# Insomnia on peptides and GLP-1s: what to track, when it tends to show up, and how to log it

> Insomnia is listed on the Saxenda label (2.4% vs 1.7%) and reported by many people on growth-hormone peptides. What to log against shot time and how to track it in Peppy.

Source: https://peppytracker.com/side-effects/insomnia/
Last updated: 2026-08-30

Insomnia is a minor entry on the GLP-1 labels: Saxenda lists it in 2.4% of patients versus 1.7% on placebo, and the Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro and Zepbound tables do not list it at all. For growth-hormone peptides like ipamorelin and CJC-1295 there is no label, and many people report sleep changing in either direction. Log a 1-5 score each morning next to the time of your last shot.

## Peptide insomnia: what it is and who reports it

Peptide insomnia is the catch-all people use for sleep that got worse after starting a compound: trouble falling asleep, waking at 3 a.m., or waking unrefreshed. It is one of the least documented items on this list, which is exactly why it is worth logging carefully. Nobody else's data will tell you whether it is real for you.

Here is what the labels actually say:

| Label | Insomnia (drug) | Placebo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Saxenda (daily liraglutide) | 2.4% | 1.7% |
| Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Zepbound | Not listed in the adverse reactions tables |
| Egrifta SV (tesamorelin) | Not listed in the adverse reactions table |

The Saxenda number is small and close to placebo. What the GLP-1 labels do list at higher rates are things that ruin a night indirectly: nausea, [heartburn](https://peppytracker.com/side-effects/heartburn/) and reflux, and [fatigue](https://peppytracker.com/side-effects/fatigue/) (Wegovy 11% versus 5%). Many people report that their "insomnia" on a GLP-1 was really nausea or reflux lying down, which is a different log entry.

Growth-hormone peptides are the other half of the story. [Ipamorelin](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/ipamorelin/), [CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/cjc-1295-ipamorelin/), [CJC-1295 (no DAC)](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/cjc-1295-no-dac/) and [Sermorelin](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/sermorelin/) are research compounds with no prescribing label, so there is no rate to quote. Many people dose them before bed on the theory that they line up with the body's overnight growth-hormone pulse, and many report deeper sleep. Others report the opposite: vivid dreams, waking early, or feeling wired. None of that is on a label. Peppy has a Sleep feeling on by default precisely because both directions are common enough to be worth tracking.

## When it tends to show up

**The first weeks on a GLP-1, and after each step-up.** The labels say gastrointestinal reactions cluster during dose escalation and decrease over time. Sleep disruption that rides on nausea or reflux follows the same curve. If your insomnia scores fade as your nausea scores fade, that tells you what it was.

**Shot night itself.** Many weekly GLP-1 users report the worst night is the one after the shot, which fits the first 24 hours being the roughest for nausea. Many evening peptide users report the change, good or bad, on the nights they inject and not on off nights. Both patterns only show up if you log the _time_ of the shot, not just the day.

**On and off cycle.** If you run a peptide on a cycle (5 days on, 2 off, or weeks on and off), the off days are a built-in control. Sleep that recovers on off days and worsens on on-days is a pattern; sleep that is bad regardless probably is not the compound. The [peptide cycle tracker guide](https://peppytracker.com/guides/peptide-cycle-tracker/) covers how Peppy handles the on/off blocks.

## What is worth logging

- **A 1-5 insomnia score, every morning.** Score the night just gone, not how you feel about sleep in general. Morning is the only consistent time to do it.
- **The Sleep feeling, too.** Insomnia is the problem; Sleep is the quality. A 2 insomnia with a 4 sleep means you woke once but slept well otherwise. Keeping both gives a richer picture than either alone.
- **Shot time, to the hour.** This is the item most people skip and the one that matters most for evening peptides. "8 p.m." and "11 p.m." are different experiments.
- **What else was going on.** Nausea, reflux, a late meal, caffeine, alcohol, a new dose. One line in the note. You are giving your prescriber context, not building a case.
- **Which protocol, if you run several.** Insomnia on a stack could belong to any of them. Peppy colour-codes each protocol on the calendar, and cycles give you natural off-days per compound.

