worst symptoms occur at 3-4am . . . . . wake up abruptly and feel terrible . . . . . any suggestions on how to treat the adrenaline filled wake ups that leave me feeling so ill . . . . feels like it is hormonal yet all my tests are normal (of course).
This sounds so familiar to me. For the past few years I have had mid-sleep waking (even after standard meds), racing thoughts for a couple of hours, then just get up or back to sleep exhausted, then wake feeling worse and more tired than when I went to bed, usually drenched in sweat. Never seem to reach deep sleep, always feel horrendous on waking. Adrenaline, noradrenaline or(and) cortisol filled wake ups - probably what I have experienced too, although unlike WoolPippi I never once experienced this or insomnia (or reversed/chaotic sleep cycles, which I have) prior to the illness, and the mid-sleep waking is mostly a characteristic of my current relapse. In the first year or so it would be like I would barely sleep at all one night, feel very agitated, then would only sleep the next night because I'd be so utterly exhausted . . . I could go on . . .
Anyway recently what I've found most helpful for sleep, particularly for the mid-sleep waking, is a combination of Gabapentin 300-600 mg, taken a couple of hours before bed, and Magnesium Sulfate injections 2 ml diluted with Xylocaine or Taurine.
I'll still take a regular med like Zolpidem to initiate sleep, but the Gabapentin has alleviated the mid-sleep waking very effectively. I'm still new to this and I really hope the benefits last, so many things I've tried for sleep seem to stop working after a while.
Here's a couple of links, one to an article abstract on how Gabapentin can inhibit hormones like adrenalin, another about how it reduces glutamate release:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22417967
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15355323
I'm sure there are better articles out there.
The Magnesium seems to help most in big doses like 2 ml plus. Night sweats have pretty well cleared up and overall quality of sleep has improved, which in turn has helped with the brain fog and other symptoms, although I've still had some really bad crashes since starting this.
This sounds so familiar to me. For the past few years I have had mid-sleep waking (even after standard meds), racing thoughts for a couple of hours, then just get up or back to sleep exhausted, then wake feeling worse and more tired than when I went to bed, usually drenched in sweat. Never seem to reach deep sleep, always feel horrendous on waking. Adrenaline, noradrenaline or(and) cortisol filled wake ups - probably what I have experienced too, although unlike WoolPippi I never once experienced this or insomnia (or reversed/chaotic sleep cycles, which I have) prior to the illness, and the mid-sleep waking is mostly a characteristic of my current relapse. In the first year or so it would be like I would barely sleep at all one night, feel very agitated, then would only sleep the next night because I'd be so utterly exhausted . . . I could go on . . .
Anyway recently what I've found most helpful for sleep, particularly for the mid-sleep waking, is a combination of Gabapentin 300-600 mg, taken a couple of hours before bed, and Magnesium Sulfate injections 2 ml diluted with Xylocaine or Taurine.
I'll still take a regular med like Zolpidem to initiate sleep, but the Gabapentin has alleviated the mid-sleep waking very effectively. I'm still new to this and I really hope the benefits last, so many things I've tried for sleep seem to stop working after a while.
Here's a couple of links, one to an article abstract on how Gabapentin can inhibit hormones like adrenalin, another about how it reduces glutamate release:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22417967
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15355323
I'm sure there are better articles out there.
The Magnesium seems to help most in big doses like 2 ml plus. Night sweats have pretty well cleared up and overall quality of sleep has improved, which in turn has helped with the brain fog and other symptoms, although I've still had some really bad crashes since starting this.