ha, well, klotho is a peptide!!
You: not interested in the supplement klotho
Also you: oh, klotho is a peptide? *adds to cart 
Ok, sleep!! Iāll overshare and state some obvious things just in the hope you can glean one thing. You can skip my verbal vomit and scroll to the end!
My main issue has mostly been staying asleep and not falling asleep. Spent decades taking ambien. Once I learned that was bad for me, I switched to edibles for a year or two. Then I learned trazadone provides healthy sleep, so I switched to that. This transition meant a lot of sub 4 hours of sleep nights and I was a zombie.
Prior to starting rapa in April, I had done a few things the prior year or three that helped. I was still having plenty of very bad nights, but it was still a big improvement.
I started taking progesterone which help a bit .
After listening to a Huberman podcast that explained how light can negatively effect our ability to fall back to sleep, I have a setting on my LED lights that turns them red, so now, if I need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I have a pathway of low level red. (No idea if this works)
I installed black out drapes. They were not done perfectly, but itās enough to make the room black if my eyes are shut. I also cover any objects that emit light in my room, like a light switch, the phone charger, or the light on the smoke detector. Once things were dark, it was noticeable how much those little things were bothering me.
When I couldnāt sleep, ruminating about the fact I couldnāt sleep or just my mind wandering would stress me out, so, I discovered if I listen to a monotone speaker in a science-y or news-y podcast (nothing too entertaining that kept me upā¦ Huberman was great for this), I would focus on that and it would take my anxiety away. Focusing on something and trying to listen would actually lull me to sleep, eventually.
On that note, in order to have time periods in the middle of the night when I was up that was not negativity affecting the total sleep hours I could potentially get, I started to go to bed earlier so that if I was up for two hours, I could still theoretically get 8 hours in, even if it rarely happened. That took the anxiety of not sleeping away because I knew I could eventually get all the sleep I want.
Along with that, I realized that no matter what time I go to sleep, I almost never sleep past 6:30, and usually not that late. So now, I try to go to sleep incredibly early which increases my odds of getting over 6 hours in. This has been one of the biggest tricks for me.
No caffeine drinks after 9am. Not much chocolate after lunch.
I keep the room cold and because my room canāt get cold enough (I prefer 63 for sleep but that doesnāt happen here) I invested in a cold mattress (THIS was the single best thing Iāve done for my sleep!!! I repeat, THIS is the single best thing Iāve done for my sleep!!!)
Unless we are out to dinner socially, my last meal is often by 3, and definitely by 5. I sleep significantly better on a very empty stomach. At most, I probably now have 3 glasses of wine per month, if that much, because Oura has shown me what it does to my sleep. I sadly find myself turning down social engagements constantly because I know it means I wonāt sleep well, ARGH. Why donāt people want to do lunches!! This does hurt my social connections which is bad for longevity, but it helps my sleep, so???
This balance is my biggest challenge right now!
At this point I was still having plenty of sub 5 hours of sleep nights, but I was often getting 6 and sometimes the elusive 7. And then enters rapa into my life!!!
After the cold mattress, rapa has been the second best thing Iāve done for my sleep!!!
Life changing.
I then also started taking my last pills by aprox 6 so I can helpfully not have to get up to use the bathroomā¦ getting out of bed is usually the kiss of death for me, even with my low red lights.
And then, through this forum, I then added melatonin which also helped.
At this point, post rapa, I was at times getting 8 hours of sleepā¦ sub 5 hours has became a rarityā¦ I am now at the point where I barely take trazadone (that was never a nightly thing only because I am tired during the day if I take it).
My glucose spikes post meals are now very much under control (no idea if that affects sleep)
I am now taking more magnesium before bed and have been upping my taurine. I am not sure which one, or both, but my sleep has entered the next level the last month or two (probably jinxing that now!). Some people seem to get energy from taurine, so I will eventually experiment with taking it earlier, but I am afraid to mess with my secret sauce for now.
Over the past few months, Iāve started to hit 8 hours much more frequently, and wait for itā¦ Iāve hit 9 multiple times!! I had not seen 9 hours since the 80s :). My PT will also say heās helping me in all sorts of invisible ways, and because heās pure magic, I actually think his voodoo probably works (only sorry that I canāt share him)
Since the time change and having it get dark so early, Iām now even going to bed earlier (Iām a barrel of fun!). (I often get up at 3am and have slept for 7 hours
So, to wrap up, I imagine all these things have helped, but how much to attribute to each thing is unknown
Cold mattress and rapa are the definitely the two biggest things, by a mile.
Dark room (also no phone calls and bright lights before bed)
Going to bed early
On the now less frequent event that Iām up and canāt fall back to sleep, just stop stressing and turn a podcast on (speaking of stress, I MUST have ambien in my nightstand because I sleep better knowing I have the option of a sure thingā¦ I was recently at a hotel and forgot to bring it and called my husband in a panic :). I probably have 4 a year, but I sleep better knowing the option is there!)
Donāt consume liquids after 6pm-ish unless Iām out
Maybe magnesium and taurine before bed.
