For clinicians in functional medicine, these cases are all too familiar. While antibiotics, herbal medicines, biofilm disruptors, and immune support are key in managing Lyme disease, restoring quality sleep is just as essential. Without sleep, healing stalls. It is during deep sleep that glymphatic clearance occurs, immune cells regenerate, and the nervous system resets.

Herbal solutions can help patients with Lyme-related insomnia achieve deep, restorative sleep.

This article explores how Lyme disrupts sleep physiology and how Moss Nutrition’s new Sleep Select Herbal—a blend of saffron, valerian, American skullcap, passionflower, and Ziziphus spinosa—can help restore calm and rest. These botanicals are supported by clinical trials and tailored to address the unique neuroimmune dysregulation seen in Lyme disease.

The Limits of Conventional Sleep Aids

Many Lyme patients are prescribed benzodiazepines, sedative antihistamines, or off-label antidepressants for insomnia. While these may offer temporary relief, they rarely address root causes. Over time, they can disrupt sleep architecture, desensitize GABA receptors, and create dependency or withdrawal problems.

By contrast, botanical nervines and adaptogens support endogenous pathways—enhancing GABA, modulating cortisol, and recalibrating circadian rhythm—without suppressing natural neurotransmission. This is the core strategy behind Sleep Select Herbal.

How Lyme Disease Disrupts Sleep and Creates Nervous Tension

1. Neuroinflammation and Cytokine Overload

Borrelia and its coinfections invade the central nervous system, triggering microglial activation and the release of inflammatory cytokines like IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-1β. These cytokines interfere with the function of sleep-promoting areas in the brain, such as the hypothalamus and suprachiasmatic nucleus.

Impact: Reduced sleep drive, disrupted circadian signaling, and altered neurotransmitter synthesis.

2. Cortisol Dysregulation and HPA Axis Dysfunction

Patients with chronic Lyme disease often exhibit abnormal cortisol rhythms—typically low in the morning and elevated at night. This flipped curve perpetuates insomnia, often manifesting as nighttime awakenings or difficulty falling asleep.

Impact: Low melatonin, nighttime anxiety, impaired parasympathetic tone, and reduced vagal tone.

3. GABA and Serotonin Imbalance

Lyme disease inflammation can disrupt the synthesis and receptor sensitivity of GABA and serotonin—the primary calming neurotransmitters. This leads to hyperarousal, panic, and light, unrefreshing sleep.

Impact: Reduced GABAergic tone increases muscle tension, rumination, and sympathetic dominance.

Five Botanicals to Restore Sleep in Lyme Disease

Each herb in Sleep Select Herbal addresses a distinct but overlapping mechanism contributing to insomnia and nervous tension.

Clinically formulated Sleep Select Herbal supports deep, restorative sleep for patients with Lyme-related insomnia and nervous tension.

1. Saffron (Crocus sativus) – The Circadian Calibrator

In a 2021 double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 120 adults with poor sleep, saffron (affron®) at 14–28 mg improved sleep quality, reduced insomnia severity, and increased evening melatonin levels without next-day sedation (Lopresti et al., 2021).

Mechanisms:

Increases nighttime melatonin

Reduces evening cortisol

Improves sleep onset and continuity

Patient Profile: Individuals with delayed sleep phase, high evening cortisol, or mood disturbances upon waking.

2. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) – The GABAergic Grounder

Valerian root enhances GABA signaling by inhibiting its breakdown and modulating GABA-A receptors. A clinical trial showed valerian significantly improved total sleep time, reduced latency, and enhanced sleep efficiency (Shekhar et al., 2024).

Mechanisms:

Binds GABA-A receptors without habituation

Reduces anxiety and muscle tension