Topic: Sleeping issues. I can fall asleep but cannot stay asleep
tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
HI everyone!
I fall asleep between 930-10 every night an wake up at 12:30-2 sometimes fall back to sleep till 4-5 than snooze a lil while than up for work.
Could this still be related to gut?
What could help me stay asleep?
Thinking 5htp? No longer on trazodone bc I didnt find it that helpful.
thanks
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
Same here. I can fall asleep, but I can't stay asleep. I have Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia duncani ... Most of my symptoms seem to be Babesia related, though.
I've been sleeping longer stretches of time since starting to treat my adrenals with tinctures. Somehow, those "adrenal fatigue pills" with a little bit of everything (B vitamins, ashwagandha, rhodiola, etc.) never did a thing for me.
I am now taking larger doses of ashwgandha, rhodiola and eleuthero in tincture form, which seems to be helping with the day time fatigue and the constant waking in the middle of the night.
While on antibiotics, I used to wake up every 20 minutes, literally.
I'm now on herbs only.
The other thing that has really helped me are protein shakes during the day.
I sleep better with higher protein intake .... (my serum protein levels were low, and we need protein for our immune system to work).
Amino acids are the building blocks of life.
In any case, sleeping issues could be related to gut, cortisol, blood sugar, inflammation, liver/detox issues. The list is, unfortunately, long.
-------------------- I appreciate all your replies. If it takes me a while to respond, it is either because I'm too sick or because I am unable to log in. From European servers, Lymenet is very frequently inaccessible for days at a time ... Posts: 235 | From Europe | Registered: Jul 2012
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posted
I have had insomnia problems for about 30 yrs. I have tried many things..natural and meds. Now I am taking Lunesta and liberal it. Sleep like a normal person Talk to your doc about it.
Posts: 315 | From USA | Registered: May 2005
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tdtid
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10276
posted
Sadly, this has been a tough one for me too, even after knocking lyme in to remission.
I use to take Melatonin (my llnd) use to recommend Bezwecken brand and said they aren't all created equally.
It maybe helped a bit in the beginning, but I didn't stumble on to the magic bullet, so would be very interested in hearing if others have had good luck with something.
-------------------- "To Dream The Impossible Dream" Man of La Mancha Posts: 2638 | From New Hampshire | Registered: Oct 2006
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
Ugh so annoying!
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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TNT
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 42349
posted
Those are some good suggestions, Nula. I'm so glad some things are helping you.
Lunesta is a good sleep med, just be aware it can lower immunity...it is a listed side effect. It did this for me and I couldn't continue. So disappointing because it did help me sleep.
Ambien CR is just as effective for me, without the immune suppressing effect. Ambien CR is rather expensive compared to Lunesta, especially without insurance. Lunesta is now available in generic and is pretty cheap.
Right now I don't take any drugs, thankfully. I have been sleeping ok (not so great some nights) on 3 grams of l-glycine, Nature Made "Sleep," and an extra 5mg of timed-release melatonin.
Sometimes, if melatonin does not work for someone, increasing the dose until it does can be effective. Melatonin cannot hurt you. In fact, my first LLMD said he took up to 20mg before. It actually has anti-cancer properties.
That only takes me out half the time. I usually end up having to add some valerian or jujube, though both of these seem to effect my gut slightly (nothing major). But, they do the job.
5-HTP is really good to boost your serotonin. It is the biologically-available form of tryptophan, and from what I remember, is the safer approach to augment your serotonin.
L-theanine is great for calming, and helping one relax. You can take this throughout the day, too.
Posts: 1308 | From Eastern USA | Registered: Oct 2013
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
Thank you TNT.
I was doing great with sleep for about almost 2 years.
Than I tried and self treat myself using oil or oregano and caprylic acid and BOOM all hell broke loose.
I was functioning about 85% before that and was mainly on AMOX high dose only. Than something happened and I havent been the same since.
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
It may indeed be a gut issue. The oil of oregano and caprylic acid may have irritated your stomach/gut lining.
