Standing In The Lyme Light: The Connection Between Lyme, Dysautonomia And Circadian Rhythms (And What To Do About It)
Circadian Clocks And Nervous System Dysregulation
In today’s globally connected world, our sense of time has become extravagantly displaced. We connect with people across the world in different time-zones, are exposed to a never-end cycle of news stories, and have access to unlimited entertainment and other sources of distraction late into the night. We did not evolve to be in a state of constant wakefulness. This “digital jet-lag”, where our body is in one location but our mind is in another, has a profound influence on our mental habits and physical health.
For example, circadian rhythms influence body temperatures. Among volunteers during an experiment run by Charles Czeisler in the 1980’s, it was discovered that the core body temperature of those who were exposed to bright light during midnight and 2AM had a dysregulating effect for up to three days. The resetting of the circadian clock at the wrong time caused the collapse of their body’s ability to tell what time it was, and subsequently upset their body’s production of hormones. [1]
The exposure to bright light during the hours when our bodies anticipate rest instead of wakefulness have other detrimental effects, relating to sleep, alertness, depression, migraine, and in more serious cases, seizures and epilepsy. [2]
All of this has a significant bearing on chronic illness and how resilient the body is to its effects.
When I was bedridden with Lyme disease, I slept in, sometimes for up to twelve hours. Although it is possible to disrupt the circadian rhythm by oversleeping, this also gave my body a chance to entrain with the healing benefits of deep sleep. It is in deep sleep that we stimulate human growth hormone, as well as the cellular repair process.
Being untethered to shift work gave my body an opportunity to regenerate from the damaging effects of Lyme disease. I consider this circadian rebalancing process to be one of the key components to healing from Lyme, and other chronic illnesses.
Let me shed a little more insight on how this relates to Lyme disease.
Lyme And Circadian Disruption
A significant number of people with Lyme disease go on to develop dysautonomia, which is the disregulation of the nervous system to perform vital functions, such as digestion, waste removal and blood pressure regulation. When the brain and nervous system becomes damaged, as it often does from the damage initiated by the Lyme spirochete, these functions lose their ability to respond, going inert. This makes it difficult for some people to have a bowel movement, which is crucial for toxin removal, and to retain a stable blood pressure, causing arrhythmia, fatigue and faintness.
Dysautonomia often results from damage to the regions of the brain that respond to circadian rhythms, such as the hypothalamus, which regulates temperature, as we have just seen.
Now it is known that the cells in our eyes (called ganglion cells) that transmit signals of light are connected to brain centers that are responsible for sleep, alertness, depression, anxiety, migraine and seizure activity, as well as other bodily functions. These ganglion cells localize the melanopsin protein which regulates these processes. Although these ganglion cells contain little melanopsin protein, they connect up to 98% of brain target centers. These connection centers from the eye to the brain are not fully formed at birth, but connect fully as we mature in early age. A disconnection between the eye and the brain, or damage to it later in life, would have serious consequences.
It is likely that damage to the brain would disrupt circadian signaling, as well as exacerbate the symptoms of dysautonomia. It is also possible that individuals with a prior disruption between these connecting centers of the brain that were not fully formed at birth, or lacking the melonsopin gene, would be more predisposed to Lyme-induced dysautonomia.
As well, the melanopsin protein, which is responsible for light sensitivity, may be more heavily disrupted in neurological Lyme. Light sensitivity (also known as photophobia) is a common complaint from those with Lyme and co-infections. Those who lack the melanopsin gene may be more predisposed to light sensitivity exacerbated in Lyme disease.
These findings support my belief that balancing your circadian clock - responsible for sending signals to the rest of the body via cues of light - is a crucial adjunct to healing Lyme. I have often seen some symptoms of Lyme abate from balancing the circadian rhythm along with supporting herbs.
Circadian Rhythms effects many aspects of our health, as depicted in this info-graphic.
Bring It Back To Earth
When and how you wake up is the most important event of the day. Your retina’s exposure to daylight in the morning activates your melanopsin sensors, effectively telling your body that it’s morning. This in turn synchronizes your internal clock with the natural daylight cycle. It activates wakefulness, detoxification, adrenal stimulation and hunger. In the absence of natural cues such as daylight, we much more often rely on alarm clocks to alarm us awake.
Additionally, staring at screens stimulates bright light into our brain through the retina. This blue wavelength boosts attention, mood and reaction times. This is beneficial during daylight hours, but disruptive at night, resetting our circadian clock - reducing melatonin production, and suppressing sleep. In a world where this disruption is normalized, more people are setting up the conditions for chronic illnesses to emerge. As we have seen, this plays a significant role in neurological Lyme, especially as it relates to dysautonomia and light sensitivity.
Now let’s discuss what you can do about it.
Tips For Balancing The Circadian Rhythm
Waking Up To Daylight
It’s a good idea to schedule at least twenty minutes of daylight exposure as close to your waking time as possible. This effectively resets your internal rhythm to be in sync with the daylight cycle, as I have just outlined. This might consist of sitting outside, or near a window. If you live in a city, you may need to travel outside your home to get the adequate daylight exposure. It’s not important that your skin is in contact with the sun. The crucial part is that you're in an area where your retina is registering bright daylight. This means you shouldn’t necessarily be engaging with screens during this time. You can look at anything in nature. Natural cues, such as scenes of nature, are another good way to signal ancient codes embedded within your nervous system to promote well-being.
Blue Light On Screens
Many devices these days have a blue-light reduction feature that you can simply turn on, and will do the work for you. Apple calls their feature Night-Shift. You can even download apps, such as the f.lux app, to reduce blue light on your device screen at night. This feature will modulate the quality of the light depending on the time of day it is in your time-zone, matching the optimal quality of light appropriate to the time of the day. During the evening, it will turn your screen orange to light red, preventing circadian disruption and eye fatigue.
Home Lighting
It is relatively easy to install dimmers in your light fixtures to reduce the quality of the light that is required at night for circadian balancing. You might also consider adding amber lights to certain rooms you use at night in order to reduce the impact of circadian disruption. You might even consider installing red or orange light bulbs to a lamp in the rooms you use at night, and relying on those for lighting after daylight hours.
Any or all of these solutions will increase the melatonin your produce, making you feel sleepy around 10 or 11 PM.
Blue-Light Filtering Glasses
You can purchase blue-light filtering glasses, which are proven to filter blue light exposure up to 99%. This is a relatively inexpensive option, especially if you rely on looking at computer screens after hours, engage in shift work or are unable to change your lighting fixture at home. If you wear prescription lenses, there are clip-on blue-light filtering lenses that are also available. It is a good idea to wear these after dinner-time, around the time when the sun goes down. However, wearing them throughout the day presents a serious liability to your circadian rhythm, so it is highly recommended to wear them only after daylight hours.