
Finally, 10.5 months after I gave birth. I was able to get a full panel of blood testing done.
Everything looked perfect except my vitamin D levels were crazy low.
There are 4 levels that vitamin D is divided into, healthy, moderately low, low and deficient.
I was extremely deficient. Basically, there was hardly any vitamin D in my system at all.
Finally, I knew the answer to all of my unexplained insomnia!
My body did not have enough vitamin D to function.
This was a little surprising to me though. I walk outside with the girls for about an hour every single day… so those 15 minutes of sunlight we’re supposed to get to keep our levels up, I was getting 4 times that much at least!
I also had tried taking vitamin D in the past couple of months, but would be left with a HUGE migraine for about 48 hours after I took it.
Through a little bit of online research, I determined that I was probably getting too much Vitamin D, and that’s where the headaches were from.
I also found another article that said that if I got headaches from vitamin D, it could be because I was low in magnesium.
I stored that in the back of my mind and started taking a magnesium supplement I had bought from the drugstore after my doctor said it wouldn’t hurt anything.
When my vitamin D levels came back so low, I thought I was destined to have weeks of migraines in order to get my levels back up.
Right before I started taking the vitamin D that they suggested, I found a random article online about magnesium.
The author said that not all magnesium forms are absorbed by the body, so you need to be selective about what form you take.
After a quick google search to determine what forms of magnesium there are and which are best absorbed by the body, I figured out that magnesium oxide is basically not absorbed at all.
Guess what my supplement was. Magnesium oxide.
That night, my husband went to the store and got a powder form of magnesium carbonate, that turns into magnesium citrate when dissolved in water.
I took a full dose with a full dose of Vitamin D the next morning.
No migrane.
I was shocked. Debilitating migraines with multi-vitamins and vitamin D supplements had been a guarantee for me for months.
My body could not handle the vitamin D because magnesium is essential in order for the body to process it.
I was elated.
Both magnesium and vitamin D are essential for sleep and restoration through the body.
I was extremely deficient in BOTH!
After my elation, I was frustrated.
Why had I not been asked about such a simple solution early on in my struggle?
I had consulted numerous doctors and nurses through this time and not a single person suggested this. Instead, I was prescribed everything from anti-depressants to muscle relaxers to sleeping pills.
All the while I was begging them for a natural solution.
I hope that me sharing my story helps you.
All of this to say, I am thankful for modern medicine and definitely want to use it when necessary. However, I think we need to take a step back and evaluate the whole persons well-being first.
Testing minerals and nutrients seems like such a simple step that could have had crazy benefits for me as a patient.
Advocate for yourself when it comes to healthcare.
You know if something isn’t right. Don’t just allow others to put band-aids on your problems.
Getting to the root of the problem is essential.
If you’re having trouble sleeping, getting migraines with a multivitamin or vitamin D, ask your doctor if it’s safe for you to supplement with magnesium and vitamin D.
It has sure helped me.