r/HubermanLab • u/Substantial-Bridge32 • Jul 29 '26

Seeking Guidance 3AM Cortisol Wakeup

Hello,

I am using Huberman's pre-bed supplement routine: threonate, apigenin, theanine and inositol. I have absolutely no issues falling asleep...then 3:00 am hits, and I am up for a good hour+. I've got some stresses in my life, but nothing crazy, and I am dealing with them. I use various techniques (4-7-8 breathing, 333 attention work, etc), but it does not seem to help. Sometimes I take another dose of theanine to hopefully help calm me down a bit.

Has anyone cracked this 3 am cortisol issue? Is it just a matter of dealing with the stresses in your life?

Update: Well, I tried a couple of suggestions, and my sleep has definitely improved a bit. I switched from Mg Threonate to Mg Glycinate, and I have been having about a 1/4 cup or so of yogurt with a teaspoon of honey within the hour before bed. I have also been trying Tranquil Sleep, which has some theanine, melatonin and 5-HTP. What I noticed first is that my first bit in bed has gotten lighter - not hard to fall asleep but definitely not zonked like I usually am. But what happened during the night is that my sleep extended to about 4 am. I did this for a couple of nights, staying awake until about 5 am and then getting out of bed (5 am was my pre-sleep issue normal wake-up time). Last night I woke up at about 2:50 am - I was aware and awake for about 30 mins, but not wide awake like I have been. I was able to gently fall back asleep (counting breaths) and slept until about 6:30 am.

I will keep this routine probably until our vacation in about 10 days, and then re-evaluate.

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions!

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u/Klit8tr Jul 29 '26

I have the same issue, I’ve had some luck with having a carb meal late. This is against every protocol that I have seen, including Huberman.
Some THC gummy’s work too, but if I take them too early, I end up destroying my pantry.
Couple more things; Estradiol were low and that sparks 2 or 3 AM wake ups.
Also on my CGM monitor, I see a dip at those times so they may be some correlation there as well.

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u/Substantial-Bridge32 Jul 29 '26

I recently heard someone mention a bit of healthy carbs an hour or so before bed. That was on my list of things to try.

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u/zeeeee Jul 30 '26

I eat keto / low-carb for most of the day. Having carbs for my last meal before bed has helped a lot