You could be having a blood sugar issue. Since you are not eating for 8-12 hours when you are sleeping, your blood sugar can become unstable. The fact it gets better throughout the day gives me the idea it could be that as well since it could be related to the fact it stabilizes once you start eating.

Could be something to look into.

I should have thought of the blood sugar idea. My wife used to take my son a glass of orange juice when she woke him for school. Otherwise, he was grumpy until after he ate.

Fasting hypoglycemia is not uncommon. 7 to 8 hours after a meal, the body often needs to start relying on the liver for energy. For some, this is not adequate.

I need to eat before going to bed or I struggle to sleep through the night as I hit that fasting hypoglycemia by early in the morning.

MM, I was alluding to Leddy's concepts when I mentioned heart rate and headaches. His primary indicator for lowering exercise pulse rate is headaches.

btw, Many use caffeine to force through this low blood sugar issue. This can cause even worse problems over the long run.

This is an interesting idea, but I think I've got blood sugar covered. See below and feel free to disagree... My sleep/meal schedule is as follows:

• Sleep 11PM to 6AM, eat at 7AM.
• I have a big breakfast: veggie shake, oatmeal (peanut butter and bananas), and an omelette with sausage.
• Snack at 11AM: nuts and flax seed crackers
• Lunch at 2PM: Chipotle burrito bowl
• Snack at 6PM: pizza and chicken leg
• Dinner right before bedtime: various

It's almost as if it has to do with me relaxing as the day goes along. I'm more of a night person, anyway. It's like I stop worrying about my condition, and it rewards me by dissipating. I would fear psychosomatic illusion, were it not for the loud noise sensitivity, which seems too spontaneous to be imagined.

I haven't been able to find an answer to the reason behind this but I also feel the worst in the morning, and a lot better in the evening hours. I have seen other people mention it in this forum as well, so it's not uncommon. I'm going to an endocrinologist this week to get tested to see if it may be a hormonal issue.

That's an interesting angle... I can well imagine that hormones shift throughout the day, according to stress levels, etc. I got a blood test about five years ago wherein I was flagged as having low testosterone-- which was odd because I don't suffer from low libido or motivation.

I've been pondering DHEA but haven't yet researched potential side effects. WebMD cites potential hair loss... not good. I am hyper-vigilant about not consuming products with phthalates, BPA, or other xenoestrogens (no bottled water of any kind, etc.).

Donnie, keep us posted on your endocrinologist visit.

DHEA is the quarterback of hormones. It can be tested with a blood test.

I take 12.5 mgs of DHEA daily. My T is low but T cream makes my face break out. If I take 25 mgs of DHEA, my face gets really oily. T can cause hair loss. DHEA does not appear to effect my hair. It got thin before I started the T or DHEA.

Sleeping 7 hours does not mean good restorative sleep. Not a comment on your sleep, just a comment about sleep. Eating right before bed can effect quality of sleep. Digestion takes a lot of energy. That energy could be taken from the energy your brain needs. You might consider a lighter meal before bed.

Something I failed to mention, but when you talk about hormones... I broke my wrist about two weeks prior to the relapse, and had to have surgery to have it repaired (plate and screws inserted). So my body was in a mild state of post-surgical crisis when this happened. The healing from wrist surgery is going well, but the two have been happening concurrently.

Follow-up: SUNDAY... Went for a walk around the neighborhood that night, thanks to the consensus on this board, and got 6.5 hours of sleep that night. Monday morning, felt more clear-headed in the morning than I had in two weeks. So I assumed: Exercise is good!

MONDAY... So Monday night, feeling emboldened, I did 30 minutes on the trainer at 75% max heart rate (85% is more my usual rate, with interval training up to 95%). Followed with another 6.5 hours of sleep. This morning feels like a significant step back into fogginess and light headed sensations.

I know, I know… sub-8 hours of sleep is not optimal, but I don't necessarily see a correlation there, since getting 8 hours of sleep over the weekend did not help, and the clearest I've felt in 10 days was following 6 hours of sleep and a 1.5 mile walk.

So I guess the conclusion I draw is that I'm not yet far along with my healing process to do semi-intense exercise like I did last night. I find it somewhat bizarre. Again, maybe it has to do with my body repairing a broken bone simultaneously. I’ll stick with the walking for now.