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Insomnia is one of the most significant and detrimental symptoms of chronic Lyme. It is so hard for me to sleep through the night. The more I talk to Lyme patients, the more I hear that sleeping through the night is almost impossible. I also have come to realize getting a full night’s sleep is crucial in the healing process. If you do not get a full night’s sleep, you will not get better. So before you start on any other treatment for Lyme, make sure you are getting your rest. My problem is that I fall asleep quickly from exhaustion, but then wake up in the middle of the night for hours on end. My body is in so much pain I can’t sleep. Below are the tricks I have learned:
Dark Room– This is a must. If there is even a little light cracking through the door, it wakes me up.
Stimulation– Make sure you wear blue light glasses an hour before bedtime to look at a screen. I also adjust my phone to turn off the blue light and put it down to the lowest light setting after the sun goes down.
Remove all electronics from your room and do not charge your phone next to your bed.
Take a bath to wind down. I put Epsom salt baths in my bath to help with my pain.
CBD tincture– I take CBD before bed to help with the pain. I love the WINK CBD Tincture.
Earplugs– I have become such a light sleeper that the slightest noise wakes me up. So I use earplugs to help mitigate the noise.
Supplements- There are so many sleep supplements out there. I take a slow-releasing Melatonin. I also love Kavinace, which works like a charm, and I like to add in a magnesium supplement.
Meditation app-I sometimes use meditation to help me fall back to sleep. Some of my favorites are Calm and Sleep Cycle.
Medication– When all else fails, see your doctor. I went through a period that my joint pain moved to my jaw, which then gave me unbelievable ear pain. I didn’t sleep for ten days. I was out of my mind. I went to the doctor, and he gave me medication for the pain that also helped me sleep. I have never slept so well. The next morning after a full night’s sleep, I woke up without the pain. I am always afraid to take sleeping medication, but sometimes it is warranted.
Sleep is essential for your body to heal. There are still nights I don’t sleep through the night, but they are few and far between. If you are not getting sleep, this is the area of your life you need to figure out first! Email me and let me know if you have other tricks to sleeping through the night. I would love to hear them.