How to Fix Fatigue in Chronic Lyme, Tick-borne Infections and Mold Toxicity
Most people with chronic tick-borne infections (Borrelia, Bartonella, and Babesia) and chronic mold toxicity have fatigue and low energy. There are basic steps that can correct this problem. These range from getting sleep to fixing and getting rid of underlying infections like Lyme, yeast, or viruses.
In this article I describe the basic steps that can fix this problem. Take these steps in the beginning and throughout a chronic mold toxicity or tick-borne infection therapy.
1. Sleep
To support sleep, use either supplements or prescription medicines. Do not mix supplements and prescription medicines together as a first therapy, though you can do so later.
Why These Actions May Help
Sleep is often disturbed in chronic Lyme disease. Lack of adequate sleep worsens pain, increases fatigue, and suppresses the immune system. It appears that in response to infection or mold toxicity, the excess inflammatory cytokines produced by the immune system decrease the output of sleep-inducing hormones to the sleep centers of the brain. Since lack of sleep increases cytokines, a restorative amount of sleep should ideally be 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Sleep in the few hours before midnight is most restorative.
Action Plan
Supplements
- L-Theanine 100 mg 1 to 6 pills a night 1 hour before bed. Do not exceed 1,200 mg a day if using for nerve pain or anxiety during the day, as well. Excessive amounts in the day are very sedating; and/or
- Herbal Sleep Combination 1 to 2 pills 1 hour before bed. Common herbs in sleep combination pills include valerian root, lemon balm, passionflower, hops, yams, wild lettuce, L-theanine, and others.
You can either take these two supplements together or use in combination with the following prescription medicines, if needed.
Prescription Medicines
- Zolpidem (Ambien) 10 mg 1 pill 30 minutes before bed. Use it if your primary problem is getting to sleep. It is short-acting; and/or
- Trazodone 50 mg 1/2 to 2 pills 30 minutes before bedtime. Use this if your primary problem is staying asleep.
For more information about these sleep supplements and prescriptions, or for additional options about sleep hygiene, see Sleep in Lyme Disease: The Basic Steps. For information about sleep herbs and supplements, see Sleep: The Natural Medicines. For more information and sleep prescriptions options, see Sleep: The Prescription Medicines.
2. Diet
Why These Actions May Help
A paleo diet is low in simple sugars, which decreases the chances of developing intestinal yeast. It also promotes brain health and supports the energy factories, called mitochondria, found in every cell. Because the Paleo diet is low in sugar, it may decrease inflammation.
An elimination diet helps a person find which foods trigger allergies or inflammation reactions. If you are reacting to foods, consider trying an elimination diet first. Removing allergic and inflammatory foods from your diet also leads to decreased pain and improved energy.
Action Plan
Eat a paleo-based diet rich in organic foods, healthy fats, proteins, and vitamin rich vegetables. For more detailed information about the diet, see The Best Brain, Inflammation, Pain, Energy & Detox Diet Ever.
An elimination diet is another diet to consider starting. For detailed information, see Elimination Diet to Find Food Problems.
3. Cytokine Control
Why These Actions May Help
Cytokines are inflammatory chemicals made by the immune system in chronic tick-borne infections and mold toxicity. Nutritional supports like curcumin, resveratrol, black tea extract, NAC, and antioxidants found in a good multivitamin may lower cytokines. This can
- correct many Lyme symptoms,
- boost the immune system, and
- limit Herxheimer die-off reactions.
On the one hand, cytokines are good because they turn on the immune system. They perform several functions that include:
- making antibodies work more effectively,
- increasing active white blood cells to fight infections,
- recruiting white blood cells to the location of an infection,
- turning on white blood cells to fight infections, and
- decreasing viral and bacterial replication.
On the other hand, in chronic tick-borne infections like Lyme and mold toxicity the immune system makes too many cytokines, which is bad. Too many cytokines
- suppress the immune system,
- cause pain,
- decrease hormone production from organs like the thyroid and the adrenal glands,
- disturb sleep,
- decrease brain function,
- increase fatigue and tiredness,
- waste muscles,
- cause depression, and
- decrease the function of various organs throughout the body, resulting in many other symptoms and medical problems.
At the beginning of care or when antibiotics are changed, the cytokines are made in even greater amounts, which causes a person to feel much worse. This is called a Herxheimer die-off reaction.
See Control Cytokines: A Guide to Fix Lyme Symptoms & The Immune System for more information and additional herbal medicine options to use in a chronic tick-borne infection or mold toxicity regimen.
Action Plan
Supplements
- Curcumin 500 mg 1 pill 3 times a day. Choose a liposomal product. In such a product, the curcumin is microscopically wrapped in oil like sunflower oil to increase its absorption. or
- Anti-Cytokine Combination 1-2 pills 3 times a day. Anti-cytokine combinations include curcumin, resveratrol, black tea extract, and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC).
Prescription Medicine
There are no effective and safe options.
