Mystery condition with insomnia: various excess/deficiencies and herbs not helping. Why?

Hello Stephen, I have not had any allergy testing because my condition did not improve even on the most basic elimination diet for a month. I had plenty of blood work done to test thyroid function, liver, kidneys, ultrasound, bacterial infections, etc. All was normal. The only thing that surprised me was that my blood showed I had Lyme infection at some point in the past but the infection was no longer active. I double checked with infectologist who said I did not have Lyme now. Also worked with a nutritionist who had me done organic acid test and it showed I had high number of oxalates in my urine and some neurotransmitters were out of range. He concluded it was leaky gut and had me on pumpkin and chicken diet for a month to “heal my gut lining” but I can’t say it helped.
No drastic temp change during my day. I do eat consistently, same time, consistent amount and mostly veggies (no nightshades), rice and meats and fish. No regular physical activity as I feel even 10 minutes of light cardio stresses my system but I usually walk out on the street or nature every day at least 10-15 minutes to get my circulation going.
I totally get what you’re saying. I do daily QiGong and feel it slowly slowly helping, especially with more warmth to my body and benefits to my mood and nervous system. My biggets nagging issue right now is sleep and consistent walking at around 1:30-2AM feeling very warm and then continuing being warm and having hard time sleeping. Also fatigue is still bad, I get drained really fast. I’m a family guy, relationship is stable, have other family around, feeling satisfied overall.

Hello and thank you for taking a moment to respond. There are definitely gut issues but like I mentioned I tried several elimination diets and they weren’t too revealing. I certainly have sensitivities to dairy and wheat but what about about all these other issues things like having burning in my stomach from cool water or insomnia from a simple salad in the evening? This can’t be an allergy.
I’ll check out Robert Peng’s series. Don’t all QiGong practices increase vitality? I have a very difficult time focusing while laying down at all and find my energies align best in erect posture.
Thanks again leapingfrog

Hi Stephen, I received instructions from someone very qualified and who has direct transmission from a master of a well known lineage. I mainly practice standing tree and observing the red ball in the navel area practices. I do not any cold or raw food other than some fruit and berries. I certainly do not even touch cold drinks. I’ve been doing this for years now. Thank you for good advice though.

I’m curious how long you stayed with any of the herbalists that you have worked with? And, as we talked about privately, but you never answered, have you actually physically seen a licensed practitioner regularly for a period of time? If not, that would be my recommendation - just get in there and see someone regularly for at least 3 months. Your ideal practitioner would be a licensed acupuncturist for one, practices herbal medicine and ideally practices qi gong/tai chi. While it is better than no consultation, online consultations are a poor substitute for what can be accomplished in person and over time as a practitioner can watch more subtle changes and steer the treatment appropriately.

I ask about treatment because, one, conditions can take awhile and jumping from treatment to treatment or practitioner to practitioner is generally not the way to resolve these issues. In fact it can drive it in so deep it can be increasingly hard for anyone to treat - particularly overuse of improperly chosen tonic herbs. But, two, I ask because the range of formulas you have listed make almost no sense for your condition - a few I could see making it greatly worse and those I can’t imagine you were actually offered by a fully trained Chinese Medicine practitioner.

The allergy part is a reasonable idea to pursue, but keep in mind that what makes allergies generally is a poorly functioning, reactionary system. While good diets are always a good idea, a poorly functioning system is still likely to have problems even with the best diets as you have found. Allergies are a response not a cause. You want to resolve the cause and working closely with someone over a period of time is the only way to get to this reliably.

Hi Chad, these are good questions because I know how important it is to stick with someone for a while and let them go by trial and error for a while to see what works. I stayed with a first guy (fully trained accupuncturist and herbal medicine in LA, CA) for half a year but he really took me on a roller coaster ride. I mean he had me on a number of supplements and herbs and things got a bit better but then took a turn for worse. He was going by Dr. Wilson protocol to tweak the methylation plus a couple of Yin formulas. Then I went with another guy for a couple of months and then another. Franklly, I’m sick of the term “healing crisis” because this is exactly what they said when things took a turn for the worse. It was probably due to lack in experience but I wouldn’t know. I live in Lithuania now and I have no luxurty of having a qualified accupuncturist or let alone practices herbal medicine as most TCM herbal formulas do not exist in EU due to regulations - I have to ship all stuff from US. This why you see me go through quite a few formulas as I’m left to my own devices pretty much. It sucks and I’ve made mistakes but this is the only route I have right now. I’m making slow progress (probably mostly thanks to Qi Gong).
Chad what formulas do you think made no sense or especially the few that could have made things worse? Please share, this is very important for me. Thank you!

His email isn’t and don’t want to give it out on this forum in case he doesn’t want me to. They might give it to you if you phone though. If you have problems getting in contact with home just let me know.

