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Posted 8/14/2018 5:06 AM (GMT 0)
This one is hard to explain but ill try. Almost every night for 6.5 years now, as soon as i start to drift off to sleep it's like my body gets shocked into a panic. Heart rate shoots up, anxiety, slowed thinking, hot flashes and often sweats. This will continue until i consciously stay awake but as soon as i start to drift off again it gets triggered. It's like my body is doing everything it can to keep me awake and no amount of exhaustion can counter it.

Sometimes it's 5 or 6 times then i can get to sleep, sometimes it's the whole night and the sun rising is the only thing that calms it down. Tonight is stacking up to be one of those long nights.... I've come to dread nights because of it

Post Edited (Aerose91) : 8/18/2018 4:19:17 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/14/2018 5:26 AM (GMT 0)
I had something like that in 2013 - as I was drifting off to sleep, I’d be jolted awake.

What helped was Valerian tablets. I would take a couple about 15 minutes before laying down and it helped.
I think it calmed whatever was going on in my brain.

I took the valerian for a few months.


Several months after that subsided I got a new symptom - I got to sleep fine but would be woken every couple hours in a panic, sweating and gasping for air.
Posted 8/14/2018 6:30 AM (GMT 0)
Yah, same things here. I used to take valerian years ago but stopped, i should try it again.
Do you know what caused this in you?
Posted 8/14/2018 6:39 AM (GMT 0)

Aerose91 said...
Yah, same things here. I used to take valerian years ago but stopped, i should try it again.
Do you know what caused this in you?

I don't know for sure. This was early on before I knew I had lyme.

i was healing from what I thought was a pinched nerve - that caused neck pain, left shoulder blade, left arm and hand pain. The pain started suddenly in April, 2013.
The symptom of being jolted as I was drifting off to sleep was around may/June of 2013.

I think it may have been adrenal issues from the infection...I did end up having a high cortisol test shortly after that...

Now I'm sleeping quite well, but when I wake in the morning...before I'm even thinking about anything, I get a wave of anxiety, and a bit of sweating on the backs of my hands, my face and my shins. But, I'm not even thinking about anything to cause stress...

BUT, if I set an alarm because I have an appt...I don't get those symptoms...it's like I wake up and get up before they can even start.
Posted 8/14/2018 7:27 AM (GMT 0)
I often get the a.m. anxiety too. Second i wake up. Could these be bart things? I hear anxiety as being a major symptom of bart
Posted 8/14/2018 7:30 AM (GMT 0)

Aerose91 said...
I often get the a.m. anxiety too. Second i wake up. Could these be bart things? I hear anxiety as being a major symptom of bart

I think it’s bart. It’s one of my lingering symptoms - although it is much improved.

I think all or at least most of my remaining symptoms are bart.
Posted 8/14/2018 8:41 AM (GMT 0)
Do you think the sleep panic is bart too? Im kind of hoping it is in a weird way because i want to be able to blame all this on a pathogen
Posted 8/14/2018 9:04 AM (GMT 0)
If Valerian doesn't work you could try some Californian poppy tincture (Escholzia Californica). It helps calm down the nerves.
Posted 8/14/2018 11:10 AM (GMT 0)

insomniaaa said...
If Valerian doesn't work you could try some Californian poppy tincture (Escholzia Californica). It helps calm down the nerves.

I can't take tinctures because the alchohol stimulates the mast cells. If i can handle the herb i can make tea, though. Ill look into it
Posted 8/14/2018 1:16 PM (GMT 0)
Mag oil over my kidneys helped my adrenals stop spasming...which was sending surges of go juice as i was trying to relax ....it stopped when bart tx stopped the twitches. ...
Posted 8/14/2018 4:26 PM (GMT 0)

bluelyme said...
Mag oil over my kidneys helped my adrenals stop spasming...which was sending surges of go juice as i was trying to relax ....it stopped when bart tx stopped the twitches. ...

Treating bart calmed this down for you?
Posted 8/14/2018 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
I have this symptom too. i noticed that when drifting asleep, i suddenly jolt a wake. i never tied to it my twitches. i thought it was more related to a sensitivity of touch or sound that i was experiencing.

it has seemed to have calm down a lot. i am into month 5 of lyme/bartonella treatment too.
Posted 8/14/2018 6:26 PM (GMT 0)

Aerose91 said...

bluelyme said...
Mag oil over my kidneys helped my adrenals stop spasming...which was sending surges of go juice as i was trying to relax ....it stopped when bart tx stopped the twitches. ...

