Wife can't get solid amount of sleep no matter what

So my wife is treating for lab confirmed Lyme and Mycoplasma. Part of her symptoms are she's tired all the time but the worst part is at 1pm and 7pm every day she literally can't even stand up and has to lay down. She gets up at 5am like clockwork every morning no matter what sleeping aids she takes.

She's tried Melatonin, Valerian root, Deep Sleep, Trazodone, Gabapentin (for nerves but also for sleep) and literally nothing works.

Her cortisol levels drop off the table during these times and seems to be the most direct cause but her doctor won't give her any hydrocortisone and anything she takes doesn't change the pattern which has been going on for 6+ months.

Any options for her? Thanks.

I tried healing my adrenals with herbals for a long time and didn't get anywhere. Saliva cortisol continued to show no change.

You guys don't have an LLMD I assume? Most would be willing to prescribe Cortef if there's evidence of adrenal fatigue.

I'm kind of surprised your doctor is against it. You did a 24hr saliva cortisol test?

my wife did the 24 hour 3 point saliva test. her LLMD (NP in Dr. J's clinic in DC) basically ignored the results and said we use results from a blood test. she had her blood test and it came up with a value of 12 her NP said we don't treat them unless its under 10. meanwhile she's dying every day from exhaustion and her NP says its all lyme related and when that heals your exhaustion will heal.

we know the saliva test is more accurate but they won't use it. also if we find another doctor to treat her adrenals it may mess with her protocol from Dr. J clinic.

what to do, what to do...

What to do? I suggest protect her adrenals. I'm really struggling with trying to heal my infections due to the stress both having the infections, and herxing from treatment due to the stress that puts on the adrenals.

I would encourage you to at least challenge their statements about them healing when the Lyme heals. How can a person who is really struggling with low adrenals heal from a set of infections that takes the body to be functioning pretty well in order to heal.

Naturopathic and adrenal fatigue syndrome doctors (such as Dr. Michael Lam) advise getting the body onto a set schedule. (This will take time.) THEN ADHERE TO THIS SCHEDULE.

--Go to bed before 10 p.m. EVERY night.
--The hour before you go to bed, DO NOT use electronics, computers, phone, television, etc. Do something relaxing, e.g., listen to relaxing music, meditate.
--Eat a light snack before bed - for example, a handful of nuts, half an apple, to help avoid blood sugar dips during the night.
--IN SOME CASES, a moderate walk an hour before bed time will help raise cortisol enough so that it does not dip between 1-3 a.m. (very common pattern with adrenal fatigue syndrome)
--Get up at the same time each morning.
--When you get up in the morning, get outside in the sunlight for at least 15 minutes. Take off your shoes and walk in the grass if possible (grounding).
--In the evening, while there is still daylight, go outside for at least 15 minutes, take off your shoes and walk in the grass if possible.



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Rikky my cortisol was sky high at night. Taking phosphadityl serine powder by Designs for health was the key to getting a good nights sleep for me and making my day a lot more normal. I take between 1/4 and 1/2 a teaspoon mixed with a bit of applesauce about 45 minutes to an hour before I want to fall asleep.

Rikky, I know you are well versed in diet and the various ways that plays in, I just wanted to bring it up because her 'down' times were a little suspect in their proximity to the usual post meal periods.

Can I assume you guys have eliminated sugars and most carbs in your meals? I've had problems with this as well when I was careless about what I was eating in regards to simple carbohydrates.

I'm not sure if it was insulin spiking and crashing, or a yeast thing, but something for sure was going on related to what I was eating.

On the not getting enough sleep at night, my friend is like that, falling asleep during inappropriate times of the day, and then can't sleep at night, up at 4-5 a.m.

Post Edited (julymorning) : 4/6/2017 10:39:45 AM (GMT-6)

I tried everything at night. Nothing helped me sleep. All kinds of prescription sleeping pills, valarian, deep sleep, ativan. Nothing.

