How to silence your 3 am "marathon brain"

Part 1 of the series: The anatomy of recovery

When I was ten years old, my parents took me to a neurologist for an EEG. I wasn't sick, but my mind was exhausting me. Even then, I was living a "marathon" in my sleep—vivid, high-speed dreams that left me waking up as if I’d just finished a race. The tests showed my brain was physically healthy; it just didn't have an "off" switch.

Decades later, as a physician, dancer, and researcher, I found myself back in that same race. Only this time, the stakes were much higher. If you recognize that 3 am wake-up call—the feeling of being "tired but wired"—this isn't just my story. It’s the science of your recovery.

What Japan taught me about the soul’s brakes

Years ago, I spent six months in Japan conducting research on dementia. While I was there to study cognitive decline, I ended up learning about the "brakes" our nervous systems so desperately need.

I remember a specific physician who studied "super-agers"—patients over 80 with zero cognitive decline. He found one consistent behavior: they wrote by hand for at least 15 minutes every single day. Handwriting isn't just about capturing ideas; it’s about cognitive load distribution. It synchronizes movement and memory, forcing the brain to slow down to the speed of the pen.

Ever since, I’ve used rituals to ground myself. But recently, even my rituals weren't enough.

The perfect storm: moral injury and the "Inquisition"

Over the last four years, I have navigated a "perfect storm": a high-pressure medical practice, a deep personal burnout, and a grueling legal battle known as the "Corona Inquisition" (documented by Frank Stadermann).

This isn't just "stress." It’s moral injury. It’s the physiological toll of being targeted for helping patients when they needed it most. Just this past week, as I prepared for meetings with lawyers, I lost a 48-year-old patient to a glioblastoma. My mother was diagnosed with cancer at 43. Seeing patients my own age lose their battles while I am fighting a legal one created a surge of "glutamate"—the brain’s primary "gas pedal."

The science: the GABA-glutamate switch

In my work with addiction recovery and perimenopause training (teaching over 650 hospital professionals), I focus on this balance:

• Glutamate is essential for focus, but under chronic stress, it overflows, making the brain hyper-excitable.
• GABA is the neurotransmitter that acts as your internal Valium.

When your glutamate is high and your GABA is depleted, you don't just "wake up" at 3 am; you are launched into consciousness by a neurochemical adrenaline surge. My sleep tracker didn't lie: I was getting only 6% deep sleep. I was a doctor who couldn't heal herself.

The breakthrough: HRV 125 and the 72-hour fast

Intrigued by the "perfect sleep" protocols of people like Bryan Johnson, I decided to run an experiment. I needed to see if my "brake" was actually broken, or just buried under years of adrenaline.

As I write this, I am hitting the 72-hour mark of a deep fast. The transformation has been profound. While the first 24 hours were a hurdle of hunger and grumpiness, something shifted at the 36-hour mark. Supporting my system with olive oil, MCT oil, and butyrate, the noise simply... stopped.

Despite the looming legal meetings and clinical heartbreak, my Heart Rate Variability (HRV)—the ultimate metric of nervous system resilience—hit an all-time high of 125. My mind is clear, my insights are sharpening, and for the first time in years, the 3 am marathon has paused.

Finding your own brake

Your system wants to heal. Even when the world feels heavy, your body can find its peace when you remove the biological "noise." Moving my deep sleep from 6% to 15% was my first victory, proving that the "off" switch still works.

In Part 2, I’ll reveal the specific "supplement stack" I use to support my GABA receptors and the exact 60-minute evening ritual that finally silenced my childhood marathon.

Sources

• HRV & Resilience: Heart Rate Variability: New Perspectives
• GABA-Glutamate Balance: The Role of Glutamate and GABA in Cognitive Health
• Fasting & Brain Reset: Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health and Aging
• Handwriting Rituals: The Importance of Writing by Hand