Does anyone else have trouble sleeping?

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  • CanItBeTrueNH
    CanItBeTrueNH Member Posts: 86
    edited November 2008

    Thanks Terrilee

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  • darCraig
    darCraig Member Posts: 87
    edited November 2008

    I hadn't slept well in 2 years - since diagnosis!  You all know the drill.  But the last month or so, I have been sleeping.  I still wake up - have to pee you know - but I can generally get back to sleep, and feel that I am having a deep restful sleep.  I wonder if I have been afraid to sleep - too much like death - on top of the worry, night sweats, chemo, steroids, etc. etc.  Now after 2 years, I'm a little more relaxed about it all.  Most of my friends who are menopausal have sleep issues too, so I don't expect perfection.  But it is better.  I let myself sleep as much as I want - I think I'm making up for the last 2 years!  So it does get better.

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  • Katiejane
    Katiejane Member Posts: 789
    edited November 2008

       I did not sleep well during chemo and for quite some time post. Alot of the problem was anxiety but alot of the problem was caused by the steroids. Also, I'm one of those people who does not sleep after taking pain meds for 3-4 days!  They make me feel like I'm on a huge caffeine buzz!

    My Onc. prescribed all of the different "new" sleep aids but they did nothing for me. He then prescribed Ativan(lorazapam), 1-2 mg as needed for sleep. It worked wonders(great for anxiety)! I still wake up for the bathroom and I don't have drowsiness the next morning. 

    Good luck & sweet dreams!!!  katiejane

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  • Sons4Us
    Sons4Us Member Posts: 35
    edited November 2008

    For the past 3 nights I take a teaspoon of my kids liquid benadryl..it works great ! 

    Does this get better as the months go by?? post-diagnosis??

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  • gmakidd
    gmakidd Member Posts: 25
    edited November 2008

    Nights are the worst time for me, I think its because I am alone. I am divorced and I think it would be nice to feel a warm body next to me just to feel someone alive.  

    The only way I can sleep is to exhaust myself. So I stay in school full time and work full time. I am looking ahead to the future as they say on the Cancer pages. Its hard to do that at night.

    Anyway, had my second round of chemo today, and I am bald. I wish my darn brows would fall out. I am afraid to have them waxed because if they all fell out when the little girl pulled off the tape I am afraid she would drop dead (lol). Oh yes, I stayed awake worrying over that too.

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  • ryjuem
    ryjuem Member Posts: 64
    edited November 2008

    Sounds like we've all tried it all!  I certainly tried everything from drugs to supplements to tea to healing touch.  Some things didn't work at all but now...I'm sleeping well most nights.  The night after my treatment I'm not able to sleep, but I do ok other nights. 

    I started chemo in July  -- 4 dd A/C followed by 12 weekly Taxol with placebo/Avastin

    I'm 12 treatments down...4 to go.  Here's what I found worked...Cool

    Melatonin - a good one from an Integrative Dr. 10mg (I had no success with the grocery store kind)

    Reiki - I went for Reiki I certification - can do self-treatment and it is sooooo relaxing.  I use it at the beginning of tx and snooze right through.

    Accupunture - found a great accupunturist who is a pro at pain management.  No more headaches (or at least not as bad) and it feels like the toxins are out of the system more.

    Massage - found the best best massage therapist.  Also helps move the toxins out.

    BEST TIP - Get off the computer...turn the TV off.  Once I did that I slept better

    Also helpful - A dark, quiet room.  I also moved to a different room and sleep alone (hubby snores!)

    Everyone's journey is different - I hope you find peace on your journey.

    -joanne

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  • Marple
    Marple Member Posts: 19,143
    edited November 2008

    Sleep eludes me too.  I cannot remember the last time I slept for more than an hour at a time.  It's exhausting.  I think the night sweats are part of the problem.  I'm on arimidex so I guess they aren't going to end any time soon.  I think I could cope better if I could get a good nights sleep.  I'd sure like to try it if I could.

    Hugs all insomniacs.

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  • mollykitten
    mollykitten Member Posts: 33
    edited November 2008

    Hi Everyone,

    I see since I have posted my question that many of us going who have been Dx'd, going through treatment,etc are still having trouble sleeping.  I have actually taken a couple of suggestions, talked to my onc since my last post and through trial and error, have found some some combos of sleep remedies that do work-maybe not every night, but better than before.

    Karen1956, I started taking Ambien CR 12.5 (my onc prescribed it), and that seems to help. On the nights when I take it, I seem to get about 5 hours of solid sleep, which is way better than a couple of broken hours of sleep or none at all. I do not take Ambien CR every night, though because it does seem to have a "hangover effect" the next day. So I only take it when I also have nothing planned the next day and that way if I am still drowsy, it's not such of a big deal.     

