Very strange issues with lyme recovery - anyone know what to do?

I have two things that've been happening to me that I can't figure out.

1. I go through periods when I only sleep 4-6 hours/night, and then wake up wide awake, even though I know I'm still tired. That's not even the strange part though. I usually feel pretty good/normal on these days and can work the whole day and still have energy at night.

Then I'll go through periods where I'm not waking up like that, and sleeping more normally 6.5-8 hours/night, but I don't feel great, and barely have energy throughout the day even though I actually got sleep.

Any ideas on what's causing this/what to do about it?


2. I'll go from living semi normally for a period of 4-6 weeks, and then basically have no energy for 4-6 weeks. So I don't think it's a herx or anything like that, I'm doing pretty much the same things/eating the same foods etc... during each. Only difference is I do lift weights when I'm feeling good- but that was recommended and I only stop when the 4-6 week period of not feeling good comes in.

I haven't heard of others having this type of experience, but maybe others do? Any idea what it is/what to do about it?

Are you lifting pretty heavy and intense when you are feeling good?

atxlyme -

Without getting a lot more detail about what you're treating, how and why...

it kind of sounds like your adrenals are struggling.
- The waking up abruptly in the middle of the night sounds like an cortisol surge.
- The waking unrefreshed sounds like your sleep isn't restorative and that could also be from adrenal disruption, stressful sleeping, light sleeping.
- And it's possible that the period you are "lifting weights" after a certain point ends up wearing your body down, overtaxing the adrenals, which is followed by a period where you're forced to slow down to recover.
- And I'd bet that these two sleep and fatigue from workout cycles coincide.

Have you ever had your adrenals tested? Best test is a 24-hr multiple saliva sample test with a urine sample. Don't let the MDs give you a plain ol' blood test - it's worthless. Or a single-sample saliva test. For a complete understanding of adrenal function, which has a 24-hr process, each stage of that 24 hrs is an important level to measure.

ETA: In the interim, try eating a small amount of healthy meat protein (2 oz of chicken) and a complex carb (1/4c butternut squash or wild rice) before bed. This can sometimes help reset the digestive process to prevent the coritsol surge and tide you over until AM.
-p

Hoagie said...
Are you lifting pretty heavy and intense when you are feeling good?

yes, but only lifting 3x per week at most.

doctor said lifting would be good for immune system

Pirouette said...
Have you ever had your adrenals tested?

Yes, they were a bit low when I started this journey, before I even knew I had lyme, and then I stopped all caffeine, changed diet re-tested and they were normalized.

Pirouette said...
try eating a small amount of healthy meat protein (2 oz of chicken) and a complex carb (1/4c butternut squash or wild rice) before bed.
-p

i eat protein/complex carbs each night before bed, even tried eating more/less and that variable hasn't made any difference

Were you into weightlifting before this? I ask because I was at the top of my game with powerlifting before I got sick and stopped going to the gym. I hope to get back in soon, but taking it easy for a bit.

mm57553 said...
What supplements / herbs are you taking?

doxy, green dragon, neprinol, bart-core, ALA-Plus.

mm57553 said...
What has Dr. T said?

Thinks it could be limbic system related

Pirouette said...
change the title to more specifically reflect the muscle fatigue - or post a new thread asking for specific help about lifting fatigue

I don't have these things at all, I think you misread

atxlyme said...

dacarte3 said...
Yes. I SOOO understand what you are going through.

It's almost when "lyme wakes me up" I'm wide awake and good to go. But when lyme doesn't wake me up and I sleep more and the alarm clock wakes me up, I'm still so sleepy, groggy, and then more sluggish all day long.

It's a weird paradox. More sleep and lyme not waking me up should be better but it isn't. And when lyme wakes me up it's almost as if whatever makes you sleepy biologically is turned off like a switch by lyme.

So it kind of feels better, but you know it's not right or okay nor healthy.

What did your doctor think was causing this?

There's all kinds of theories of what about lyme causes this. Doctors don't know, not even LLMD. Lyme and co causes such broad range/body wide problems, that there's only good guessing (no one really knows why all these symptoms happen).

Coincidentally I had one of those nights last night. After a pretty good stretch of good sleep, I had a lyme sleep night last night. Toss and turn, never get in a deep sleep. Doze in and out.

But then very oddly when it's time to wake up I'm wide awake and it's actually "easier" to get up. But like I said before I know this isn't healthy.

Hopefully I get back on track tonight.

atxlyme said...
I have two things that've been happening to me that I can't figure out.

1. I go through periods when I only sleep 4-6 hours/night, and then wake up wide awake, even though I know I'm still tired. That's not even the strange part though. I usually feel pretty good/normal on these days and can work the whole day and still have energy at night.

Then I'll go through periods where I'm not waking up like that, and sleeping more normally 6.5-8 hours/night, but I don't feel great, and barely have energy throughout the day even though I actually got sleep.

Any ideas on what's causing this/what to do about it?


2. I'll go from living semi normally for a period of 4-6 weeks, and then basically have no energy for 4-6 weeks. So I don't think it's a herx or anything like that, I'm doing pretty much the same things/eating the same foods etc... during each. Only difference is I do lift weights when I'm feeling good- but that was recommended and I only stop when the 4-6 week period of not feeling good comes in.

I haven't heard of others having this type of experience, but maybe others do? Any idea what it is/what to do about it?

I had something similar a year and a half ago. Mine was hormone related. I was going through peri-menopause at the same time, and pretty much all my hormonal systems were out of whack. There were times when I did not sleep much but did not even feel sleepy during the day. Other times, I would be at work and around 10 or 11 am, I would feel like my head was going to hit the desk. I started using topical progesterone and magnesium citrate, and they both helped to some degree. Those symptoms eventually went away. When I herx, though, my hormones can get out of whack like that again.