General Category > Inquiries

sleep

(1/6) > >>

dianneh1:
Is any one else not sleeping at night?  Have not slept more than 3 to 4 hours at a time since my surgery on september 14, 2005.  just wondering

thanks
Dianne

cookiesecond:
Dianne,
I can relate. I'm not sleeping either but I don't know why. I had surgery 8-2-05.
Lynn

becknell:
The steroids make it difficult to sleep, and they take a while to get our of your system, so the more recent your surgery, the greater the likelihood that they may be a factor. My husband had a horrible time sleeping the first few weeks after his surgery, although that has gotten better. Also, I recall reading something somewhere - and I can't remember where any longer - about the role of the brain or the brainstem in sleep patterns and that brain surgery may affect that. Maybe someone else here has more details on that. If it's really bothering you, you might want to ask your doctor if he/she can give you something to help you sleep. At my request, my doctor prescribed something for me to help me sleep during the whole trauma and emotional ordeal of my husband's surgery and it was a total lifesaver!!! Jennifer

Kathleen_Mc:
Dianne: I too am having trouble sleeping, my surgery was Sept. 6th (or whatever that Tues. was). My doctor gave me some sleeping pills and they do certainly help but I don't want to take them all the time because they can be highly addicting. I find I could sleep for hours in an afternnon nap but not at night....even when I force myself to stay up all day I won't sleep more than 6 hours total in broken sleep at night. I had this problem too the first time I had surgery (yes this is the second time, tumor regrew!) but at that time I can remember I couldn't get to sleep because I was convinced I would die....my first surgery was very traumatic, I was only given 50% chance of surviving the surgery and I was awake and on life support for a couple of days.
Some suggestions: warm milk, warm bath, try sleeping somewhere other than your bed (couch, spare room), if you can't sleep get up briefly and then go back, lie quietly so at least your body rests.
I know how frustrating this is...it doesn't make sense that you're so tired you can't stay awake and then once in bed you can't sleep.
I can't remember how long this lasted for the first time...then again as soon as I return to work I have disrupted sleeping patterns anyways (shift worker).
Kathleen

Rex:
I had Translab surgery on 8/4/04 for a 3.1cm AN.  I had trouble sleeping for 4-6 weeks after surgery because of the steroids.  I was only sleeping 2-3 hrs per night.  After I started taking Ambien it went up to 4 hrs per night, but another benefit was that it cut out the tossing and turning and I would fall asleep within 10-15 minutes of taking it.   After I finished the steroids, it took a couple weeks, but my sleep pattern graduallly shifted back to normal.   My doctor told me ambien was not addictive and I had no problems stopping cold turkey.

One last note about the steroids, they made me hungry all the time and I was eating 6 meals a day when I was taking them.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page