Insomnia after surgery

[Thwdp]

Hi all

Just got home last week after surgery and complications - 6 weeks in Hospital not nice. I wanted to ask if insomnia is common and if anyone has any experience of relieving it over the obvious reading a boring book. I am back at work and just can't get to sleep at night and am worried about how lack of sleep is affecting concentration and my whole day.

Also worried about sleeping tablets interacting with Warfarin and other drugs so again if there are any suggestions I would be very grateful.

 

[Faye]

I had terrible insomnia after my surgery. I, too, spent a long time in the hospital. My doc told me that my circardium (sp?) cycles were messed up due to the constant waking up in the hospital. I ended up taking a short round of sleeping pills along with a consistent schedule to help reset my wake/sleep cycles.

It will get better - hang in there!

 

[Bina]

I had many nights of lying awake for a couple of hours.....it's not fun at all, but I could try to catch up on the sleep the next day.
Did you have to go back to work after 6 weeks?
That seems to be very soon, your body has been through a major trauma and needs time to heal and re-model.

 

[Eva]

Hi all

Just got home last week after surgery and complications - 6 weeks in Hospital not nice. I wanted to ask if insomnia is common and if anyone has any experience of relieving it over the obvious reading a boring book. I am back at work and just can't get to sleep at night and am worried about how lack of sleep is affecting concentration and my whole day.

Also worried about sleeping tablets interacting with Warfarin and other drugs so again if there are any suggestions I would be very grateful.

I took sleeping pills since I was told of the need for surgery, and continued for two months after surgery...great relief!

 

[ChouDoufu]

worried about how lack of sleep is affecting concentration and my whole day.

how is it affecting you? do you feel tired?

after avr i've noticed i don't need nearly as much sleep as before. i rarely
sleep more than 5-6 hours now, and other than the first couple weeks, am
not taking afternoon naps. maybe getting too much oxygen with that
increased blood flow.

 

[Tbone]

In the hospital you are always getting woke up for blood draws, blood pressure, temp, and such. Your body has to re-acclimate to being able to sleep longer without interruptions. Just think of jet lag. Same principle. Try drinking something warm before going to bed, not hot but warm.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DaveEM]

With the various medications, some of which can cause nervousness and/or insomnia as a side effect, I also had insomnia after I stopped the pain meds in the natural progression of my healing. It was very distressing. I started taking the Unisom sleeptabs to help, and it's done wonders. I can't address the issue of Warfarin, however, since I have a tissue valve. Perhaps others can chime in.

 

[hensylee]

I believe our body is turned upside down and inside out during all of our stuff to get fixed and when we get home, the body must rewind/reprogram to get straightened out again. you'll find future will no doubt take care of it.

 

[sue943]

A friend of mine who lives abroad asked me to buy her some Nytol as she cannot buy it locally. When I was in the chemist shop yesterday I asked the pharmacist if I could take it with warfarin and he said yes, perfectly ok. I have now bought some for myself and will try it when I am having a bad night.

 

[Alerion]

I've had terrible insomnia. got a script for pills and they help. i think that once I'm able to be more active outside(It's 12 degrees out and snowy out right now) I should be better able to sleep.

Good luck to you

David

 

[lb151]

Its true,,you may need a little something to help you sleep for a while. I tried not to take anything and when I tried to get to sleep,I started running everything I have been through around in my head. I took just 5 mg Ambien,,just enough to get me off to sleep. I weaned myself off just a few weeks ago,,6 months post surgery. I find I can sleep again,,no problem. If I lay down and my mind winds up,I get up and take my Ambien. Its really early in your recovery,,be kind to yourself.

 

[ponygirlmom]

Just got home last week after surgery and complications - 6 weeks in Hospital not nice. I wanted to ask if insomnia is common and if anyone has any experience of relieving it over the obvious reading a boring book.

Yes, I definitely had strange sleeping patterns for several months. You don't mention the medications that you are taking, but adjusting the timing of those meds may be helpful to you.

Are you on steroids? My steroids made me super-sensitive to things in my environment that could hype me up. After a certain time at night, I would go to the bedroom where I could not hear the TV or conversations, and do my stretching exercises and puzzles (sudoku, crosswords) in there before bed.

I also found that if I woke in the middle of the night, eating something and then going to sleep in a different location worked. Yes, this can cause indigestion in the morning, but it was better to get some sleep. I would sleep in the recliner or the guest bedroom.

My sleeping got better as I was able to exercise more, even accounting for the sleeping problems caused by the steroids.

 

[BDMc]

I had insomnia for a number of weeks, though it didn't last the whole recovery. Seems to me you are back at work very soon. I didn't go back for 3 months, and by then was in great shape. All the best, Brian

 

[geckley]

I had it also. That and the hair growing back on my chest itching uncontrolably. I used to take 1 pain pill before bed. That would knock me out for 4-5 hours. Docs told me to take pain pills as needed. They knocked me out so no blood no foul. I later found from the doctor that a lot o patients did it.

 

[Laura R]

How's your insomnia now? Getting better? I was up at all hours, never knew when I'd get sleepy or wake up, but it gradually went back to normal. Too bad you had to go back to work so soon. Hope you're doing okay now.
Laura