re OT - insight needed

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charlotte, Lack of sleeping at night is often an adrenal issue where cortisol levels are reversed., so you may want to address that.As for GABA you can get it in capsules and it doesnt smell.also lithium orotate is good for the mood swings.MSM can be taken in capsule form as well , so no yucky powders to mix .I take probably thirty capsules three times a day of various things that have helped me.Look up Burrascano report and it has several supplements and herbs that your daughter might find useful for energy.and brain power.I use kudzu to increase blood flow to the brain and it also has helped my headaches( I only get them occasionally now instead of daily or several days in a row).Lobelia chinensis from my herbs.net has shown excellent for me for fighting

ammonia induced brain fog and its cheap , only ten dollars for a package.you can either encapsulate it or mix it into hot tea with sweetener.as for pain frankincense essential oil or oral boswellia helps, lots of hot bath soaks with epson salts .Do you have a FIR sauna she can sit in or whirlpool tub? it really helpsI know your daughter is concerned for her future.Healing does take a lot of time with this illness and I sympathize with her.I had to give up my massage practice because of this disease.However she can still get schooling via a tutor or homeschooling and not need to drop out, and then maybe find an online degree program that will lead to her goals of some kind of health practitioner with very little classroom time.Teenager years are difficult and like many of us, it is hard to see the future in anything but the same condition that we are in now, but she will get better if she sticks with it and bears up under some

of the lousy tasting things.I was using a walkerto get around just three years ago and though I dont have a lot of energy Im far better than I had been and only very very rarely use it or a cane anymore.Time and diligence is the key please share this email with her much love jan sOT - insight needed Posted by: "CT" iamwhimsy@... whimsicaldreams Date: Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:08 am ((PST))I could really use some insight from people who "have been there".My

15 1/2 yr old daughter is the one with Lyme. I do understand that I

can never fully understand the level of pain, or the fear, or the

frustrations over the "loss of her previous life". At the same time, I

understand more than she thinks I do, even though my experiences aren't

exact (I live with chronic pain, I was a teenager, etc). I've been as

patient as I can, since she seems to "fight me" almost every step of

the way.Anyway, that's an entire different story.What

I'm looking for tonight is insight on sleep (or lack there of). The

situation right now is that she sleeps most the day (at least for the

past week or so, though slept often through the day before), and she's

awake all night. She was (according to her) simply laying in her bed

all night, staring at the ceiling, and trying to sleep. The past week

or so, she's been up watching the tv, rather than laying in bed.She's

telling me that she is only sleeping during the day when she's awake so

long that she is utterly exhausted and her body simply falls asleep.OK,

so logically to me, if she was to stay up through the day (so long

that....), then her body should be falling asleep at night. In other

words she needs to re-set her sleep schedule.I've tried to get

her to take the GABA, so far that's out (smells too yucky). She's

balking at taking Melotonin as we tried it years ago, and she doesn't

remember it doing much (however it wasn't sustained use, and may not

have been very high quality). Trazadone doesn't work, diphenhydromine

doesn't work, there have been a couple of others that don't work also.

Ambien gave her about 3 hours of sleep, but then she was awake. I have

some concerns over Ambien, however we may not have a choice.So

what is happening with her that she can sleep during the day when she

is exhausted, but can't re-set to sleep during the night?She

has also complained of being in too much pain to sleep. We've tried

several things and just started the mag oil since she wouldn't take the

Natural Calm.I know there is more I want and need info on, but

for now, this is a start and an important point. I think she's

reaching a rock bottom point in her "attitude". She's now talking

about now being able to finish the school year, of dropping out when

she turns 16. She's crying that all her dreams are lost (she wants to

be a pediatric nurse in the Air Force, and says she won't be able to

work in the health care field, and won't be able to be in the Air

Force).I truly understand how scary this can be and how

frustrating for anyone, let alone a teenager. I'm getting to the end

of my rope though.Please if anyone can give me insight on the

sleep issue especially. Not necessarily things to do to get to sleep,

but why is it not as easy as I'm thinking it should be to re-set the

sleep patterns from day to night.And if anyone can give me

insight on the "stages" a Lymie goes through mentally and emotionally

with this disease, that may be of help to me. I understand that in

some ways she is "grieving" right now, for the activities that she is

giving up because she doesn't feel well. Is there a time she will be

positive in her attitude? Is there a time she will be motivated to try

anything (within reason of course ) ) to kill this disease?I

know this is long, I'm just really feeling lost right now. I guess I

thought that now that we had a dx (as of end of Nov), we would be able

to move forward. Instead she is dwelling on the negatives and not any

of the positive things each day.Charlotte "Im not trying to counsel any of you to do anything really special,except to dare to think, and to dare to go with the truth ,and to dare to love completely." -R. Buckminster Fuller