4. Adaptogen
Why These Actions May Help
An adaptogen is a substance that helps the body deal with the harmful medical and emotional stress of being ill. Adaptogens have been used for centuries in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine with greatly observed benefits. Based on animal experiments, ashwagandha may improve
- energy,
- immune function, and
- adrenal and thyroid function.
It likely has additional benefits that have not been researched.
Action Plan
Supplement
- Ashwagandha 400 mg 1 to 2 pills in the morning and 1 to 2 pills between 1-2 p.m. Taking ashwagandha late in the day may disturb sleep.
5. Hormones
Read the “Diagnose Based on Symptoms” section below to determine if you could have low hormones.
Why These Actions May Help
Fixing low adrenals and/or low thyroid can help the immune system work better and possibly improve energy. A person could have normal range testing for each of the hormones, but still have clinically low hormones. Because of the unreliability of testing, therapy for low hormones should occur if there are clinical symptoms of low hormones as long as the therapy does not increase hormone levels above the upper end of normal.
Diagnose Based on Symptoms
If you have a number of these symptoms, consider using the natural medicine approaches for each respective problem.
- Adrenal Insufficiency: fatigue, recurrent infections, poor recovery from infections, low blood sugar with shakiness and irritability relieved by eating, low blood pressure and dizziness on standing, afternoon crashing, and sugar cravings.
- Low thyroid: fatigue, achiness, dry skin, cold intolerance, weight gain, constipation, and changes in menstrual periods.
Action Plan
A. Adrenal Insufficiency
For adrenal insufficiency, start with the supplement or prescription medicine. It is possible to use both together if the symptoms of low adrenals persist.
Supplement
- Ashwagandha 400 mg 1-2 pills in the morning and 1 to 2 pills between 1-2 pm. Taking late in the day may disturb sleep.
Prescription Medicine
In my practice, I rarely use prescription medicine for adrenal insufficiency because there is a very small risk of immune suppression using prescription hydrocortisone. However, the doses I recommend are the normal amounts the adrenal glands should make. I prefer ashwagandha because it is a supportive herb that does not suppress the immune system.
- Cortef 5 mg 1 to 2 pills in the morning and 1 to 2 pills between 12 pm. Taking late in the day may disturb sleep.
B. Low Thyroid
Supplements
- Ashwagandha 400 mg 1 to 2 pills in the morning and 1 to 2 pills between 1-2 pm. Taking late in the day may disturb sleep; also use with
- Zinc 20 mg, Selenium 100-200 mcg, and Iodine 200-300 mcg 1 time a day. These are often found in multivitamins, or you can supplement them individually.
Use these nutritional supports first for one to two months before adding or trying the prescription medicine option below. Often, working with these supplements corrects the thyroid so you do not need to take thyroid prescription medicines.
Prescription Medicines
- Desiccated Thyroid 1⁄2 grain or Armour Thyroid 1⁄2 grain 1 pill in the morning 30 minutes before anything else and on an empty stomach with water only. Increase every 3-4 weeks by ½ grain if low thyroid symptoms persist.
For more information about how to manage thyroid, even if your tests are normal, read my comprehensive article, It’s Tricky—How to Diagnose & Manage Low Thyroid.
6. Essential Micronutrients
Why This Action May Help
In my opinion, to heal and feel better requires a multivitamin with an essential set of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. A good multivitamin can improve functioning of the immune system; muscles; brain and nerves; hormones; organs, including the kidney and liver; and detoxification, in addition to decreasing inflammation. A multivitamin also may protect the body from the toxic effect of prescriptive antibiotics.
Action Plan
Supplement
- Multivitamin. Use a vitamin that has numerous amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and various vitamin Bs, including B12 and folate.
7. Manage Your Infections and Mold Toxicity
Ultimately to get rid of fatigue, you have to get rid of your infections and remove mold toxins if they are present.
- At the beginning of therapy this means dealing with Lyme (borrelia), babesia, bartonella, and intestinal yeast. It may also include removing mold toxins.
- Later in therapy at 6 months and beyond this can include viral infections. For more information see the chapters How to Diagnose, Infection Plans, and Mold and Lyme Toxin Illness.
8. Fix Mitochondria Cell Energy Factories
Why These Actions May Help
If energy and fatigue do not greatly improve by six to nine months, it is time to fix the energy factories found in every cell. These are called mitochondria.
In chronic infections and mold toxicity, mitochondria get injured. There are two basic steps to fixing injured mitochondria. One involves fixing the damaged mitochondria membranes using phospholipids. The other involves fixing the mitochondria from the inside with the powerful antioxidant called glutathione and basic mitochondria nutrients.
Action Plan
Supplements
- Phospholipid + CoQ10 + PQQ 3 pills 1 time a day. This combination product contains phospholipids and essential mitochondria micronutrients. PQQ promotes mitochondria biogenesis.
- Liposomal Glutathione 400 to 500 mg 1 to 2 times a day.
More Information. For additional information and ideas on how to repair the mitochondria see. Control Cytokines to Improve Symptoms & Immune Health.
Disclaimer
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