2 months Buhner – no improvement

2 months is not that long. Buhner shouldn't even try to predict time for improvement. Herbs don't work for all people just like ABX doesn't work for all people.

Are you self treating? or do you see an LLMD or naturopath? I typically stay on a protocol for 3 to 4 months before considering changes or adjustments.

Hey that's good that you are seeing a Buhner herbalist, they might be able to help tweak your program and give you ideas for the insomnia. Are you doing a lot of detoxing? that might help? it could be that constantly killing pathogens is amping up your symptoms like insomnia, therefore it's hard to perceive improvement if you are continually herxing. Depends on how well your body is detoxing.

I mention that possibility because that was the case with me, sometimes I'd have to dose the meds down because otherwise with the herxing my sleep would go from bad to non-existent and my other symptoms would also get too unbearable. Also, I tend to see improvements over the very long term with therapies (6+ months).

A lot of patients have issues with insomnia while treating because 1) it is one of their core symptoms and 2) the killing meds amplify base symptoms and if the body has trouble detoxing those symptoms stay at a high level during effective treatment. Most of the best practitioners, far as I can tell, try to find anything that can help their patients sleep, especially if it can help them tolerate therapies.

Below is Dr Steven Harris on the subject, and Dr Horowitz has a similar approach (he has a whole section on lyme and sleep in his book How Can I Get Better):

"My approach to treating insomnia is to start by giving my patients one sleep remedy at a time, and then adding others as necessary, by “stacking” them up, one on top of the other, until patients are able to sleep well. I start by recommending natural remedies such as glycine, L-theanine and GABA. Dr. Zhang has a fantastic product called Herb Som, which contains schizandra. To overcome insomnia, it is important that those with Lyme find supplements that promote their GABA pathways.

If the natural remedies don’t work for my patients, then I will prescribe them pharmaceutical drugs. I will basically do everything under the sun to get them to sleep, so if the drugs don’t work, then as a last resort, I will refer them out to a psychiatrist for a prescription of Xyrem, which seems to help when all else fails."

sebreg thanks for your input. I’ve never had a herx, never seen improvement, never seen worsening of symptoms – ever. I’ve just consistently been at the same insomnia level for the last 10 years with it getting noticeably worse each year within the last 5 years. Which leads me to believe it is not a detoxing issue.

I've also tried many sleeping medications and they've all made me worse. Which is just odd....

Thanks Healing98, I've read a few sleep books and practice good sleep hygiene. So I keep a constant sleep schedule, last meal at 6 pm, no electronics before bed, etc.

I've tried many many over the counter supplements for sleep. More recently, liquid melatonin, 5-HTP, ashwaganda, motherwort, etc. Nothing is even making a dent. Just started GABA yesterday. Might also try others like sebreg suggested.

Is insomnia your only symptom? Are you sure that's lyme/co? What herbs are you taking?

I understand cppoly. Ive been on the buhner protocol for almost 4 months. My insomnia actually got worse.
Im still adjusting my dosage up and down, trying to find that sweet spot between help and herx. My first symptom 30 yrs ago after the tick, the rash and hospital visit was insomnia. I take a mixture at night of sleeping medication, b5, Gaba, lavender oil and frankincense. Even with all of this if anything clicks in the night I jump. I sleep with a fan and blacked out room. I think the Lyme messes up our brains
I notice a sleep pattern where I cant go to sleep until about 1 or 2 am then it changes, It'll be 9 or 10 pm. I also suspect a regular sleep pattern may be the last thing to be restored. I put off sleep meds for yrs until my physician told me my heart wasn't going to hold up. The essential oils lavender and frankincense applied to the feet sound crazy but it really made a difference.

Don't give up!!! It's a marathon.