Nelson, I have some thoughts on the sleep issue.

A couple years ago, I started having trouble sleeping through the night. I'd fall asleep ok, but then wake up a dozen times. It's been a problem ever since.

I talked with my doctor, and he prescribed a mild sleeping pill. He gave me a prescription for all of 7 pills. I hate taking pills like this, so it took me 6 months to get through the 7 pills.

So, last year I talked with him about it again. He put out the suggestion that maybe I'm getting too much sleep. Huh? How could I be getting too much sleep when I'm waking up a dozen times each night, and I'm so sleepy even driving to work in the morning that I'm afraid I'm going to fall asleep on the road.

He explained that when you stay in bed so long (I had been shooting for 8 hours a night, going to bed at 8:00 to wake up at 4:00), you end up never falling into that deep sleep you need.

He told me to stay up until 10:00 for the next week, and still get up at 4:00. I thought he was crazy, but I did it. Guess what. I was sleeping through the night and I was no longer in danger of falling asleep on the road or during business meetings (boy, isn't THAT embarassing!).

Moral of story: Maybe you, too, are trying to get too much sleep. Try working on your "sleep hygiene" (that's what he called it). See if it makes a difference.

When I look back on it, I started having severe fatigue when I started low-carb eating. What I see now is that I was really needing a whole lot less sleep, which is what was making me tired. Makes sense in a weird way.