Crashing into bed and then waking up an hour later… exactly like me! I suffered that mania for YEARS. This is the neurotransmitters bouncing around. When I started testing mine, they were ALL (about
a dozen of them) either off-the-charts too high or too low. Nothing was in normal range. The cortisol production is supposed to spike when you first wake up peak at noon and fall parabolically over the remainder of the day. Mine peaked at 8am and fell just a little around noon (I was already wiped out by noon) but then stayed at the elevated level—literally flat lined way too high even into bedtime. I was so wired all throughout the night until the next day began. This is suspended "fight-or-flight" stress and drained my adrenals so drastically, that over time, my cortisol barely moved at all. I was a flat-line all day, no peak in the AM and no rise at all. I was in the last stages of adrenal failure. I thought I was going to die.
I had an expert ND and she had me on at least 8 different supplements for the neurotransmitters and hormones. Every time we tested, my levels would swing in the opposite direction, but we could never get them normalized. This went on for over two years and $22k later, I was still horribly screwed up and the only thing we affected was a reduction of my GI problems with a strict diet and thyroid replacement.
I ended up moving away but eventually finally got dx with lyme, babs and bart and also realized that several DNA mutations were also preventing me from getting my neurotransmitter normalized. Subsequently, I started treatment, and then quit my job and lost the stress, and I already told the rest of that story. It literally took me 4 yrs to get my sleeping habits normalized.
What has also helped tremendously is A-Bart for the bart. I was having these severe gastric episodes where I would be awakened in the middle of the night with severe, breath-taking pulsating cramping that would last for 7-8 hrs, increasing in intensity and culminating in projectile vomiting. Then I'd be fine and collapse in a heap. These episodes came once a month… LLMD and gastroenterologist both thought palsy of the gut from bart was likely. When I got to high doses of the A-Bart (1 dropper/day) the episodes got a little better, but once I started the IV abx, they've nearly gone away.
That's why I would experiment w/ some antibacterial herbals if I were you. I don't know if you have digestive problems but due to the bart, my digestion was literally stalled. My pancreas was not producing bile, which triggered my stomach to produce acids and on and on and on. I started taking HCL (my acid was so low I was taking 9 capsules every meal, that's a lot of acid). I don't know if you have ever tried taking Betaine HCL, but it is also known to knock out bacterial infection in the stomach. I couldn't tolerate more than one dose of the Betaine HCL and this was the high-grade pharmaceutical quality stuff so I called the product rep and she told me that it will also kill bacteria, which might have been the reason for my reactions. BINGO. That might also be something to investigate.
Also, if you have been on various courses of abx, have you also addressed possible yeast/fungal overgrowth? This is likely with abx. It was also a HUGE problem for me until I started on pure nystatin powder… I have a ton of posts about
that but won't bother to share unless you think it might be an issue for you. But the y/f can do serious damage to the gut, causing SIBO and IBS issues and tons of other symptoms that mimic lyme & co.
Milk thistle seed and burdock root do wonders to support the liver. On antifungals my liver enzymes shot up like crazy but these two supplements brought them down immediately. I get them checked monthly.
OK—regarding neurotransmitters. I really don't think you're going to get far with ANYTHING until you get your gut figured out. And rebalancing neurotransmitters can be very tricky and very expensive so that's why I say just deal w/ your gut first. When you're ready, do the 24-hr saliva tests (these include four samples every 5 hrs and one urine sample—don't do the one-sample tests). ONce you get your results then you'll have some idea what to target. You have a dozen different neurotransmitters so it gets complicated and I'd find someone to help you.
And you're not going to like this… but what has also helped for me was to detach from everything interesting in life. My ND kept telling me to take naps during the day. Sit still and meditate rather than watch movies. Stop reading action-oriented or dramatic books. Ignore the news… literally detach from everything in life that gets you excited. Focus EVERY bit of your energy on healing your sympathetic nervous system.
So, all that above helped. But what got me over the hump was getting rid of my smart phone. In my line of work, I was dealing with emails and phone calls 16 hrs a day. It was non-stop and the only way I could detach was to quit and to refrain from replacing my iPhone when it broke. I miss it tremendously and hate the emergency flip phone I'm now using. But it has helped beyond descript
ion.
Hope this helps…
-p
Post Edited (Pirouette) : 9/3/2015 10:21:12 PM (GMT-6)