## When to contact your prescriber

The labels do not set a threshold for sleep loss. These are the situations a real person would raise.

- **Sleep loss that lasts more than a couple of weeks** or that is getting worse rather than settling as a new dose beds in.
- **Insomnia with a change in mood.** Saxenda's label lists anxiety at 2% versus 1.6%. Peppy tracks [mood swings](https://peppytracker.com/side-effects/mood-swings/) separately; if both lines move together, say so.
- **Waking with nausea, reflux or abdominal pain.** That is a gut symptom with a sleep consequence, and the labels are explicit that persistent or severe abdominal pain needs a call.
- **Any question about moving your shot to a different time of day.** That is a dosing decision. Peppy will show you the pattern; your prescriber decides what to do with it.

## How to do this in Peppy

1. **Turn insomnia on.** Open Settings ▸ Tracking and toggle Insomnia. Sleep is already on under feelings. You can track up to 28 side effects and 12 feelings.
2. **Log each shot with the real time.** Tap the dose on the Today tab. In the Log shot sheet, adjust the time if you are logging late, pick the site on the body map, add a note, save. The time is the half of the log that makes a shot-night pattern visible.
3. **Score the night each morning.** Tap the check-in row on the Today tab, set insomnia 1-5 and Sleep 1-5, and drop context in the note. A check-in reminder (Pro) at your usual wake time in Settings ▸ Reminders keeps it consistent.
4. **Read Progress (Pro).** The Progress tab shows the side-effect heat-map by week with the feelings chart underneath, and step-up markers from your titration ladder on the same timeline. Free users see the charts blurred.
5. **Use the Calendar for shot-night versus off-night.** The week strip shows which days you injected and, on a cycle, which were off days. Compare your morning scores across the two.
6. **Export before an appointment (Pro).** Settings ▸ Export produces a PDF or CSV of doses with times and check-ins. Peppy never sends it anywhere itself.

Related: [fatigue](https://peppytracker.com/side-effects/fatigue/), [headache](https://peppytracker.com/side-effects/headache/), the [CJC-1295/Ipamorelin tracker](https://peppytracker.com/trackers/cjc-1295-ipamorelin-tracker/) and the [side-effects tracking guide](https://peppytracker.com/guides/track-glp-1-side-effects-food-noise/).

## Frequently asked

### Does Ozempic or Wegovy cause insomnia?

Not according to the labels. Neither the Wegovy nor the Ozempic adverse reactions tables list insomnia. Saxenda's does, at 2.4% versus 1.7% on placebo, which is a small difference. Many people report broken sleep in the first weeks, often alongside nausea or reflux at night, so logging those together is more useful than logging insomnia alone.

### Does ipamorelin or CJC-1295 affect sleep?

There is no prescribing label for either, so there is no figure. Many people report dosing growth-hormone peptides before bed and describe sleep as deeper; others report lying awake. Both are anecdotes. A morning 1-5 score against the time you injected is the only way to know which applies to you.

### Why can't I sleep after my shot?

The labels do not answer this. Many people report a worse night on shot day itself, which for weekly GLP-1s lines up with the first day of nausea and for evening peptide shots with the timing of the injection. Logging shot time and a sleep score for a few weeks separates a real pattern from a bad week.

### Should I take my peptide shot in the morning or at night to sleep better?

That is a question for your prescriber, not a tracking app. What you can do is log the time of every shot and score sleep each morning; Peppy's Calendar and Progress tab show whether nights after evening shots differ from nights after morning ones.

### When should I tell my doctor about insomnia on a GLP-1?

If sleep loss is persistent, if it comes with low mood or anxiety (Saxenda's label lists anxiety at 2% versus 1.6%), or if you are waking with reflux or nausea. Bring the log so the conversation starts from dates rather than impressions.

---

Peppy is a tracking tool, not medical advice. Dose calculations are mathematical conversions only. Always follow your prescriber's instructions and verify every draw-up yourself.

Peppy is a free iPhone app (Pro subscription optional). App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/peptide-tracker-peppy/id6775005514