Can lyme and babesia cause high cortisol level and constant adrenaline????Help!!!!!!!

High cortisol can be from chronic stress (which can be caused by chronic illness). Anxiety can also stimulate adrenalin. I don't know if Lyme or Babesia can do this, but suspect it can given that I know Lyme does mess with hormones and the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal axis...

What meds are you on?

I know just what you are going through! So hard to deal with, I know. Some of my first Lyme symptoms, way back in my early 20s, were severe panic attacks to the point of being agoraphobic. I was in cog/behav therapy on and off for years. The really frustrating thing is that I was not really having true panic attacks in the psychiatric sense. My actual body was reacting to the Lyme infection, but the docs at the time never figured that out. I felt like I had battery acid in my blood, 24/7, and my system could not slow down. Every now and then, for no reason, my heart rate would shoot to 180 bpms. This went on for years. It was the Lyme working its way through my heart and into my central nervous system (gee . . . wonderful). I was told that it was just my "hypersensitivity system" and that I would have to learn how to control it all through CBT. I was also put on a super low dose of imipramine. It took me forever to get used to just 10 mgs when 150 mgs are typically used for depression. It made me speed at first. I was also given a very low dose of Ativan. It definitely helped.

That was almost 30 years ago. NOW I know more about what was happening to my body back then.  I am having a milder case of all of this as I am now perimenopausal -- Lyme sure likes to mess with already challenged hormonal situation. I am now on a fairly low dose of Xanax and it has been a life-saver. I've never had to increase the dosage but I sure do appreciate knowing that I have it when my body is speeding so rapidly that there is just no way that I can naturally turn down/off the switch. Camomile tea? Yeah, right. That would be like using a water pistol when you need a granade!

Also, I have not been able to tolerate anything speedy, like coffee/caffeine, since my early 20s when all of this scary panic/heart/electricity stuff began. I am totally used to not having anything like that now, so it does not bother me, I don't miss it.

Good luck in finding a way to calm it all down. I hope that the above helps some. 

HI Mom to 3,
I'm really sorry to hear how bad you are feeling right now. What about doing some small things to help?? I drink a cup of cammomile tea (I use Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea), lavender oil by my pillow, and about an hour of quiet time (no computer & no t.v.) before trying to sleep.

I use the detox bath that is spoken of on here to help with some of the "body buzzing". I also use heat to help sooth the part of me that is buzzing. If it is my legs that are the worst I use heat on my lower back, if it's my arms, the heat goes up to the base of my neck.

If your entire body is driving you up a wall with the buzzing, try starting with heat on your low back to sooth your legs first.

It is incredibly important to get as much rest as you can, even if you can't actually sleep, just lay still so that your body can get a little rest.

Hope you find some relief soon,
~Trav

Hi

In a previous post it was mentioned that lyme patients often have low cortisol in the day and high at night...this can be an early sign of adrenal insufficiency.  I can only speak from my experience...I have lyme, co-infections, hypothyroid and Addison Disease.  Sleeping problems, hypoglycemia, and adrenaline rushes were some of my early symptoms of Adrenal failure. 

My cortisol levels would drop too low and then my blood sugar would fall too low...when the body does not have the ability to produce the cortisol it needs to keep the blood sugar from continuing to plummet it reverts to its' emergency backup...adrenaline.  So I would wake up at night sweating, heart racing, wide awake because I had had an adrenaline rush to bring the blood sugar back up.  At this point if I tested the blood sugar it would be high because of the adrenaline, but would not stay stable.  It would begin to drop because the cortisol is what stabilizes the blood sugar.

Many low cortisol symptoms can be the same as lyme...muscle aches, joint pain, brain fog, nausea, feeling irritable, depressed, etc. 

The only way to know for sure if adrenal insufficiency is a problem is to run tests on cortisol and aldosterone levels, ACTH, DHEA-S, and the ACTH stim test is the gold standard for diagnosing adrenal problems.

Unfortunately, my experience has been that many, many drs. do not acknowledge adrenal insuficiency, especially if you don't have the hyperpigmentation (darkening of the skin).  If the adrenal problems are caused by lyme and infections the hyperpigmentation often does not develop because of the more rapid onset. 

All of this is to say that low cortisol could be contributing to your problems, but you will need to find a doctor who will listen to you and run the right tests to know for sure. 

Hope this is helpful.

Feel better soon :-) 

I recently found out I have babesia. I suffer from anxiety and I had a serious issue with my blood sugar the other weekend. I was hiking in the backcountry and alsmost had to get evacuated out. Barely made it out on my own two feet. I believe my blood sugar dropped super low. I am not that knowledgable on this yet but I think my adrenal glands are trashed. They regulate anxiety (fight or flight reaction) as well as blood sugar (cortisol). I don't know if adrenal glands can be fixed or if once they are trashed its something you just live with. Any info would be welcome on this subject.