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Adrenaline Surge/Rush/Jolt in Sleep

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Posted 5/10/2015 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hi All,

Just wondering if any of you former or current Lyme/Co sufferers have experienced this kind of sleep disruption: right at the point of drifting off (could be nap during day or at night), you get what feels like an internal jolt or surge of adrenaline/pain (maybe from the stomach or heart area), that wakes you up instantly. Accompanying this is heart racing, the body gets hot very fast (feeling warm all over), sometimes the need to go to the bathroom. The surges/jolts happen repeatedly on the worst nights leaving one with crushing fatigue and malaise the next day.

Has anyone had this and successfully treated it?

Thanks so much,
TR
Posted 5/10/2015 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
Yes - I get a surge like that but a little different. It feels like all of a sudden my body starts shaking and my hand starts throbbing because of increased blood flow and sometime my heart beats real fast and then returns to normal. It is always when drifting off into a nap or sleep too. Went away after treating babesia but after going off babesia (malarone) meds came back. I have Babesia duncani.
Posted 5/10/2015 6:43 PM (GMT 0)
If protein helps - maybe it has to do a bit with blood sugar regulation as well as babesia???

Post Edited (SLML) : 5/10/2015 1:02:57 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/10/2015 7:05 PM (GMT 0)
I get a jolt just when i seem to be drifting off to sleep... it only lasts a moment... I am glad to know i am not alone with this symptom.

Thank you for bringing it up!
Posted 5/10/2015 7:21 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks all for sharing.

It would be so helpful to all of us if someone who's successfully treated could chime in. Thanks SLML for mentioning the Malarone treatment.
Posted 5/10/2015 8:28 PM (GMT 0)
Meant to ask:

Beyond those who have direct experience in this, if anyone is reading this thread and seeing their LLMD soon, would it at all be possible for you to ask your LLMD if they have seen and treated this particularly torturous symptom in some of their patients? And if they have, could you relay that back here?

That would be SO helpful and kind if you could...

Gratefully,
TR
Posted 5/11/2015 7:45 PM (GMT 0)
bump
Posted 5/11/2015 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
I would be cautious with how much protein I ate having babesia. The ornithine cycle can become compromised and eventually, epigenetics comes into play. You can end up with CBS up regulations and SOD2 mutations and protein intake will be an issue.
Posted 5/11/2015 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
Haven't had the chance to get back to you on this. I hate this symptom and I don't know how to treat it. My guess is irritation to the nervous system but I don't really know
Posted 5/11/2015 11:05 PM (GMT 0)
I had the issue of being jolted awake just as I was falling asleep...this was early on in my symptoms. I started taking Valerian just before bed, and it did help.

It went away on it's own...before treatment. But, it was replaced with waking every couple of hours in a panic...gasping for air...
That symptom has also gone away...soon after starting treatment.
Posted 5/11/2015 11:14 PM (GMT 0)
Girlie,

Thank you so much for posting, this is the sort of feedback I was hoping for.

Wow, I've never read of this symptom going away before treatment. That's amazing.

So if I'm reading your path right, it sounds like Doxy was enough to help you get back to normal sleep?
Posted 5/11/2015 11:34 PM (GMT 0)
Georgia Hunter, could you please explain in layman's terms what you are referring to in your above post about consuming protein.  Thanks alot.
Posted 5/11/2015 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Mister Mike.

Louise74: I guess your LLMD doesn't know what it is?

There are SO many people complaining of this symptom online, surely there's a smart LLMD out there who knows what causes this particular kind of sleep/CNS disruption...
Posted 5/12/2015 2:45 AM (GMT 0)
Toneranger - I think the waking up in a panic, gasping for air, sometimes gagging...etc. started to get better around the end of May of 2013 - I was on some adrenal supplements - ashwaganda, rhodiola, in March and April, then went on Buhner's lyme treatment herbs in May.

But, the jolting awake while trying to fall asleep stopped quite a while before that...I was using valerian for a month or so...and then stopped taking it and the symptom never returned.

I may have had some unaddressed adrenal fatigue that in part started to resolve simply by taking care of my stress. I stopped working, did some meditation, didn't do much physical stuff either.

When I was at my worst - mentally - I was overwhelmed easily. I couldn't watch much t.v. - most things made me cry or I would get scared, or anxious....it was horrible...
I couldn't handle anything even slightly stressful.

But, the good news it -mentally, I am soooo much better now. It does get better.
Posted 5/12/2015 8:17 AM (GMT 0)

summer16 said...
Georgia Hunter, could you please explain in layman's terms what you are referring to in your above post about consuming protein. Thanks alot.

