ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Post-Treatment => Topic started by: swhite on October 21, 2009, 04:51:48 pm
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I'm a newbie and 8 weeks ops tomorrow. Since surgery there hasn't been a night when I needed a little help (over the counter or prescription) medication to help me relax and get to sleep with this eye patch on. Otherwise, I lay restless listening to my husband snore. I've tried Tylenol PM (made me sick to my stomach), and prescription sleep aids. I'm not comfortable having to take these types of medications (Ambien C-R, Valium, Ristoral) but I am very uncomfortable sleeping and my mind keeps racing through just thoughts of life....frustrating.. :(
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Hi SWhite .....
Many of us have suffered with insomnia following surgery, especially when on the steroids. If you are still taking them, it may account for it. If not, I would suggest trying to make sure you have adequate exercise every day, especially walking ..... safely, of course. Avoiding caffeine as much as possible, especially from afternoon on, will help.
Personally, I sometimes heat a cup of skim milk in the microwave and put a teaspoon of honey in it and that often relaxes me enough to fall, and stay asleep.
My frustration is feeling like I am "sleeping on the edge" and dreaming or processing thought much of the night ..... awakening worn out.
Maybe someone else will have some good ideas.
Clarice
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I am 4 weeks post op tomorrow and have been having sleep issues since the first few nights (I was very medicated in the beginning). I find that my sleep issues are getting worse. The last few nights I have been up almost every hour, usually due to headache or just restlessness because I can't get comfortable. I take pain med at night with anti-anxiety med, but I am still not sleeping well. I have been getting out of bed anywhere between 4-6 am, having breakfast, take tylenol and then going back to bed for a few hours. At that point I usually feel much better. I did try a heat pack last night and it was very comfortingand helped me fall asleep easier, but unfortunately I did not stay asleep. I wish I had answers for you. Good luck.
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Everyone responds different to meds and remedies.
I have found that trazodone helps me sleep through the night like a baby.
It is also an antidepressant. I take 50- 100 mg/night.
Maureen
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hi,im also 8 weeks post op and having the same problems.doc thinks its post traumatic stress.been given tranq but a bit scared to take them.hope things improve lol.steve
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Take them if you want to sleep. I was afraid of becoming addicted and one of my nurses said to me that it was like peeing in an ocean. I still them when needed.
Anne Marie
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Boy would I like to sleep! Six days post-op and not sleeping is very frustrating. Last night I relaxed a little after trying to sleep for ten minute intervals and then build up. Does it ever get better?
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mll .....
I would suspect you might still be on steroids from post-surgery. If so, that is a major deterrent to sleep. Hopefully you will be tapering off of it soon and then sleep will return. If you are not on steroids, just remember your surgery was a tremendous assault to your brain and sometimes it takes a while for your brain to calm back down (as it were). As you are able to exercise more that will help, as well. Walking as much as you can during the day (in between naps!!) is excellent therapy for balance and good exercise. Just be sure you are doing it safely. Also, you may be finding that your sleep cycle is disrupted because of fatigue, requiring more naps during the day ..... this is perfectly normal.
Sleep will return! :o
Clarice
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Six weeks post op and the last week I have been sleeping much better and also having less headaches. So hang in there- we are still healing and although it's hard, we need to be patient with our recovery. :)
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Hi guys.
I'm 10 weeks post op today. Some nights I sleep okay and others I toss and turn until it is time to get up. I've never been a great sleeper so I guess my body is getting back to normal. I just started taking melatonin and it seems to be working well.
Just prior to my diagnosis, I was sleeping so well - should have know something was wrong.
Hope you all get get some good ZZZZ's soon,
Cyndi
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Ask someone to sew you a heat bag. My daughter made mine out of ultra suede and filled it with couscous. We heat it up in the microwave. Once goes the length of my spine and the other I put on my ab’s. I lay on this at night and it really relaxes the muscles. Next thing I know I am out cold.
The insomnia things was on-and-off for the 1st year. I gave into one week of the Ambien CR to get the circadian rhythm back-on- track.
I am surprised you are still using an eye patch at night. Have you discussed an eye weight with your ophthalmologist yet? Once I got my stick-on-eye-weight and my eye was closed at night again- I could sleep.
Clarice is so bang on right... about the exercise. Try and do this if you can. If you are still in the tipsy stage try to see if you can get a stationary exercise bike.
Hang in there. It does get better eventually.
Seems to me the only sleeplessness I have at night now is with my husband’s snoring ::) … This is actually one of the pluses to being single sided deaf I roll onto the good ear ;) to block the snoring out.
DHM
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Here is an old post I made about 3 months post surgery.
http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=5359.0
Know that it finally got better...
DHM
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Sorry to be chiming in so late. One thought occurred to me - if you are still taking any pain meds, they may be interfering with your sleep. For whatever reason, pain meds make some people very restless (I'm one of them - I always say that pain drugs make me stupid, lazy, and wide awake!) ;D
Debbi
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One week post op and sleep is an infrequent visitor. My best night so far (post hospital release) is about 4 hours. Like others have mentioned it is impossible to get my brain to "quiet down." I'm writing it off to the steroids and pain in my legs/rear. Hopefully things will improve over the next few weeks or months.
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I'm late jumping in on this, but after my surgery my doctors suggested I try Benadryl to help me sleep. It did seem to help, and it wasn't too long before I wasn't needing it. I'm also one who can't sleep if I nap, but I know many love those naps! Sweet dreams!
Denise
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Well gee, like at my posting time (4:20am) Sure you can tell what I've been searching for :-)
I feel like I'm on so many meds that I should be knocked out. But I am another who responds oddly to meds. I'm on the steroids for sure and at a late start due to delayed facaial paraylsis. Also on pain medicine Darvocet for some spinal and back pain (which we're not positive what's causing it and I'm going for MRI's Monday)........only 2 weeks & 2 days post op..... Also due to the facial paralysis, major anxiety issue, swelling in my face and insomnia, they gave me valium. Gee I'm lucky to fall asleep and it seems like the longest I've had is about 2 hours. It's crazy. I don't do caffine, and have been walking and doing many back and leg stretches for my pains.
Any thoughts to this one??? I always hate meds, but know this is suppposed to be a temporary thing.
thanks Denise
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How to get rid of insomnia? I tried different things: walk, warm (but not hot) tub, no computer games 2 hours before bedtime (especially shooters), coffee and black tea, but well-ventilated room, comfortable bed... But nothing helps anyway. I think I can`t handle without pills. I want to buy etizolam. What do you think about it? Does it really help well?
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Have you tried taking Dramamine or Benadryl? The 2 are very closely related chemically and both cause drowsiness. I take a half of Dramamine nightly to ward off vertigo and it usually works well as a sleep aid. I have heard of people using Nyquil as a sleep aid and it certainly never fails to knock me out when I have the cold or flu. The antihistimine in Nyquil is doxylamine succinate and it is very potent. The sleep aid Unisom contain 25 mgs of doxylamine succinate. I have never tried Unisom, but most reviewers on Amazon say that it works well.
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The steroids make it so tough. Benedryl is my sleep aid of choice, but last resort.
Try CALM, an app that guides mediation or - if you hve single sided hearing - lying on the side that hears.