Waking in middle of night with anxiety and pounding heart
Dear Stephen,
I’ve been on cat’s claw one 3 times a day, eleuthero, one 2 times a day (morning and noon) for 4 weeks and the last week of this time, I added reservatrol, one 2 times a day. I’ve been waking up frequently during the night and around 4 am wake with pounding heart and anxiety which has nothing to do with my emotions. My dreams are very vivid and I feel very tired, not wanting to get out of bed. I can doze off and on after 4:00am, but always wake feeling anxious. I can’t tell if this is a reaction to the herbs or a lyme flare and does it mean they aren’t working? If it’s the herbs, which one would cause this?
I’ve been on cat’s claw one 3 times a day, eleuthero, one 2 times a day (morning and noon) for 4 weeks and the last week of this time, I added reservatrol, one 2 times a day. I’ve been waking up frequently during the night and around 4 am wake with pounding heart and anxiety which has nothing to do with my emotions. My dreams are very vivid and I feel very tired, not wanting to get out of bed. I can doze off and on after 4:00am, but always wake feeling anxious. I can’t tell if this is a reaction to the herbs or a lyme flare and does it mean they aren’t working? If it’s the herbs, which one would cause this?
Stephen’s response:
Lyme does sometimes cause this reaction and I have had a few reports from people who experienced anxiety on the protocol. Whether it is caused by the herbs or by the die off of the spirochetes I don’t know. None of the herbs are especially anxiety producing in and of themselves. You have been adding the herbs slowly, when did the anxiety begin? If after the resveratrol you can try stopping that one for a few weeks and see if the anxiety resolves (for example). You can also try melatonin just before bed. I recommend the liquid form – I prefer the melatonin nano-plex by Premier Research Labs – put one drop on the back of your hand and lick it off (the only way to control dosage). Too much and you will have a melatonin hangover the next day, not unpleasant but working is hard due to the I-can’t-ever-wake-up feeling that won’t go away. I generally use one to three drops myself.
Lyme does sometimes cause this reaction and I have had a few reports from people who experienced anxiety on the protocol. Whether it is caused by the herbs or by the die off of the spirochetes I don’t know. None of the herbs are especially anxiety producing in and of themselves. You have been adding the herbs slowly, when did the anxiety begin? If after the resveratrol you can try stopping that one for a few weeks and see if the anxiety resolves (for example). You can also try melatonin just before bed. I recommend the liquid form – I prefer the melatonin nano-plex by Premier Research Labs – put one drop on the back of your hand and lick it off (the only way to control dosage). Too much and you will have a melatonin hangover the next day, not unpleasant but working is hard due to the I-can’t-ever-wake-up feeling that won’t go away. I generally use one to three drops myself.
Stephen
posted on September 5, 2011 in anxiety, fatigue/sleep issues, Herb Reactions, Symptoms
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