So do what you can to heal it up a bit.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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CherylSue
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13077
posted
I tried Lunesta 8 years ago, and it gave me stomach pain. Weird dreams, too. Only worked for 5 hours.
Melatonin .5mg Pure Encapsulations brand was helpful, but when I use it I have next day sleepiness in the am hours.
When I'm in remission, daytime power naps made up for the sleep deficits.
During active lyme relapses, discomfort can awaken me at night, and it is difficult to sleep. It is a pathogen thing.
Posts: 1954 | From Illinois | Registered: Aug 2007
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
I have been using L-Glutamine...
I think its gut dybosis....sibo thing and histamine related.
Its all so complicated! Also, It went away from 5/20 till 6/28 pretty good stretch keeping a journal now to try and see what triggers it
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
I can fall asleep, but I can't stay asleep either. Waking up isn't the most fun thing in the world for any of us anymore.
Purely joking of course. You need some liquid cherry tart as long as it doesn't conflict with anything you are taking.
It has a TON of natural melatonin...I think I spelled that right.
-------------------- Lyme flare June, July, August of 2013. Diagnosed September 2014 Lyme, Bartonella, Mycoplasma, Mono Posts: 595 | From Texas Crossroads | Registered: Oct 2014
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- tricia,
You say that you take "L-Glutamine" for your gut. That can help the gut but really damage nerve tissue if it's too much.
And its stimulating properties can cause insomnia & anxiety. A very tiny amount may be all that the gut needs and there are also other things that could be used instead (DGL, Marshmallow Root, Slippery Elm Bark).
You may want to read how / why glutamine can cause nerve damage, neurotoxicity, neuro-excitability here:
See post: Caution: Aspartate; Glutamine; and Phenylalanine (3 excitatory amino acids that can be wrong for us when added as supplements, beyond a normal dietary level)
Seaweed has its own natural MSG and can be very excitatory -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
I have been wrestling insomnia with restlessness and nightmares for years.
I have a lot of gut issues and I do believe that has much to do with poor sleep.
Absolutely do not eat any artificial sweeteners except natural stevia.
As soon as I cheat and eat artificial sugars I have a horrible time sleeping with increased restlessness and nightmares.Ive tried eating them time and time again with the same horrible results.
I use 5htp 100-600 mg, and also L-theanine,100 to 400 milligrams.
Start slow ,see what works for you but don't take 5htp if you are on an sari antidepressant.
I also had good results with liquid melatonin until I realized there was sugar in the ingredients and also as mentioned above I had grogginess in the morning with melatonin.
Posts: 227 | From fairhaven ma | Registered: May 2015
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posted
I've had chronic Lyme for 22 years, diagnosed 2 years ago. I've been taking 3mg melatonin nightly for around 18 years. About 10 years ago I started to wake up in the middle of the night and have a lot of trouble falling back asleep. Somehow it seemed to be related to hunger, if I ate something (high in carbs) before bed this would be less likely to happen.
A few months ago I bought a Spooky2 as I had tried someone's GB4000 and gotten a good herx from it. Rifing 2016hz for Borrelia immediately fixed my sleep issue of waking up in the middle of the night. My sleep will tend to worsen a bit the night I Rife or the night after. Then I am sleeping like a baby for the next couple of weeks. If I wait too long to Rife again (3+ weeks) the sleep issues start to creep back. But to me this is like a miracle, nothing I have tried has made a difference in sleep quality like Rife has. So I think for me the sleep issue was somehow caused by the active Borellia spirochetes. Beating them back with Rife weekly or every two weeks is giving my body a chance to get the restful sleep it needs to heal.
Now I have been treating for ~3 years. First 2 years with essential oils, then Cannabis Oil, then Buhner/Cowden herbs. Finally adding Rife into the mix of these modalities. So I have already gotten rid of come coinfections and reduced my overall bacterial load. But I am still amazed at the immediate resolution of what was one of my worst remaining symptoms.
Posts: 131 | From CO | Registered: Jul 2015
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