Neurotransmitters and lyme

I just treated and did not test.

Hooooboy. This is a loaded question.

Before I knew I had lyme & co I had been seeing a naturopath because of severe GI issues and what turned out to be thyroid issues and exhaustion and other issues that were actually tied to lyme.

We did all kinds of testing for thyroid, adrenals, neurotransmitters, yeast/fungus, gut bacteria. The test results were all bad and her dx was that STRESS destroyed my gut and that created adrenal problems and neurotransmitter imbalances and thyroid issues.......

Well, I now know better. I now know I have lyme & co but I also learned I had pre-existing issues that made me more susceptible to lyme & co, y/f, etc.

I think the testing is very important, if you can spend the money AND if you have the means to do something about the results. I don't think most NDs--certainly not MDs really understand what's going on with the neurotransmitter functions. If you get a really good ND I think they can work through the thyroid and adrenal issues pretty well. And none of this means a whole lot if you don't have good gut health in place, too.

The best neurotransmitter test is a 24 hr saliva test (where you spit saliva into a tiny vial 4 times/day) and also includes a 2nd pee-of-the-day urine sample. The results include about a dozen neurotransmitter levels and your level within a range. My initial test showed that ALL (except 1 I think) were off-the-scale too high or low. My ND had me supplement with all kinds of expensive stuff and the next time we tested most everything had shifted to the opposite end of the scale. Then we adjusted supplementation and it kept happening. Clearly, she wasn't working with all the necessary information to help me balance my neurotransmitter function.

I later found out why--I have DNA mutations that affect neurotransmitter function. How and what and why, etc... I don't know because at this point I got pretty frustrated, not knowing how to do this on my own and not trusting others. I found a specialist near me I'm going to try when my treatment settles down.

But back to your question -
I think the lyme & co can cause imbalances in all of these body systems (HPA, gut, immune, neurotransmitter) and once there is a mechanism malfunctioning, the other connected symptoms are more easily disrupted, since they are all interconnected and interdependent.

I think people have differing opinions on whether or not to solve the lyme & co infection first, then rebuild later... or do both simultaneously. There is also new talk that you should heal the body and the infection will take care of itself (this, I'm not sold on yet). I think if you can determine you have simple neurotransmitter issues, that you can try straightforward supplementation but I wouldn't do it without support (ND). And they likely won't do it without testing.

Hope this helps - let me know i I didn't quite answer your question!

-p

One thing I forgot to ask (and I apologize because this was kind of an obvious question I should have asked you) but are you experiencing symptoms that suggest neurotransmitter imbalances, or are you trying to cover all the bases since your test showed some issues?

-p

Quite honestly I would not know what the symptoms are for neurotransmitter issues. I always test my thyroid because I have to. I think that it gets complicated because there are symptoms of Lyme and co's, as well as links to thyroid/adrenals which also affects neuros. If you read a lot of posts you can ask the question as to whether the persons symptoms are Lyme, thyroid, or neuro. Such as anxiety, depression, or whatever. However what I do notice for a lot of posts is that the person often says, once I cleared up, "X", then that symptom went away. All I know is that I was fine until Lyme, co's, and EBV came into my life.

Hi cmgnp, I was just observing what was being said here and saw your question! You will want to start a new post with "Need LLMD on Long Island" so everyone will see it! Good luck!

Krimpet -
What kind of saliva test did you do and what were the results?

My saliva test was for neurotransmitters and other levels including at least 12 different hormones/chemicals. The test also included a recommendation for what to supplement for each level that was out of whack (which for me, was very daunting because it was over a dozen remedies and a few affected how the others were treated...plus none of it worked, anyway). So I'm curious what kind of testing you had done and what the results were.

Krimpet said...
Quite honestly I would not know what the symptoms are for neurotransmitter issues.

Symptoms and the result of symptoms can include agitation, "lyme rage", depression, anxiety, nervousness, lack of energy, mood swings, hyperactivity, poor concentration, ADHD, panic, impulsive behavior, obsess-compulsive disorder, neuroses, learning issues, sleeping issues, etc.

Krimpet said...
I think that it gets complicated because there are symptoms of Lyme and co's, as well as links to thyroid/adrenals which also affects neuros. If you read a lot of posts you can ask the question as to whether the persons symptoms are Lyme, thyroid, or neuro. Such as anxiety, depression, or whatever. However what I do notice for a lot of posts is that the person often says, once I cleared up, "X", then that symptom went away. All I know is that I was fine until Lyme, co's, and EBV came into my life.

The lyme & co and other infections or chemical imbalances or gut problems or HPA issues---all can cause neurotransmitter malfunctions and sometimes they cause the same malfunctions. This is an awkward example (sorry) but in other words, lyme won't likely start stirring up cortisol by acting directly on the cortisol. It's more likely that the lyme taxes the immune system, which causes stress in the GI (which can include malabsorption or damage) and stress triggers the adrenals, which respond by jumping into over-drive, which then in turn cause cortisol to be over- or under-produced.

So, by treating lyme, or treating adrenals, or both you can affect the cortisol imbalance. That's why sometimes treating lyme successfully, for instance, can also clear up other issues because the immune system is no longer stressed out and causing other body systems to malfunction. Because these systems are interconnected.

I think if you are not experiencing severe neurotransmitter issues, and you feel your thyroid is functioning well (which I would be sure about - there is a lot of misinformation about thyroid testing so if you're not sure I'd start a new thread) I would not try to do much while you're in lyme & co treatment. I'd wait until new symptoms show up and then target them specifically.

Hope this is not too confusing! Let us know if you still have q's -

-p

Absolutely - treatment is stressful to our bodies. I wish there was a less stressful way to heal and I do think that some people CAN heal lyme & co by focusing entirely on building up their body systems, rather than targeting the infection. But for many of us I don't think this is a good strategy and the impact of the meds and herbs we're taking and what they're killing is just darn stressful.

Will be very interesting to see what the amino acids tests reveal, too.

-p

Has anyone used the SOTA Bio-Tuner and does it balance out Neurotransmitters? I found an online test which was created by a doctor and mine are all unbalanced, especially Serotonin, which I figured since I have problems sleeping and my mind races often when trying to sleep.