Sleep, PSOAS and Co2 Tolerance
Hi all, I’m new here and really appreciating what this community is about. I’m just starting to piece together my health puzzle and was hoping someone might have insights—especially around sleep. I’m a man in my mid-40s with an autonomic nervous system that’s been stuck in sympathetic overdrive since my 20s. Over the last five years, it’s intensified—likely from the usual mix of work, life, and parenting. I self-medicated with cannabis for 20 years and was later prescribed antidepressants for chronic insomnia. I’ve now been off both for about three months, but I’m still only getting 3–4 hours of sleep a night. As a father of two and someone running multiple businesses, it’s a real challenge. Here’s what I’ve noticed: - Good sleep hygiene doesn’t seem to help. - Most supplements (glycine, inositol, magnesium, etc.) do little or nothing. - Any exercise—even light—makes sleep significantly worse. - There’s an intense restlessness that comes on at night. It feels like I have to move or I’ll go crazy. - The sensation is similar to air hunger—like when you’re holding your breath on empty lungs. - My right psoas is insanely tight. Massaging it (painfully) with a hard ball seems to calm my system a bit. Last night was a typical example: I did all the right things—breathwork, light stretching, no screens, reading. I felt relaxed and lights were off by 9 p.m. But by 9:20, the restlessness kicked in. I stayed in bed until 3 a.m., wide awake. Eventually I tried 8 rounds of breath holds on empty lungs. The air hunger was intense. Then I massaged into my psoas. After that, I finally fell asleep—either from the routine or sheer exhaustion. I’m trying to make sense of it all. Has anyone experienced something similar? Could this be CO₂-related? Could psoas tightness be affecting my breathing? Has anyone tried using ultrasound on the psoas? Or experimented with CO₂ gas for relaxation? Appreciate all the shared wisdom here—and grateful for any thoughts you might have.