Adrenaline Surge/Rush/Jolt in Sleep

toneranger

Several posters have suggested the same "abrupt jerking awake w/ adrenaline rush" associated w/ adrenal fatigue. Proper functioning of your HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal) is dependent upon a healthy gut and neurotransmitter functioning. With the lyme & co. infections, all bets are off.

Your adrenals are taxed because your body is under considerable stress for long periods (your neurotransmitters are out of balance, causing your adrenals to function at a "fight or flight" intensity over long periods of time, which they are not designed to do). When this happens, your cortisol levels also become imbalanced. Usually, when you get this surge of adrenaline in the middle of the night, it's due to cortisol levels surging through your body at the wrong time of day. Normal cortisol functioning would provide a parabolic delivery of cortisol with a steep surge starting when you wake up (it's what helps you wake up), and slowly tapering off toward the end of the day with lowest levels at bedtime.

Often, eating a little protein and complex carbs (say, 2 oz. of chicken and sweet potatoes or brown rice) right before bed can help maintain blood sugar levels through the night, and help stave off the cortisol surge.

Alternatively, you might be experiencing the neuro problems that plague a lot of us at night. I used to fall asleep the minute I hit the bed and then started "jerking" myself awake right as I drifted off, making it impossible to fall asleep. I was also experiencing considerable pain and spasms during the night.

Low dose Naltrexone has helped the night spasms tremendously. I have since also healed my adrenals (took a very long time and the key was destressing and balancing blood sugar levels) and I don't wake up in a panic in the middle of the night nearly as much.

Hope this helps.

p

Pirouette,

Thanks. Yeah I'm pretty sure this is a neurological thing. Interesting re the LDN, how do you think it's working? Is it basically an anti inflammatory action?

Early on I tried the whole adrenal thing with adaptogens and cortisol balancing with seriphos, protein at night etc. Was no help to me.

Hi toneranger

Once I finally got past the initial stages of getting the dosing right, which can be really tough for some people, the LDN has worked wonders. At high doses, it is given to opiate addicts to help control some of the pain as they go through withdrawal. So, the very very unscientific explanation is that it lessens the neuro reactions. Same mechanisms for controlling our neuro pain and it's effective for us at low doses.

p

Toneranger - so I have been treating about 10 months and that symptom did disappear. However, it came back this past month because I was off Malarone and Babesia meds because of a pharmacy mess up that left me with out medication for several weeks and then I was slow to restart. Essentially I didn't treat for about 5 and 1/2 weeks and I noticed it coming back so because I was taking the regular lyme meds I attributed my symptom of adrenaline surge while drifting off to sleep to babesia.

It was also a symptom that one year of lyme treatment did not affect. As in, it was only a symptom that went away with babesia treatment for me.

I think it may have to do with POTS and the lying down position.

I have babesia duncani - a beast to get rid of but I have bookmarked success stories of it having been done to give me hope and strength to keep at it.

Do you know if you have babesia? Any other infections that you are fighting that you know of?