ARP: Week 90

Focus: Understanding that your nervous system is listening, and giving it signals of safety.
Repetition: My nervous system is safe. My body knows how to heal. I am held. I am whole.

Understanding Night Terrors: A Functional and Ancestral Perspective

Night terrors are episodes of intense fear, screaming, thrashing, and a racing body (fast heartbeat and sweating) that happen during deep non-REM sleep, usually within the first few hours after falling asleep. The person does not fully wake and usually has no memory of it afterward.

Conventional medicine often calls night terrors a harmless developmental phase, but in ARP we see them as a signal, the body telling us something needs attention. This week I am walking through the most common root causes and the steps that help.

Night terrors are not something you simply have to wait out. When the imbalances underneath are found and addressed, they usually resolve.

1. Gut Health and the Gut-Brain Connection

The gut and brain are always talking, through the vagus nerve, the immune system, and the compounds our gut microbes make. When the gut lining is damaged (leaky gut), things that should stay in the digestive tract, like bacterial toxins, undigested food particles, and microbial byproducts, can cross into the blood and reach the brain. Many of these affect the nervous system directly and can disrupt normal sleep, triggering the partial waking we experience as night terrors.

Overgrowths and Pathogens That Contribute

When the gut microbiome is out of balance, certain organisms can overgrow and make toxins that affect the nervous system directly.

Streptococcus: strep overgrowth in the gut, not just in the throat, is more and more recognised as a contributor to neurological and behavioural symptoms in children. Strep can trigger PANDAS, or the broader PANS, where antibodies made against strep cross-react with the brain, especially the basal ganglia. This can bring sudden anxiety, OCD-like behaviours, tics, sleep disturbances including night terrors, and big emotional swings. Even without full PANDAS, chronic low-grade strep in the gut can make inflammatory compounds that disrupt sleep. (See Week Eighty Six for our strep work.)

Clostridia: certain Clostridia species, especially Clostridium difficile and other harmful strains, make potent neurotoxins. Their byproducts, like HPHPA and 4-cresol, interfere with dopamine and can cause sleep disruption, behaviour changes, aggression, and night terrors. Clostridia overgrowth is very common when the gut flora has been damaged, especially after antibiotics.

Candida and fungal overgrowth: overgrown Candida and other yeasts make acetaldehyde, a toxic byproduct the liver has to process. It is toxic to the nervous system and can cause everything from brain fog and irritability to poor sleep and night terrors. Candida also makes gliotoxin, which suppresses the immune system and lets the imbalance grow. Signs include sugar cravings, a white coating on the tongue, recurring thrush or yeast infections, bloating, and skin problems like eczema.

Parasites: parasites are far more common than most people realise, even in developed countries. Parasite activity tends to rise at night, and the body’s immune and inflammatory response to them can badly disrupt sleep. Signs include teeth grinding, anal itching (especially at night), dark circles under the eyes, appetite changes, belly discomfort, and restless or disturbed sleep, including night terrors. Pinworms are especially common in children and are an often overlooked cause of nighttime trouble.

Klebsiella pneumoniae overgrowth makes inflammatory byproducts and increases gut permeability, driving inflammation that can reach the brain.

Helicobacter pylori in the stomach can impair absorption of nutrients, especially iron and B12, adding to the deficiencies linked to night terrors.

Staphylococcus aureus overgrown in the gut makes toxins that stir up the immune system and inflammation that affect the nervous system.

SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) makes extra gas and inflammatory byproducts, impairs absorption, and adds to body-wide inflammation that can show up as disturbed sleep.

2. Blood Sugar Swings

Night terrors tend to happen in the first few hours of deep sleep. When blood sugar drops during the night, which happens when dinner was too high in carbs and too low in fat and protein, or when metabolic flexibility is poor, the body sees it as a threat to the brain’s fuel. It answers with a surge of adrenaline and cortisol to release stored glucose. That surge hits during deep sleep, so fight or flight partly switches on but consciousness does not fully come online. The result is the classic night terror: screaming, thrashing, a racing heart, and no memory of it.

Signs that blood sugar is involved include night terrors 2 to 4 hours after falling asleep, waking drenched in sweat, irritability or grogginess the next morning, sugar or refined carbs (especially in the evening), sweet cravings, and energy crashes during the day.

3. Missing Nutrients

Several nutrient deficiencies have been linked to night terrors and other sleep disturbances. These nutrients are essential for making neurotransmitters, regulating the nervous system, and moving smoothly between sleep stages.

The best sources of these nutrients are our animal foods: liver and organ meats (iron, B6, B12, zinc, and vitamin A), shellfish and red meat (zinc, iron, and B12), egg yolks (vitamin D, choline, and B vitamins), fatty fish and cod liver oil (vitamin D and omega-3s), meat stock (magnesium, glycine, and minerals), and raw or cultured dairy if tolerated (calcium, magnesium, and fat-soluble vitamins).

(See Week Eighty Seven for the B Ladder and Week Eighty Nine for GABA.)

4. Liver Burden and Detox

The liver does its heaviest detox work during sleep, especially between about 1:00 and 3:00 am. When the liver is overloaded by environmental toxins, processed food, medications, endotoxins from gut bacteria, or the microbial byproducts above, it can show up during sleep as night terrors, nightmares, night sweats, and waking in the early hours.

Supporting the liver means giving it enough B vitamins, choline, glycine, and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, and K2) through nutrient dense foods, while lowering the toxic load from processed foods, artificial additives, and household chemicals.

5. Histamine and Food Sensitivities

Some of us do not break down histamine well. The enzyme that clears histamine from food, DAO, is made in the gut lining, so when the gut is damaged, histamine builds up. Eating high histamine foods close to bedtime, like aged cheeses, fermented foods, leftovers, cured meats, or certain fruits, can provoke neurological symptoms during sleep, including night terrors.