I agree but my problems are so chronic that it was going to take time. When I say worse I guess they aren’t worse - they just haven’t improved yet. I too
Have allergies to dairy, wheat, gluten, sugar and many more foods. These haven’t improved yet, but my body is riddled with damp and heat, which needs to be cleared first, before I can improve.

I have sent you and pm if you want to carry on the conversation. i was as desperate as you sound a year ago but now have hope and I just want to try and help.

I think this is exactly what’s going on right now. I feel like I’m going through very subtle and slow changes (not all positive but towards overall progress) and my symptoms are slowly unwinding in the opposite direction but in a more subdued manner. I’m a bit relieved to hear you say that sleep will catch up as well. After all, insomnia is where the worst of it all started for me. I am hoping I can still find someone who has a good clue as to what’s going on so I can address the root causes and be done with this no later than needed I appreciate your insights, Chad.

Last thing I forgot to mention, the reason the herbs are not helping because your guts or digestive system is not absorbing, and those normal everyday stuff cause burns means, you need to cleanse your guts, look up a cleansing system or fast a couple of days it will help.

All the best

Hi Insomnia!
I just happened to stumble on your topic and wanted to share with you what I have found in my journey of healing. I’ve suffered digestive issues since I was young child ( so at least about 25 years), they have waxed and waned but I’ve always had issues when I ate certain foods, and over the years my symptoms increased to the point where I have had literally over 300 symptoms, and seen over 100 different western docs and dozens upon dozens alternative practitioners. I have been diagnosed with a myriad of things; fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Complex Sleep apnea, Insomnia, Circadian Rhythm Disorder, multiple mental health diagnosis, and of course Lyme, multiple associated co-infections along with CEBV, cytomegalovirus, mycoplasma, I could go on and on really, but what I’ve come to find out is yes I may have come into contact with all these things but what makes me suffer to the point of debilitating disability and others a brief sickness? And why at such a young age did I have so many health issues and display so many symptoms that warranted so many diagnoses? And most importantly why have I tried multiple routes to get well and I may have experienced a BRIEF reprieve but why have they all overall failed? I found the answer… my genetics. I obtained my raw genetic data through 23andMe, not sure if you’ve heard of it, but that allowed me to work with a practitioner who would decipher my DNA and find the cause of why I’m in such a poor state of health, and why even though I’ve eaten everything that I should, elimination diets, introducing 1 food at a time, practiced good sleep hygiene, done specific exercises, have been treated w multiple herbs and alternative treatments, done cleanses, etc etc. I wasn’t able to get better. Because my body is unable to do what others can because I have a great deal of gene variants and faulty copies of genes so to speak. I am unable to break down certain enzymes and chemicals as well as actually produce them while others I overproduce. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the very very long and complex methylation process but it doesn’t happen properly for me, and it sounds the same for you! A lot of people have gene variants or mutations but some way more than others, and it’s not as simple as taking an herb or eating a specific food or not eating a specific food. If one step of the process isn’t working properly the rest won’t either throwing your whole system out of whack.

I really hope this is helpful for you! I still work with multiple practitioners and practice my own acupressure and associated modalities but I’ve found it’s definitely a multiple pronged approach and without the genetic piece true health will never be achieved.

Hi there! It actually isn’t as complicated as one may think, if you look at the photo of how methylation takes place it definitely is! When I first saw it I was like oh hell no! I already had the data from 23andMe as that’s why I got it to see if it would help me find out some things about my health struggles, but when I got the info I was even more lost than before! I uploaded my info into various suggested sites to sort it out and boy that was overwhelming. But once I linked up with Bob Miller (as he was suggested by many) and his staff, they told me about the website with all the videos and wow did that make it easy! Along with the report that he does that simply states if you have these variants this is what’s happening in your body and this is the supplement you need along with him or whomever you choose to see breaking it down for you (as well as giving dietary suggestions) it’s actually very simple. Once you get to the know the basic info, just like with TCM; the meridian system, acupoints, what organ controls what, what causes heat, cold etc you pretty much know what’s what. The same applies in regard to each thing building off another, like in TCM if one organ is not working the ones that follow will not either. It throws the whole system out of whack.
As far as what you said about external things triggering the genes yes that absolutely happens but if you start with a defective or inadequate gene then that’s where the problem starts. If you have 2 defective genes then serious issues take place. This is a lot more common than people realize and just because a not so adequate gene is there doesn’t mean it could cause issues but it all depends on the sequence and it’s location, as again one thing builds off another. If the genes are less than adequate you may not be completing steps in the process of methylation or it could be backfiring and literally going backwards with toxins, overloading your organs and putting them out of balance, overworking them and quite literally causing or making you prone to disease, as disease doesn’t happen in a healthy environment. So without specific nutritional support and giving your body the necessary tools to break down certain food enzymes and day to day chemicals, as well as the byproducts of them and support your organs during the process achieved health isn’t possible as the symptoms will keep occurring until you fix the broken links in the chain so to speak. If you can’t break down the food how can you get nutrition, and if you cannot eliminate inflammation and the toxins that cause it because you don’t have the tools in your body (your genes) your immune system will also be active and working in overdrive until it quite literally shuts down. Neurotransmitters are also involved in this process and if they are in overdrive you can’t sleep, you have no appetite, depression sets in, the list goes on. These are just a few examples and I’m no expert by any means just relaying some of what I have learned over the last few months as I hope it will be helpful.
Epigenetics are the way of the future and within 20 years I’m sure that’s how most every health issue will be handled, and with feeling so crappy what do you have to lose? All I can say is that once I started to learn and connect the dots (just like w TCM) I was ecstatic! It all made sense and with all these tools I know that it is only a matter of time that I will be in a better state than I’ve ever been!

