How to sleep when you have drains in

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CeciliaVera
CeciliaVera Member Posts: 59
edited September 2014 in Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy

Hello! I'm having a bilateral mastectomy in Sept, no recon, and am starting to try to get organized...

I'm
wondering how it's possible to sleep with drains. Do they stay tucked
in to the special camisole? If I roll over on them, will there be an
unimaginable mess?! Is it worth renting a recliner or hospital bed, as I
have read some do? Thanks for any tips!

Xposted in "Surgery...before, during, after"

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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited August 2014


    I bought a bed wedge from Bed Bath and Beyond, mainly because I was concerned about getting up from a flat lying position.  I've heard a lot of women sleeping in recliners and again it seems mainly for ease of getting up. Be prepared to sleep on your back. Sleeping on your side with drains is not easy. They are very sturdy and you really don't have to worry about rolling over on them and there being a mess in bed.  After a few days, I was able to sleep on my side but not at first.  They will stay tucked in the camisole pockets, or you can pin them to your shirt. It has a loop on the top that you can pass a pin, or ribbon thru to attach the drain to whatever. 

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited August 2014

    I found that instead of pinning them to the side seams of my shirt as I did during the day, I pinned them to the front of my button-up pajama top for sleeping, then put big pillows on either side of me to keep me from rolling over, with pillows behind me to keep me slightly upright - worked great.  I did not need a recliner for any of the surgeries I have had, and I have had drains multiple times.

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  • aunt_paula
    aunt_paula Member Posts: 271
    edited August 2014

    I had them taped to me (sounds uncomfortable but wasn't), and slept in a recliner at first, and then upright-ish on my couch. I think I slept in my bed again about 2 weeks (maybe longer) after surgery.

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  • placid44
    placid44 Member Posts: 497
    edited August 2014

    I slept in a zip up exercise jacket with the drains put in the inside pockets, where a cell phone would go. I liked that better than the camisole. My incision spots (where the drain tubing met my body) leaked onto the sheets a couple of times. The drains "bulbs" themselves were very sturdy.

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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited August 2014


    OH, I forgot about having extra pillows!  Good reminder, SpecialK!

    Ceceilia:  one book in particular that gave me a lot of good practical advice was:  NOW WHAT?  A patient's guide to recovery after mastectomy by Amy Curran Baker.   I had not found this forum at that point, and this book gave me a lot of practical advice about drains, getting out of bed, etc.  If you are a book person, you may find this helpful.

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  • crystalphm
    crystalphm Member Posts: 1,138
    edited August 2014

    You got very good advice, you will sleep on your back. And lots of pillows are a good idea. I even had some "camping or travel" pillows which were smaller to put in places that hurt. The first 2 days after the surgery, I needed help to sit up in bed, but after that I was fine. Had I known, I would have practiced sitting up not using arms before hand.

    I never really slept on my sides for a few weeks after the drains were out, I would tend to roll, but the pinching feeling of the drains woke me right up...so it was not hard to sleep on my back. Wishing you the best!

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  • DiveCat
    DiveCat Member Posts: 968
    edited August 2014

    You will be on your back. You should have enough pillows around, or a recliner, so as to prevent rolling over in your sleep. I had a drain belt, and so the drains were positioned in front of me/on top of me while I slept. I had both a pillow nest set up in my bed and a recliner, so would switch between the two as needed or as was comfortable for me. I slept a lot in the recliner as I found it easier to get comfortable, and I slept a bit better. I also did not want to me waking up my husband all night when he had to work the next day :)

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  • Ariom
    Ariom Member Posts: 6,197
    edited September 2014

    I only had a Umx, but didn't have any problems sleeping with the drain. It was the height of Summer when I had my surgery, so I didn't actually attach mine to anything, it had a very long tube, so I could actually let it hang over the side of the bed.

    I bought a "V" pillow which allowed me to sleep more on my side, you can adjust the "V" pillow to support you comfortably. I am not a back sleeper at all and I even found after the first week or so, I was rolling all the way over, onto my stomach in my sleep, with the drain tube wrapped around me and although it hurt a bit if it got pulled it didn't cause any real problems, it had a couple of stitches to secure it.

    I wish you all the best!

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  • NoRecon
    NoRecon Member Posts: 9
    edited September 2014

    Ms Cecillia

    I moved the drains out to the side when I needed to lay on my side.  I was going nuts trying to sleep only on my back.  I had a bilateral mastectomy ten months ago.  I pinned the drains to the dressings in the front when I got in the shower with removable showerhead.  After the drains came out and dressings came off I missed the compression.  I bought extra wide ace bandages.  I tried one end to the fridge door and spun into it.  No clips needed.  I tucked the end anywhere it wouldn't irritate incisions.  Usually to the side.  

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  • NoRecon
    NoRecon Member Posts: 9
    edited September 2014

    I put the drain pouches in pockets of warm up pants during the day.  I hooked drain tube a couple times on dresser or kitchen draw pulls.  Ouch.  My drain tubes were a little too long maybe?  But long enough that I was able to get the pouches out of my way to sleep too.

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