Sensitivities to additives, especially MSG (additive 621), artificial colours, and preservatives, are known triggers for night terrors in sensitive children. Salicylate and oxalate sensitivity can play a part for some people too.

6. Structure and Nighttime Breathing

How we hold our bodies and how we breathe at night affect how open the airway stays, how well oxygen is delivered, and how settled the nervous system is during sleep.

Mouth Breathing at Night

Mouth breathing during sleep is a big and often overlooked contributor to night terrors. When you breathe through your mouth at night, the airway is more likely to become blocked (especially in children with enlarged tonsils or adenoids), carbon dioxide is blown off too quickly, the nervous system shifts toward fight or flight, and the brain gets oxygen less efficiently. This creates exactly the conditions for the partial waking behind night terrors.

Signs of mouth breathing at night include waking with a dry mouth or dry, cracked lips, snoring or noisy breathing, drooling on the pillow, waking unrefreshed after enough hours of sleep, morning bad breath, and dark circles under the eyes.

Work on nasal breathing during sleep. For adults, mouth taping with a gentle micropore or mouth tape can help retrain the body to breathe through the nose. For children, check with a practitioner before taping, and look into whether enlarged tonsils or adenoids are part of the picture. Practising nasal breathing during the day is the essential first step to nasal breathing at night.

Tongue Posture

Proper tongue posture is foundational to nasal breathing, facial development, an open airway, and a regulated nervous system. The tongue should rest fully on the roof of the mouth, with the tip just behind the upper front teeth without touching them, and the whole tongue gently suctioned against the palate. This naturally keeps the airway open, encourages nasal breathing, and turns on the rest and digest side of the nervous system through the vagus nerve.

Practise it through the day: lips together, teeth lightly touching or slightly apart, and tongue resting fully on the roof of the mouth. Swallow with the tongue pressing up against the palate, not forward against the teeth. Over time this becomes your natural resting position and carries into sleep, helping keep the airway open all night. (Oscar Patel’s work in Week Fifty One is a wonderful help here.)

Feet and Head Posture

Turned-out feet (“duck feet”) and forward head posture are connected, and both affect the nervous system and breathing. Forward head posture squeezes the airway and neck, makes the diaphragm less efficient, and can add to mouth breathing and poor oxygen during sleep. Turned-out feet often come from weak glutes, tight hip flexors, and a weak core, which all affect how we carry ourselves and breathe.

If this is you, try these corrections every day.

Point your toes in: when standing, walking, and especially exercising, point your toes straight ahead or very slightly inward. This wakes up the glutes and the outer hip muscles and helps correct the chain of compensation from your feet up through your pelvis and spine.

Correct your head position: gently draw your chin back, as if making a double chin, and lengthen the back of your neck, imagining a string pulling the crown of your head toward the ceiling. Your ears should line up over your shoulders and your shoulders over your hips. Practise at your desk, while driving, and while walking.

Put it together with your tongue: when you correct your head position and rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth at the same time, you naturally open the airway, engage the deep neck muscles, and calm the nervous system. These are not separate corrections; they work together as one pattern.

Before bed, spend 5 minutes lying on your back with knees bent, feet flat, and toes pointed slightly in. Rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth, close your lips, and breathe slowly through your nose, in for 4 counts and out for 6 to 8. This lines your body up for sleep and calms your nervous system before you drift off.

7. Your Action Steps

Food

Make sure dinner has plenty of animal fat and protein to keep blood sugar steady overnight, and skip sugar, refined carbs, and fruit juice in the evening. Eat nutrient dense foods every day: liver or organ meats (even small amounts, 2 to 3 times a week), meat stock, egg yolks, red meat, fatty fish, and fermented foods if tolerated. Remove processed foods, artificial additives, MSG, and food dyes. If you suspect histamine intolerance, eat freshly cooked food (no leftovers, aged cheeses, or cured meats) and try taking out high histamine foods for 2 to 4 weeks to see what changes.

Gut Healing

Follow your gut healing protocol, with meat stock as the foundation for healing and sealing the gut lining. Address any overgrowths you have found (Streptococcus, Clostridia, Candida, or parasites) as directed. Support your beneficial flora with microbes and naturally fermented foods, brought in slowly as tolerated.

Structure and Breathing

Keep correct tongue posture through the day, with lips closed and tongue fully on the roof of the mouth. Point your toes straight ahead when standing and walking, and engage your glutes. Correct forward head posture, with your chin gently back and ears over shoulders. Work on nighttime mouth breathing by practising nasal breathing during the day, considering mouth taping at night for adults, and looking into tonsils or adenoids if needed. Do the 5 minute bedtime breathing and alignment practice every night.

Sleep Environment and Light

Get morning sunlight in your eyes within the first hour of waking, for 10 to 20 minutes, to set your rhythm and support melatonin that night. Remove all artificial light from the bedroom by covering LEDs, using blackout curtains, and taking out screens. Avoid screens for at least an hour before bed, and if you must use one, wear blue-light-blocking glasses. Keep the bedroom cool, because heat is a known trigger for night terrors.

Supplements (as Directed by Your Practitioner)

Magnesium glycinate, or magnesium chloride on the skin, before bed. Cod liver oil for vitamins A and D, from a high quality, unrefined source. Iron-rich foods, or an iron supplement only if labs confirm a deficiency; please do not supplement iron without testing. B6 as P-5-P if your testing or symptoms point to it. Zinc, if testing points to it.

A Closing Word

Night terrors are the body’s alarm system. They are not random, and they are not something you or your little one simply have to endure. When we care for the gut, nourish with ancestral foods, steady blood sugar, correct structure and breathing, and support detox, we give the body what it needs to move through sleep in peace.