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Insomnia issues and ice melting on brain

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Posted 3/8/2018 8:51 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Everyone,

I’m new to the forums and I hope I’m following all of the rules. I also apologize in advance for any writing and grammar mistakes. My nuero Lyme has affected my abilities (Yay for auto-correct!)

I’ve been going through treatments for Lyme disease and co-infections for about 1.5 years. And it seems like every time time one symptom gets better a new one suddenly my shows up. Until 2 month ago I had trouble staying awake and slept for 15 hours every day.

Now I have insomnia. My body feels tired but my brain is wide awake. Sometimes I almost fall asleep and then it feel like my brain suddenly reverses to wake up mode. I can’t even nap in the daytime.

Originally, my doctor thought it was the result of a candida infevtion in the gut. But, that’s been solved and the insomnia has only gotten worse.

I’m hesitant to add any new medication and my family doctor is very conservative and not supportive of my Lyme treatment. It’s hard to ask her for anything.

On top of this, whenever my insomnia gets very strong I have an ice cube melting feeling on part of my brain. Does anyone else experience this?

So far I’ve tried the usual for trying to fall asleep. No electronics before bed, no caffeine, meditating...ect. I’m at a loss and I’m afraid the lack of sleep is causing another downward slide.

I’ve also avoided taking Ashwagandha and NT Factor in the afternoon/evening because they sometimes contribute to insomnia.

What have you tried to deal with insomnia?
Posted 3/8/2018 1:57 PM (GMT 0)

Maru said...
my family doctor is very conservative and not supportive of my Lyme treatment.

this is your problem. And my problem also unfortunately.

Anyway Trazodone 50mg-100mg may help. It is a sedative that can weirdly give 2-6 hours of fairly refreshing sleep. It is an antidepressant with offlabel use for insomnia, it helps both and it's been around for ages.

When I need to sleep i can take 50mg -100mg Trazodone and it knocks me out, better than Hydroxizine pamoate which is almost like a Benadryl.

The ice melting sensation, I'll guess is neuropathy, I have all sorts of neuropathic sensations that are weird, most often pressure on my brain, behind my eyes, headaches, dissociative unreal feelings, crawling chills up one side of brain stem, etc.
Posted 3/8/2018 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
I can relate.

I used to get the ice melting sensation in my brain. I always described it as feeling like lactic acid had built up in my brain. This symptom is now minimal (maybe once a month if at all) after 8 months treatment with a VERY supportive and educated Lyme specialist.

As for the insomnia, I also used to experience this bad. I started taking products that contain L-theanine, and L-tryptophan, and 500mg of magnesium right before bed. My sleep improved gradually back to completely normal (over the course of one month), as these products built up in my system.

I hope you can conquer this little glitch soon!
Posted 3/8/2018 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the suggestions. I definitely want to try them out and see if it makes an impact.

borrelioburgdorferii - I also get the same neurological symptoms. Headaches, pain/pressure behind eyes, pressure in my head, dissociative feelings, aphasia, memory trouble...ect

I was wondering if the insomnia and ice melting feeling are related since they happen at the same time. Do you ever get them together?

Runninheid - It's great the know that yours got a lot better!

I should have clarified earlier, I do have an LLMD but in another country, so it's hard to contact this person sometimes. My family doctor here knows about my treatment by the LLMD and wants nothing to do with it. Won't even order a lab to test my liver or thyroid. I think the family doctor finally believes my symptoms but is afraid to get involved. But, I've found a workaround and people who are willing to help. I am currently being treated with antibiotics and so far my babesia seems to be gone for good smile
Posted 3/8/2018 8:30 PM (GMT 0)

Maru said...
I was wondering if the insomnia and ice melting feeling are related since they happen at the same time. Do you ever get them together?

These symptoms migrate, one weirder than the next...let's see sometimes I would feel feverish, other times head would feel like hot all over, aphasia yep, didn't recognize a co-worker that I had worked with for months when my bro brought her over (?), can't make decisions cuz brain fog...

but insomnia, mine is a doozy because I have sleep apnea and/or I wake up with my heart racing because I jolted awake from the apnea, or just air hunger, or maybe slept, maybe not and next day as if I didn't sleep at all with all the cognitive problems that come with sleep deprivation (drive hazard, cognitive issues)

but the Trazodone seems to help me lay my head down, with my respirator apnea machine mask thingee and the all important healing sleep, relieves inflammation (the main reason for sleep for the brain to rid itself of inflammatory cytokines and stress buildup chemicals from cortisol) , like now I will feel like a low grade meningitis until I can sleep for 6 hours again... it's one of the worst things about the Lyme n Co is the sleep deprivation,

last couple tips: lavender soap/oil in bath, epsom salt bath before bed? youtube vids or netflix, new age music? magnesium, l-theanine, magnolia bark extract, peppermint tea, chamomile, melatonin , some of this is bound to work..lol
Posted 3/9/2018 12:20 AM (GMT 0)
Epsom salt baths do help my pain but haven't touched the insomnia.

But peppermint/chamomile tea and netflix/music is a good way to enjoy a long night. I'm sure with some experimentation and trying the suggestions here I'll find something that helps.

Sleep apnea would make things much more difficult.

I understand the low-grade meningitis feeling. In fact, I've had encephalitis/meningitis and was lucky to survive untreated. (The doctor in Japan told me I was suffering from culture shock...yeah...Later a neurologist helped diagnose me.) The insomnia causes me to feel like my brain slowly swells and I get worse neurological symptoms that remind me of when I first came down with encephalitis/meningitis. I get PTSD flashbacks of the horrible day where I was alone, hallucinating, and certain I was dying.

I know it sounds dramatic but it's true. I still suffer some cognitive and memory troubles from that day. I lost most of my long and short term memory for 2-3 years. Some of the long term memories have come back now.
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