    Also, PinkyLee I don't know if you tried the chamomile tea idea yet, but I have, and it at least seems to help calm me down before bed, which makes it easier to at least fall asleep and get a few hours-again at least it's better than nothing.

    I know this might sound off the wall, but do any of you have trouble sleeping in your actual bed? I ask this because I have found that since being Dx'd and going through treatment, I get more sleep when I am on the couch in my living room or family room, rather than being in my bed.  Has anyone else gone through this with sleeping in their bed, or am I just really starting to lose it?

     Thanks again,

     Josie : )   

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  • PinkyLee
    PinkyLee Member Posts: 648
    edited November 2008

    Thanks.  I will be trying the tea tonight.  I have found that sitting up on the corner of the sofa with the heating pad after the ambien helps me sleep. 

    My DH asked today about my sleeping on the sofa.  I don't think he approves, but at least I sleep there.

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  • -Cheryl-
    -Cheryl- Member Posts: 23
    edited November 2008

    Well it's my day after treatment #3 and it's 2:00 AM. This is usually I don't sleep very well, or I sleep most of the day and not at night. I'm hoping it to shall pass, but tomorrow will be a better day.

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  • rock
    rock Member Posts: 1,486
    edited November 2008

    For what it's worth and to show my solidarity with my sleepless sisters (!), I started a thread called "Got Insomnia?" (under Humor and Games) which lists some (light-hearted) websites that can help burn the midnight oil. Take care, rock.

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/31/topic/723268?page=1#idx_1

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  • flash
    flash Member Posts: 1,685
    edited November 2008

    we're supposed to sleep????

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  • TorchSong
    TorchSong Member Posts: 348
    edited November 2008
    I'm blaming it on the meds...that Dex...always a bad player Laughing
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  • terrilee
    terrilee Member Posts: 36
    edited November 2008

    I realized one morning that my sleepless night was pure anxiety,and finally saw a therapist. I lucked out, she was very good, and I've slept better since. Except the night my dear husband kept me awake. LOL I didn't even have a pre-chemo freak out night this time. It is my third tx, so I guess I'm becoming a bit more accepting.

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  • sandy_simpson
    sandy_simpson Member Posts: 17
    edited November 2008

    Try some ativan.  I had trouble sleeping and that got me through the night.  My heart would just race all night.  This med worked for me.  I was on it the full 8 months and my dr. used celexa to get me off of it.  It can be addicting but you have to sleep.  The dr. knows what to do, trust him.

    Sandy

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  • sandy_simpson
    sandy_simpson Member Posts: 17
    edited November 2008

    Try some ativan.  I had trouble sleeping and that got me through the night.  My heart would just race all night.  This med worked for me.  I was on it the full 8 months and my dr. used celexa to get me off of it.  It can be addicting but you have to sleep.  The dr. knows what to do, trust him.

    Sandy

    Try senokot for the constipation.  That worked for me

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  • sandy_simpson
    sandy_simpson Member Posts: 17
    edited November 2008

    Josie, I so remember how you feel.  I never thought I would get through those dark days.  But times goes by and now those days are behind me and that will be you too one day!  Just take each day and do not look ahead.  Get through the day and thank the Lord for that.  This is only temporary and you will look back and wonder how you ever got through it! 

      How did I do it?  I put my trust in Jesus and He carried me through.  Really, I had to totally focus on Him and keep my mind up and that is how I made it.  He is a Refuge and our Rock when we go down and our light in the storms of life.  He is the hope we need that no matter what happens we will not be defeated. 

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  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited November 2008

    Non sleeper here too.

    This is what my onco gives me.

     .50mg to 1 mg ativan... with two over the counter sleeping pills.

    I take them at 8-9pm. I fall asleep most night by midnight.. sleep 2-3 hrs... never really sleep after 3 until I ... move to the couch by 6am... it is cooler there.. and can sleep really well after dh and son are of to work and school.. sleep well from 7-9am. .. sometimes 10am.

    So.. I sleep good about 5 hrs a day. I am never tired through the day.. spun actually even without steroids. So I take a .50 ativan around noon to chill out.

    This is my life of the sleep deprived sista! Which I HATE as I KNOW sleep is so important to us!!!

    Onco says I have unbelievable mind control. I do not even go out when they try to put you  "a little under".. like when I had my port in... the found something that would numb me finally... but I never went under with the drugs and they sent me home right after surgery.. said they gave me enough for a 250 man...lol. and I am 105ish pds..lol.....funny... the nurse kept saying... " why are you awake??? I have given you so much.. why are you awake..."

    Ok well... thus is me.

    Gods Love and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's

    Laura

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