Protozoans like babesia can negatively affect they way our body functions. Too much protein intake can be bad when you have protozoans and our body will respond any way it can to protect itself. One thing that can happen is that your genes can be turned on or off. I don't think I can tell you about the genes in layman's terms, but they can have negative effects on our bodies when protozoans are in high concentrations. It is a complicated process but it involves having too many proteins being made. If you eat a lot of protein and your cells are releasing too many proteins, it is a big problem. You have to balance how much protein you eat to make sure you get enough and not too much. We are all different but for me, 45 to 50 grams of protein per day seems to be the best for now.
Posted 5/12/2015 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
Toneranger, I have this symptom but it has slowly diminished with treatment. I can deal with pain, but when my sleep gets interrupted....it's time to take the gloves off. This has been by far my worst symptom.
All I can say is that it went from very violent whole limb or body jerks at the onset of sleep, sometimes lasting until the wee hours of the morning before falling asleep, to small movements (thumb, finger, toe or foot), lasting no more than a couple of episodes before falling asleep. The weird thing is this symptom usually only happens when trying to take a nap during the day. I can usually fall asleep just fine at night. Becuase I have been on almost every abx under the sun, I unfortunately can't really attribute the healing to one drug. I will say one thing that has helped is do not take a nap during the day, but be as tired as possible before going to bed, and also, sleep with your hands under your pillow or in a location that it is not really free to move if that makes sense.
Posted 5/12/2015 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Fronton, appreciate you taking the time to write. I hear you on the sleep vs pain thing, I see it the same way. Mine also started early on I the first week with a big jolt, but since then it has become more of an internal sensation, which spreads from my upper stomach/plexus area to my limbs. My best guess is that whatever is traveling inside my veins is adrenaline, but I can't know for sure.

I also get this when trying to take a nap, haven't been able to take a nap in 15 months... It has got to be some type of dysregulation of the central nervous system. The most logical explanation I've seen so far is that ammonia released by bacteria and/or parasites causes neuro toxicity/glutamate imbalance. I was hoping that someone had seen an LLMD who recognizes this symptom and knows what works for it, but no one has chimed in yet.

How much of an impact have the abx made? Do you still the get night surges once a week/month, that sort of thing? Thanks again for sharing your story, I'm so sorry that you've had to endure this.
Posted 5/12/2015 5:53 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you, Georgia Hunter.  xo

 

Posted 5/12/2015 11:56 PM (GMT 0)
I think the abx have made a huge impact. Looking back at just before I started treatment, I really could not fall asleep until 3 or 4am, only to be woken up by my alarm clock at 5:30am.

Now, my thumb, a finger, a toe, my foot or something will move/jerk maybe 2-3 times per week. I really can't complain right now. I have also noticed that I am more prone to move physically in my dreams. For example, the other day I dreamt I kicked a soccer ball, and right when I kicked it my foot moved and woke me up...

it's a very bizarre symptom without a doubt. In the medical world I think they call them myoclonic jerks, but without the falling feeling. Some people claim it is due to low magnesium levels, but this is not the case.
Posted 5/13/2015 12:17 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Fronton, I should have asked you: when the jolts happened, did you have an internal feeling of a surge in adrenaline, together with heart racing and feeling hot? Or was it just a big body jolt?
Posted 5/13/2015 12:28 AM (GMT 0)
No problem. No rush of adrenaline or heart racing. It was mostly just the body movements. . .
Posted 5/13/2015 12:44 AM (GMT 0)
Right. It seems like this awful thing comes in two flavors... with internal pain or without, with each being very hard on sleep. At any rate, I'm glad you've found some relief.

I'm stuck not knowing whether to try and treat with abx or antiprotozoals. The herbal route so far, BW formulas has not worked at all for me.
Posted 5/20/2015 4:45 PM (GMT 0)
bump
Posted 5/20/2015 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
Are you referring to a hypnic jerk? It's jolting awake as you drift to sleep. Sometimes it's like a falling feeling. I've also got headrushes as I was falling asleep. I usually get them from stress. it's not so much a symptom as everybody gets them every now and again.

Unless this isn't what your referring to. Then I have no idea
Posted 5/20/2015 10:34 PM (GMT 0)
I am familiar with the full body jerks that wake one up during sleep.

I don't currently get that symptom right now and have rarely had it.

I get a heart palpating, throbbing vibration that feels like it is an adrenaline surge (I don't feel any anxiety though). It lasts long enough to pulled out of the nap I was trying to take by making my hands throb and chest kind of vibrate). It happens specifically while I am drifting off to sleep (about 90% of the time).

However, after that happens I usually am able to fall asleep without it happening again. Occasionally it can happen multiple times throughout the nap but that is rare.

I would also guess it may have something to do with POTS?? I don't know...

Post Edited (SLML) : 5/20/2015 9:58:53 PM (GMT-6)

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