I tried 3mg of melatonin and with that I take my magnesium supplements. sorry, don't know the dosage off hand as my bottle is on my nightstand, upstairs. Don't climb stairs if I don't absolutely have to, cause it wears me out. Anyway, that did the trick!!

I usually get sleepy about 15 minutes after taking these supplements, and most days wake up around 4 or 5. I stay in bed, to read to something quiet. And within the hour cannot hold my eyes open again.

Funny, Dr J's NP was pushing prescription meds at me, they had side effects like nightmares, so I stopped them. I read on here somewhere about the magnesium helping with sleep if taken at bedtime.

My NP asked again what I was doing for sleep. I told her, and told her it worked better than anyone. She says, I tell all my patients to take magnesium at bed for sleep. Gee, she never told me, instead filled me with prescriptions. UGH

Anyway, just in case your wife wants to give it a shot, 3mg of melatonin and magnesium supplement, I take two of those but not sure the dosage.

Rikky -

All great info provided. Just wanted to add a few thoughts:

I struggled w/ adrenal exhaustion for years before I finally recovered. I would NOT have advanced as far as I have w/ treatment had I not healed adrenals first.

I think you need to take this situation into your own hands - your MDs are NOT helping your wife and this is actually a very critical situation.

Adrenal exhaustion is the result of stress on the body. Stress comes from physiological, psychological and environmental impacts. Being a normally functioning adult/parent creates stress that can be severe, but being ill - certainly w/ Lyme and putting your body through treatment can be deal breakers for adrenals.

First, a 3-saliva example isn't really the best test - should be 4 or 5 in 24 hrs but even with a 3-sample you do have enough info to determine the adrenals are the problem. The blood test is nearly a waste - my guess is her blood was drawn in the AM, when her cortisol was normal. But then she crashes. I used to have good waking levels but by noon they were so low, they were normal for 10pm when you're supposed to be asleep. Only the segmented saliva test can reveal these problems and most MDs are clueless.

Secondly, it makes no sense to wait to address adrenals AFTER treatment. I am shocked that a Lyme professional said anything like that. Your adrenals take a MIGHTY hit from the infection loads and definitely from treatment and your immune system needs adrenal support (and many other systems) to function well enough to aid your healing. In fact, it can be quite dangerous for your adrenals to become so overtaxed. I would feel very confident that you are only going to improve treatment support and overall success by helping her adrenals recover RIGHT NOW. You can argue w/ the MD about this after she recovers a bit… (I'm very upset about a Lyme MD suggesting this).

Third - I would immediately reduce treatment intensity until her adrenals are strong enough. This is exactly what my LLMD and Lyme nurse would say to me. In fact, I struggled significantly at the beginning of my treatment and she was very careful not to advance me until adrenals could handle it, which took over a year.

Fourth, please encourage her sleep as much as possible. Literally, all day if that is what her body is crying for. As already mentioned, there are many supplemental approaches to adrenal healing but generally, sleep and slowing down and de-stressing are your primary tools. This is why it takes your body so long to recover. For me, it took 2 years and stopping work and slowing and relaxing my brain every second of the day and sleeping whenever I needed.

Fifth, explore herbal support/various supplementation - there are so many forms for her yet to try (B12). You just have to start somewhere - a few posts here provided good suggestions. Also, you'll probably need to explore neurotransmitter level testing and support. But there is NO supplemental or medication panacea for healing adrenals. In fact, nothing works to support recovery as much as rest and de-stressing over time does and won't work unless rest and de-stressing are already in place. I tried SO MANY different supplements and never really got the right thing I needed, UNTIL and only until I had recovered quite a bit from slowing down and de-stressing.

Last, diet is key, looks like she's doing great with limiting the adrenal drain food. Also try incorporating some good carbs (veggies, butternut squash, brown rice). If she can't sleep through the night, make sure she has a little bit of protein + complex carbs (like 1/4 of a meal portion).

Hope this is helpful - this is a long road…

-p