Treating bart calmed this down for you?

yes , also iv mag ,pk protocol and zhang then they stopped suddenly
Posted 8/18/2018 10:22 AM (GMT 0)
Re-upping this to see if anyone else experiences it as it's 6 am and i haven't had a wink of sleep. My body has been in a state of panic all night. This is the third night in a row. I'm absolutely exhausted
Posted 8/18/2018 4:13 PM (GMT 0)
Same here as Aerose91. Waking up is when anxiety hits, though not quite panic. I experience it to a higher level when stomach issues are worse.
Posted 8/18/2018 4:28 PM (GMT 0)

Aerose91 said...
Re-upping this to see if anyone else experiences it as it's 6 am and i haven't had a wink of sleep. My body has been in a state of panic all night. This is the third night in a row. I'm absolutely exhausted

What all have you tried?
Maybe take some L-theanine and Valerian ....at least for one night so you can get some sleep...I think having these several sleepless nights in a row can be compounding the issue.

If no luck, add some melatonin in. My husband takes melatonin every night....to get 6 hours of sleep..


I'm so sorry Aerose - the waking up in a panic is the most god-awful thing......I had it for months...and also was sweating at the same time...

There IS an answer for you....
Posted 8/18/2018 5:03 PM (GMT 0)

Girlie said...

Aerose91 said...
Re-upping this to see if anyone else experiences it as it's 6 am and i haven't had a wink of sleep. My body has been in a state of panic all night. This is the third night in a row. I'm absolutely exhausted

What all have you tried?
Maybe take some L-theanine and Valerian ....at least for one night so you can get some sleep...I think having these several sleepless nights in a row can be compounding the issue.

If no luck, add some melatonin in. My husband takes melatonin every night....to get 6 hours of sleep..


I'm so sorry Aerose - the waking up in a panic is the most god-awful thing......I had it for months...and also was sweating at the same time...

There IS an answer for you....

Ive been eating valerian and theanine the past few nights like skittles. They barely touch it, this anxiety is crushing. Sleep has been a rare commodity since 2011 for me
Posted 8/18/2018 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
I had this the first 2 weeks when symptoms first started in 2009. When I would start to fall asleep, I would constantly jerk myself awake in a panick all night long. It felt like I was going to die in my sleep. I had psychotic feelings, too. At the time, I thought it was from the Singulair and antihistamines the doctir gave me, especially the Singulair. I quit taking it. I told the doctor that stuff was psychotic and I would never take it again.

I think I've had a recurrence of those symptoms at least one brief time in recent years. All this was before I knew what was wrong with me.

Wow!! You've had this non-stop for 6.5 years? Are you able to sleep in the daytime without it happening?
Posted 8/19/2018 12:19 AM (GMT 0)
I try not to nap because that reduces my chances of sleeping at night. It wont happen during the day, though. Once the sun comes up it goes away. Crazy
Posted 8/19/2018 9:31 PM (GMT 0)
My LLND told me that when I was jolted awake with heart racing, sweating, in a panic that it might be cortisol surges.


It seems like it’s related to the symptom I used to have - where I was jolted awake in a panic as I’m falling asleep.
That’s what you have now.


Mine changed to being able to fall asleep but would be awoken every few hours in a panic and sweating.. etc to what I have now: getting to sleep and sleeping without wake ups during the night BUT waking in the morning with anxiety (not full on panic) and mild sweating.

Aerose - I hope you progress the way I have - it’s not ideal to wake every morning like that but it beats what I was experiencing before. At least I’m getting several hours of sleep.
Posted 8/19/2018 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
A) Alcohol free beer or hops

B) Chamomile

C) Low dose melatonin (250 micrograms or mcg). Preferably in liquid form

D) Californian poppy

E) Hawthorne

F) Piper methysticum

Post Edited (insomniaaa) : 8/20/2018 5:29:14 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/19/2018 10:58 PM (GMT 0)
Aerose91, I spent 1 year only addressing Lyme, suffered through exactly what you're talking about with minimal relief from all measure of sedatives. Prescription and herbal. Almost nightly! It was hell and i feel for you.
I can't say anything with absolute certainty, but it sounds to me like Babesia. I actually can't believe no one has suggested it yet. When I began addressing my babesia I finally began to sleep in peace again. It's a huge part of getting better.

Have you been tested for it? Do you suffer from malaise, day sweats, and chills or anything else?

Maybe try and get yourself prescription sleeping pills as well.
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