SLEEP ISSUES AND INSOMNIA EDUCATION
Updated: Oct 13
This can be a big issue for many. We hope this post helps you. Sleep problems are not a lack of willpower. There are real reasons Lyme and co-infections can steal your sleep.
If you are looking for ideas that may help, my solutions post is here:
WHAT SLEEP PROBLEMS CAN LOOK LIKE
-Trouble falling asleep
-Waking up again and again during the night
-Sleeping 12 to 14 hours and still waking up exhausted
-Vivid, intense nightmares
-Feeling wide awake at night and worn out during the day
WHY LYME CAN DISRUPT SLEEP
-Inflammation in the brain: Global Lyme Alliance explains that when Lyme reaches the central nervous system, the inflammation can change how the brain works.
-The sleep center: Dr. Bransfield has described Lyme affecting the part of the brain that controls sleep. This can flip your body clock, so you are awake at night and exhausted during the day.
-Cytokines: Dr. Marty Ross explains that the extra inflammation chemicals (cytokines) your immune system makes can disturb sleep. Dr. Horowitz adds that poor sleep pushes one of these chemicals (IL-6) even higher, so it can become a cycle.
-The infections and other causes: Dr. Horowitz says sleep problems can come straight from Lyme and co-infections, or from problems that overlap, like sleep apnea, restless legs, mood changes, medications, diet, getting up to pee at night, or hormone problems.
CO-INFECTIONS AND OTHER CAUSES
-Restless legs: Dr. Ross notes these are often linked to Bartonella, and sometimes Babesia.
-Depression: can cause waking too early in the morning.
-Pain: can make it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep.
-Other things on Dr. Ross's list: anxiety, medication side effects, and caffeine or alcohol.
WHY SLEEP MATTERS SO MUCH FOR HEALING
-Dr. Horowitz connects poor sleep with a weaker immune system and more inflammation.
-He has shared that when his patients' sleep stayed poor, it was much harder to help them get better.
-Jennifer Crystal of Global Lyme Alliance shared that her sleep got worse during herx reactions and got better as her treatment went on.
WHAT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN
-A 2018 Johns Hopkins study, published in the journal Sleep, found that people with early Lyme slept worse than healthy people before treatment. As a group, their sleep was back to normal by 6 months after treatment. But people who went on to have lingering symptoms (post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome) reported much worse sleep, and their poor sleep was tied to pain.
-A 1995 sleep lab study found that people with Lyme had more broken-up sleep, woke up more often, and spent less of their time in bed actually sleeping.
HEAR FROM OTHER PATIENTS
Bay Area Lyme Foundation has a short video of patients describing how hard it is to fall asleep, stay asleep, and get a decent night's sleep with Lyme.
SOURCES
Global Lyme Alliance (2024)
Dr. Marty Ross, Sleep: The Basic Steps (2026)
Dr. Richard Horowitz, interview on The Dr. Hyman Show (2026)
Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center, journal Sleep (2018)
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Disclaimer: Rise Above Lyme makes no claims about any possible benefit of using any product mentioned within this site. Always consult with your doctor before adding anything. The information shared is based on personal experience, years of accumulated researched resources from Lyme Literate doctors and polls conducted within Lyme groups from actual patient experience using these solution ideas.
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