From your tongue and description of symptoms–as well as your reactions: positive, mixed and negative to different formulas–from a TOM/TCM perspective you’ve got a mixed deficiency-heat pattern, with some GI damp-heat thrown in.

In other words, you’ve got both heart-kidney and GI excess/deficiency issues–the toughest combo in TOM to treat.

It also seems you’re very sensitive to herbal dosages, as well as being an extremely smart guy who uses his sharpness of wit to survive.

Considering the localized strong heat/cold sensations you sometimes experience in your belly, my first step would be to assess your Hara, and see if there are any energy blockages. If there are any experienced Chi Nei Tsang practitioners in your area, get a treatment/assessment. They can give you self-help exercises.

Next would be some mild herbal tinkering. Either with a custom formula (a Xiang-Sha Liu Jun Zi with Kidney Yin support & plenty of Calm Shen), or rapid alternation every few days with portions thereof. Starting with very mild dosages no more than 4 days of a week. Take it low and slow. You would probably need to eliminate mind-stimulating herbs like ginseng and substitute with Dang Shen.

Upping your exercise quotient–especially in the AM should also help.

Changing you Omega-3 to -6 intake ratio should also help. Aim for getting below a 4:1 ratio (6’s to 3’s) to help with the inflammatory component of your situation.

From a Qigong perspective, if you’re pulling all of your Jing into Qi into Shen, then a Shen-calming, Qi/Jing nourishing system would be best. Either way, get your form of the system you’re currently practicing checked out every now and again for any needed course corrections.

My 2-cents as a California DAOM 18 years in the biz.

Your pattern(s) need to be treated like a see-saw.

Tonify Qi too much and empty-heat rises (causing insomnia).
Tonify Yin too much and dampness rises, smothering yang and causing chills.
Clear heat or damp-heat too much, and same thing (chills).
Move Qi too much, and Qi levels drop (cause it takes energy to unstick energy).

You can either: 1) Make a “compromise” formula that balances all of the above in a way that suits you, or 2) use a series of “partial compromise” formulas that focus on 1 or 2 of the objectives; then alternate after a few days to a week with another formula that’s its exact opposite.

Classically, TCM clinical herbal strategy aims to first reduce/eliminate heat, damp and other “evils” BEFORE seriously tonifying deficiencies; EXCEPT in cases like yours, where even a clearing formula needs some tonification support.

This means that the damp-heat in your gut and secondarily in your liver needs to be your first major STRATEGIC goal. But as you already know, this formula or formulas will need at least some Qi and Yin tonics added to prevent or retard excessive see-sawing.

Also, if you also have sensitivity to specific herbs in a patent formula–like Ban Xia (Pinellia)–then you’ll need to eliminate these from your formula(s). Which means either:

1. Using alternate formulas, or much simpler formulas–without them; or
2. Compiling your own formulas (modifying classic formulas) with single herbs (go with granule concentrates).

I’d recommend #2, as you can then also adjust dosages of every herb as needed. This is what experienced herbalists prefer.

Destiny, it seems, is calling upon you to become your own TCM herbalist.

Wowza… well, this has been one of the most useful and encouraging advice ever, Dr. Nubby. I’ve been pretty much tinkering for a year already and spent a small fortune on various formulas but it is worth it. I wish I had a Chinese herb store in town and didn’t have to ship everything from US to Lithuania but I should be lucky I have access to these herbs anyway.

This is going to take time and it makes most sense to use separate herb granules and adjust the formulas as I seem to get in trouble with a single herbal formula sooner or later (see-saw effect, like you say) so adding on to it and subtracting is probably THE way to go right now.

I’ll follow your advice and base my formula on removing dampness first with something like Poria Five as I seem to do well on it (warms yang, moves fluids, etc.), then add Rehmannia Eight to tonify fire gate and only then try a tiny amount of qi and liver/spleen harmonizing formulas. If I can’t achieve the effect then I’ll order a bunch of single herbs and compile based on your suggestions.

Thank you so very much again!