Similar to a boiling teapot, people with Lyme disease can have too much mental noise or agitation which prevents them from sleepingJust like a whistling tea kettle, Janey's mind at night would bounce from one loud thought to the next about dealing with her Lyme disease and co-infections. Sometimes aches, pains, or buzzing in her legs would get in the way of finding a comfortable sleeping position. At some late hour, she would eventually doze off and get a few hours of restless sleep. The next morning, she'd wake up and feel like she had never slept. She tried lots of medication and supplements to get her mind and body to doze off.
Supplements and medications can help with insomnia from Lyme diseaseJaney found that stopping all caffeine and taking melatonin helped a little. She found that Ambien and Lunesta also helped, however she wanted a more restful quality than drugged sleep. Whenever, she got a good night of sleep, she felt a huge difference in her energy levels, mental clarity, and emotional outlook the next day. However, her insomnia got worse whenever she switched to a new antibiotic. She began to dread getting a new prescription and the sleeplessness that followed. Her blood tests showed elevated inflammatory markers.
Increased inflammation can be measured in people with insomniaIn Intensive Care Unit (ICU) studies of patients, sleep deprivation increased immune system dysfunction, impaired wound healing, and changes in behavior¹ . In one mouse study, sleep deprived mice had elevated levels inflammatory cytokines: Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α), and Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)². In one human sleep study, patients with insomnia showed increased metabolism in multiple areas of the brain and elevated levels of cortisol and IL-6³. In another study on sleep deprived caregivers, elevated levels of a protein fragment called D-Dimer, which indicates increased hypercoagulation⁴ . Unfortunately, Janey's blood tests showed elevated levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β. There appears to be a clinical correlation between elevated toxins that can increase both hypercoagulation and insomnia.
Increased toxins can also aggravate insomniaAccording to the Biotoxin Pathway, elevated biotoxins from Lyme disease and Babesia can produce symptoms that can increase insomnia: body discomfort, mental unease, and emotional agitation⁵. This pathway also describes how drug resistant staph germs that reside in nasal passages, called Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Coagulase Negative Staph (MARCoNS), produce toxins that get into the brain and can disrupt sleep⁶ . These toxins can desynchronize or disrupt the electrical flow between the right and left hemispheres of the brain which also increases discomfort and insomnia⁷.
What strategies can help to clear toxins, reduce inflammation, and deepen sleep?
Combining multiple treatments can enhance and deepen sleepWhen Lyme disease patients get improved sleep, they report increased vitality, mental clarity, and a more hopeful outlook. Here are several treatments and natural medicines which have helped many patients to eliminate infections and their toxins that disturb sleep and rest more deeply.
Strategy #1: Use sublingual essential oils for cutting through nasal biofilms and MARCoNS.Janey was diagnosed with MARCoNS by her Lyme literate doctor. Her nasal medications helped to improve her frequent post-nasal drip, sinus congestion, and restless sleep. Her sleep dramatically improved soon after taking a customized combination of essential oils under her tongue before bed each night. She also adds these oils to a coconut oil mouth wash, called oil pulling, that she does every morning. Several of her essential oils have been shown to inhibit Staphylococcus and/or their biofilms in lab experiments, including: bay⁸, frankincense⁹, orange¹ ⁰, and peppermint¹¹. Thyme and oregano essential oil reduced IL-1β, IL-6, GM-CSF, and TNF-α in one mouse study¹². An herb like frankincense can also help with promoting sleep.
Strategy #2: Burn frankincense resin to help clear staph out of the sinusesIn ancient Mesopotamia, frankincense has been used to clean wounds of infections¹³. In animal experiments, a compound called incensole acetate in frankincense has demonstrated anti-depressant properties¹⁴, and inhibits TNF-α, IL-1β and TGF-β expression¹⁵ . In lab experiments, frankincense essential oil inhibits formation of Staph and Candida biofilms¹⁶. Janey placed pieces of frankincense resin on hot charcoal to release the active compounds and inhaled a little of the smoke. Inhaling the smoke enables the compounds to travel into her sinuses to reach nasal Staph and biofilms. As a result of inhaling frankincense smoke, she reported greater mental peace and more restful sleep. Electro acupuncture can also help to reduce the electrical imbalances that disturb sleep.
Strategy #3: Use electro-acupuncture to improve the quality of sleepIn one study on breast cancer patients with hot flushes, electro acupuncture improved their quality of sleep¹⁷ . Janey reported staying asleep longer in the days after receiving electro acupuncture for thirty minutes. Needles were placed on the right and left sides of the head in the back of her neck in acupuncture points along her Gall Bladder pathway (GB-30 and GB-17) using a dispersion wave setting on a KWD-808I electro acupuncture device with the intention of helping her right and left hemispheres of her brain to re-synchronize. In addition to electro acupuncture, low level microcurrent can help reduce inflammation and toxicity that can prevent deep sleep.
Strategy #4: Reduce Central Nervous System inflammation and toxicity with Frequency Specific MicrocurrentFrequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) uses a pair of very low electrical currents to work on a specific area and to promote healing¹ ⁸. In order to improve her quality of sleep, Janey was given multiple FSM treatments to reduce toxicity, inflammation, and protozoa infection in different areas of the brain: hippocampus, hypothalamus, brain stem, and thalamus. Not only does microcurrent help patients to sleep better, so does pulsed light therapy.
Strategy #5: Assist the brain to enter into a deeper sleep state using pulsed light therapyIn a traumatic brain injury mouse study, an 810 nm laser pulsed at 10Hz helped with brain recovery and reducing depression better than other pulse rates¹ ⁹. Using an 810 nm pulsed LED light at 10 Hz in her nose, Janey immediately felt her brain relax. After a few minutes, she felt increased mental clarity and energy. Using the intranasal LED at night just before bed, helped her to experience a deeper state of rest. The intention of using a 10 Hz pulse rate is to help the brain to enter into an alpha wave sleep state which is 8 - 12 Hz. Multiple methods can deepen sleep by inducing an alpha state and eliminating the infections, excess toxins, inflammation that can drive insomnia.
Multiple methods and treatments can help reduce insomnia due to toxins and inflammationJust like turning off the heat under a whistling teapot, using a combination of herbs, essential oils, electro acupuncture, Frequency Specific Microcurrent, and pulsed light therapy can help to reduce the mental noise and physical agitation that keep patients awake at night. These methods work together to reduce infections, toxins, and inflammation that can disturb sleep. Since some of these herbs and treatments are contraindicated with certain conditions, work with a Lyme literate acupuncturist and herbalist to develop a proper, safe, and effective strategy for your situation.
from twofrogshealingcenter
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