A: I would look into perhaps adding chromium into your supplement regimen. One of the reasons for night wakings when we don't get enough calories is not having enough chromium on board. Another thing is making sure you're getting enough calories on AIP. When everything is so nutrient dense, we get full faster, and we may not be getting enough calories into our system. This was actually my issue with AIP. I was already lean when I started it, and then I kept wasting away with it. I ended up having to use a calorie tracker app to make sure I was getting enough calories, like My Fitness Pal. They're generally for weight loss, but you can also use it to gain weight, when you set a goal. When I counted up what I was eating throughout the day, I just wasn't getting enough of those calories.
Another thing that you can do is, at the end of your day once you count up your calories, you can add in a Root Cause Build Smoothie. It's basically a very high calorie smoothie of real food. You would add a full can of coconut milk, an avocado or two, and perhaps cooked sweet potatoes, as well as some of the Rootcology AI Paleo beef protein that is autoimmune friendly. This way, you get a whole bunch of nutrients into that smoothie. I would eat that at the end of your day, like a dessert. You can also add carob and bananas and make it like a nice pudding consistency, if you're into that.
The other thing is, and this is a little bit deeper, with severe adrenal issues we might not be making enough cortisol, and that can lead to an inability to absorb nutrients. Sometimes, people have benefited from small doses of hydrocortisone, which they could work with their functional integrative doctor on getting a prescription for.
Another thing to look into if you have any gut infections is my Hashimoto’s Self-Management Program or the gut protocol in the Hashimoto's Protocol book. Or, even working with your practitioner to get rid of those gut infections that may be preventing you from absorbing nutrients properly.
I know this is a lot of information. The best place to start would be making sure that you're getting enough calories each day. Because honestly, AIP can be deficient in a lot of things. Thiamine deficiency can be related to poor appetite, weight loss and blood sugar issues, and is something that is deficient on the AIP diet. I do have a guide on thiamine in the Symptom Solutions Guide found in Week Five, that may be helpful.