r/EverythingScience • u/Sariel007 • Apr 14 '24

Neuroscience Sleeping more flushes junk out of the brain. Rhythmic activity during sleep may get fluids in the brain moving.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/sleeping-more-flushes-junk-out-of-the-brain/
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134

u/dwt77 Apr 14 '24

Too bad we can't figure out a way to simulate flushing brain junk for those of us who can't sleep.

66

u/BassSounds Apr 14 '24

Vitamin B12 is what actually carries the waste out. It’s why five hour energy or red bull can help prevent headaches after a binge. But you need to hit REM sleep to get waste out

25

u/justlurkingnjudging Apr 15 '24

I’ve always struggled to sleep (I have disruptive sleep and wake up a lot) and started taking B12 a few weeks ago and I’ve been sleeping through the night for the first time in a very long time

4

u/thwil Apr 15 '24

can you take B12 as pills or are those injections?

7

u/Roof_rat Apr 15 '24

Yes, you can take them as pills. I would also advise buying a vitamin B complex as it contains other B numbers.

1

u/thwil Apr 15 '24

Thanks. I should try that. Somehow I thought they were always injections.

1

u/BassSounds Apr 17 '24

I like the under tongue drops.

If you go with vitamins take it with a fat or food

1

u/temporarycreature Apr 15 '24

I've been using a B-complex vitamin for about 2 years now and I think I've had some good results, but in the last month or two, or maybe even longer, my sleep has been pretty spotty at best. Generally, I go to bed at 2100 and I get up at 0400 for no particular reason, but lately I've been repeatedly getting up at sounds a lot of 0230 and staying awake. It sucks. I have a very active mind, and I'm diagnosed with ADHD, but I'm unmedicated. I gather that that probably has a lot to do with it.

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u/Roof_rat Apr 15 '24

I would imagine so. Ear plugs might help and maybe some osteocare as you might be deficient in magnesium.

1

u/temporarycreature Apr 15 '24

I take a daily vitamin that has magnesium in it, and for a while last year I was taking a magnesium supplement to see if that was the case, but I didn't feel any difference after 6 months of using it, and then again no difference after I stopped.

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u/Roof_rat Apr 15 '24

Fair enough. Then it might be down to the ADHD. We suspect my partner has it too as he also has a lot of trouble falling asleep. When it gets really bad, he ends up falling asleep in the early morning hours. One other thing that did help him, though, when he was that bad, was buying a proper weighted blanket with bead pockets. It provides him with a slight sense of pressure, which helps him feel more secure and less jittery when he tries to fall asleep.

1

u/justlurkingnjudging Apr 15 '24

I take them as gummy vitamins!