Eileen, I so relate. Many years of being ‘tired and wired’ – no matter how tired I was, I was always ‘tired and wired’ when I went to bed. That resulted in never sleeping peacefully but the intensity of the ‘wiredness’ waxed and waned. Traditional sleep meds didnt help either. It nearly did my head in – you are right, sleep is essential for healing. I did finally find an answer for me. I now take 1mg of melatonin and 50mg of 5-HTP about an hour before I go to bed. I am now having the most peaceful sleep. My Sydney naturopath suggested to take both because they work on different pathways. The melatonin is highly individulaised and either too much or too little will not work. So I tried pretty well every quantity from 0.1mg to up to 5mg before I hit on the right amount for me, which seems to be 1mg. That’s also very convenient because you can buy in 1mg capsules – so I no longer am breaking up capsules to measure out quantities.
I have now been taking this combo for a good 9 months and have not found that the effect has worn off, which is something I’ve heard often happens with melatonin alone. I think it is well worth trying, though you will need to experiment with the melatonin amount and my suggestion is to start at the lowest amount and work up. Less is generally more with melatonin. Hope you find an answer and let us know how you go. Lynnie

@Eileen wrote:

I’ve been on sleep meds., first Ambien some yrs. ago, which I could not tolerate and didn’t keep me asleep. Currently on 1 mg. alprazolam and 45 mgs. of Restoril. After the massive herx. I had this past Sept/October, insomnia has really increased to the point of the OMG factor, as if it couldn’t get any worse than before, but did. Cognitive dysfunction up too, reading speed has diminished and having a difficult time writing this post, word finding is difficult and at times my speech sounds slurred, I transpose numbers, letters, and short-term memory is terrible. A good example for today is I was putting my gloves on, knew which glove went on which hand, but still mixed it up. Like my brain and body just can’t settle down coupled with physical pain and restlessness. Now menopausal and all the bonuses that go with it. 🙄 I awaken repeatedly throughout the night and especially at 4:03 a.m. and am not able to get into full sleep. I don’t dream. When I go to bed, I have that feeling of dread while tucking in for the “hopeful” good night’s sleep. I added 3 mgs. of melatonin to the other meds. I am desperate for a good night’s sleep. Even a three-hour duration of sleep would be a heavenly!

I do believe that my body cannot heal because I’m not sleeping. I think as Lynnie said it ‘tired and wired.’ Can anyone make some suggestions as to what I could do next or what’s worked for you? My sleep issues have been as chronic as the LD and co-infs. I have.

Any comments or suggestions are greatly welcomed.

Thanks,
Eileen

Hi Eileen not sure if this is the right place to post a reply so hope it works. You mentioned menopause symptoms and my experience of these were constant insomnia with brain racing and I saw a homeopath, a remedy would work for a while and then we would change to another one-usually a constitutional so more targeted at the individual. Then I ended up with a remedy that was not for hormones but stress-every time I really stressed out about dealing with RA it triggered insomnia and brain racing and hot flushes and a very strong desire to hit something, (probably from having all the other symptoms). I also
use 1 drop of liquid iodine per day and that made a difference in the brain fog, not so much with cognitive function but that fuzzy brain feeling, do hope you get some good help. Regards Vicki

Kim is quite correct. I posted a while back about research into use of the computer late at night being one of the major causes of insomnia – and potentially creating a whole generation of insomniacs – because the visual cortex receives light and stays in awake mode. Different to reading a book where the visual cortex receives the black lettering, hence why reading often creates sleepiness (promoting melatonin production). The body needs darkness to prompt the production of melatonin. Eye masks are great because most of us dont sleep in total darkness any more. BTW, the 5-HTP I mentioned in my previous post is being used quite widely by LLMDs for those who are ‘wired and tired’ at night. Lynnie

Eileen,

Unfortunately, I feel your pain with the “tired and wired” issue. I completely agree with what everyone has suggested thus far–just want to add what seems to have worked for me. In the beginning (first 18 mos), I averaged 2-3 hrs of sleep each night because of pain, and my refusal to take pain meds. I then moved on to Ambien, which afforded me 4 solid hours of sleep but, I hated how foggy I felt the next day. My llmd then suggested Magnesium, and the first night I took it, I was literally drooling (yes, drooling!) on my pillow. I added an aggressive babesia protocol to the mix the last 12 weeks, and my insomnia, night sweats (actually all day sweats) returned with a vengeance. My llmd suggested I use a spray melatonin, along with 1000 mg of GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) 30 minutes prior to sleep. This, combined with getting blinds (since I live downtown Chicago, which is very bright), and turning the tv off, has restored restfull sleep for me. Now, if only I could do something about the man snoring next to me…my night would be blissful! 😉

Take Care,

Maria