What to do about Lyme insomnia?

Hi all -

I wanted to get some advice on the best solutions folks have found to stay asleep. Once I started on antibiotics, my insomnia has gotten much worse. I know I can't heal if I can't sleep. I've tried GABA, Theanine and B6 together. But not getting much relief. The lunesta didn't work last night either :( I also was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of supplements that might make the Lunesta less effective? I'm taking Saccro B and probiotics at bedtime, and wondered if they might be interferring. When I asked my LLMD about sleep, she said I'd have to go to a psychiatrist to get "psych meds". I didn't like this answer. As usual, any help is greatly appreciated. Feeling pretty down today about it all.

Julie

I'm curious to read the answers!!!

When there's several nights I can't sleep I take a muscle relaxant, that always knocks me out... don't know if it's the best thing to do, but it allows me to sleep and it relaxes the tension in my neck at the same time...

I will take a xanax sometimes 2 to help me sleep.  Don't do it very often but

It does help.  Don't know if its hormones or lyme

Clonazepam helped me to the most and I took it every night for about a month. The body can become dependant on it though.

Neurontin helps me sleep now if I'm flaring and have insomnia.

It seems like your LLMD should be able to prescribe a sedative or something like Neurontin. Or your PCP. You would only need to see a psychiatrist for anti-psychotics (like serequeol) and other STRONG meds.

Hi Julie, have you tried the detox baths? I do mine at night, because they make me so tired. I sleep pretty well afterwards, too. I also take Benadryl here and there too.

I've used Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) before, but it didn't do a thing for my insomnia. It did help with the muscle spasms that were severe and never ending though!

I take a melatonin every night and usually this works for me. However, I have a b12 defiency. I have b12 shot every 5 days.. It has to be the methy kind. Apparently if you are low in b12, you are tired all day but up at night because lack of B12 interferes wit or body's melatonin. When my b12 levels are good, I sleep well, even without taking melatonin at night.

Wow, Traveler! When I tried flexiril I slept 14 hours, woke up droong on myself and slurring, and went back to bed for another 6 hours. I definitely didn't have insomnia that night!
I've also tried Elavil, it made me feel cuckoo! But I'm sensitive to anti-dep. I'm glad you've found that it works for you twinl1999!

Funny how different meds affect us so much differently. Its also funny this came up, I was about to post a question on muscle relaxers.

I've also tried (generic) Zanaflex. It helps but it's very short acting. So I'll sleep for about an hour then be wide awake again! It didn't help with my muscle pain either. My rheum just Rx'ed Skelaxin, but my ins company hasn't approved it yet. Has anyone tried it? I need something that helps for muscle pain that doesn't knock me out (and then a diff kind TO knock me out at night, lol).

I've heard good things about Baclofen as muscle relaxer, but idk if it would help with insomnia, I've never tried it.

samjones- very interesting about the B-12 link to insomnia.


bluebyyou- detox baths making me sleepy too. The only bad part is they make me achy and sleepy the next day! I switched to foot baths until I can start abx.

Julie- do you see any other docs besides your LLMD? My Rheumy has been very helpful with meds for pain, muscle spasms, etc. He's treating me for Fibro, though. But it's getting me by until my first appt with an LLMD. Maybe you could see a different dr for help with some symptoms? Just a thought :) Good luck, I hope you get some rest!

Thanks for the info on skelaxin, Traveler! I just saw this because I'm really bad to post something and forget where I posted it! I always forget to check the "email me" box :-/

I'm anxious to try it, but my ins company still hasn't approved it because my doc still hasn't filled out the form explaining why I need it. Hopefully I'll hear something about it tmrw, it's been over 2 weeks since he Rx'ed it, hurry up already!

Hi,

I suffered from late stage lyme disease and had bad insomnia for a couple of years. I far it the hardest thing to deal with out of all the lyme disease problems I had.

I tried many different things including being treated at a 'sleep clinic'. These were the things that worked the best for me (I've also got a page about insomnia in my blog):

- Acupuncture

- Melatonin and Valerian (my doctor prescribed much more hard-core sleeping aids but they didn't really improve my sleep and left me zombie like the next day).

- Diet (especially minimizing sugars, processed food and alcohol)

- Exercise (a combination of cardio exercise (generally cycling) and weight training)

- Minimizing stress and taking it easy on yourself (work stress, study stress, etc) - often I failed at this one.

I found the road to sleeping better had many ups and downs. I found it so disheartening to sleep well for a week and then have a week of terrible sleep. It was very hard to stay positive in those times.

But I tried to focus on the long term progress and gradually over time my sleep improved and finally I now have confidence in my sleep again (which I never thought I would achieve).

I wish you strength and all the best for reclaiming your sleep.