Lack of sleep after OHS

[Pegasus]

My husband has sleeping problems since his OHS last year. He just doesn't sleep as soundly anymore and there are days where he'll wake up around 4:00 a.m. and isn't able to go back to sleep for one hour or two. He isn't depressed in any way or worries too much and yet, he can't stay asleep. Did any of you have the same problem? If yes, what did you do about it or did it get better on its own??

We don't eat late and we eat light so stomach issues aren't the cause. His last blood test was fine too and he is almost a year out of surgery and doing well otherwise (echo soon). He also gets easily cold hands since his OHS - which he never had before. He isn't on any meds so we thoght this might be effects from the heart/lung machine? Maybe his circulation isn't as well as before and that's why he can't sleep.


astrid

 

[Ross]

I wish I could pinpoint our problem, but alas, I cannot. It seems to go with the territory. 5 years now, I've had trouble sleeping. I'm awake more then I'm asleep. I've tried every drug known to man to induce sleep and it has not worked. Many of us are now insomiacs. Very few go back to a normal sleeping pattern.

 

[sue943]

Another insomniac here, almost two years. I read. I just snuggle up with a book and finally fall asleep for a while - I just leave the light on, then when I wake again I carry on reading.

The problem is that I then fall asleep in my chair in the evening in front of the television and when I finally go to bed I can't sleep.

My left hand is cold, more so than my right but I did have a stroke which affected my left side so it might be that, I don't know.

 

[geebee]

Sorry to have to say this but I haven't slept well in almost 27 years since my first OHS. I just deal with it. I seem to get enough sleep because my brain works well, I am not depressed and am relatively healthy.

The one thing I have learned is not to stay in bed if you can't sleep. That just makes things worse. Get up, read a book, have some warm milk, write some poetry - anything to take your mind off not sleeping. Go back to bed when you are sleepy.

I am convinced that I am afraid of missing something so I spend as much time awake as possible.

 

[Magic8Ball]

I hadn't really given it any thought but yes, i seem to wake quite regularly at about 4am but seem to usually get back to sleep.

I'm waking easier than before surgery and going to sleep later than i did before surgery.

Was awake at 5ish this morning and out of bed doing stuff at 6am...very unusual for me and the first time this has happend.

To be frank, i thought this was a benefit as i feel more active and less tired.

However, i have had two nights in the past two weeks where my mind has been so active with work/building a new house etc that it just wouldn't shut off and i had a rough nights sleep.

Can't be any help, as long as i feel rested most of the time the actual amount of sleep doesn't worry me.

Regards.

 

[ruth]

Sleepy in DC

Sleepy in DC

I suspect there is a great deal of variation with sleep. Immediately post-op I had pain issues and couldn't sleep. Then it was AFib keeping me awake (my pulse was up in the 120's during that time too) or maybe the meds they had me on for AFib (Amioderone). For about 2 months post-op I was sleeping maybe 4 hours at a time, sometimes not falling asleep until 4 or 5am! I found that 2 things helped me. One was to have a book nearby on a comfy chair near my bed with a blanket nearby too. After 20 minutes I would insist on getting myself out of bed and reading until tired again. Second was to establish a routine, like you do with a baby that won't sleep, and that helped me. Even as my sleep issues lessened, my body still wanted those same routine cues even if shortened (a brief read not a half book). Oh, and if I can add a 3'rd thing, it helped to stop obsessing about not sleeping and trying to use the 'extra' night time for something I enjoyed, like reading rather than laying awake frustrated.

Going on 4 months now since surgery and I am sleeping like I did pre-surgery, maybe just a tad less but nothing bothersome at this point. This is a recent development, the first 3 months I was not sleeping well at all. In that regard I'm different than the posters before me here but we're all different and I'm sure others have had their sleep patterns return to pre-surgery levels.

Best Regards,
Ruth

 

[Cooker]

I am always the odd ball . Guys, I sleep like a log. I did have a bit of a problem when I was healing but not since. My wife says it is because I have a clear conscious but I know that ain't right

Tom

 

[debster913]

Hi, Astrid--

No sleeping problems here, although I find myself wanting to sleep more. Dr. V says it's my sotalol that makes me tired; and I do wear myself out working. It's not a very physical job, but mental. And I get tired--working with teens all day, although fun and challenging--is tiring!

The thing that struck me in your post is when you said your husband's hands are always cold is that this could be a circulation issue. This is something you should tell the cardio or your GP about right away. My right foot went cold a few months ago, and I thought nothing of it until the coldness persisted and I ended up needing a femoral arterial angioplasty to open up the narrowed artery. Scar tissue had formed inside the artery from the heart-lung machine access port, and it was inhibiting my blood flow. I had, at the time of the procedure, only 25% input/output from that artery.

Take care and let us know what happens--
Debi (debster913)

 

[Pegasus]

Thanks everyone!

Making work lists when he is awake isn't really helpful and since January he is back to coaching kids 3 x week plus we are running our own business etc. - maybe he is just overdoing it a bit.

Debi, I remember reading about your ordeal. Sorry you had to go through this! My husband had a cardio check-up February - he has a great cardio and GP - and all was fine.

We are soon going on a vacation so we all can catch up on our ZZZs then, hopefully.
astrid

 

[WayneGM]

Since my OHS, I typically wake up once or twice per night. Rarely do I sleep through the night. I also find I dream a lot more....weird dreams to boot, sometimes with people I haven't seen in years in them.

 

[Bill Hall]

I had a sleeping problem as soon as woke up after surgery. I just couldn't sleep in that ICU or in the hospital. After I went home, I still couldn't sleep. Only after I reurned to work did things go back to normal.

 

[Bradley White]

I haven't slept a full night without waking up since my first OHS seven years ago. I've gotten completely used to it. Either it will pass or he will get used to it.

Best,
Brad

 

[Pegasus]

My husband is trying acupuncture now. I'll update if treamtments make a difference.

 

[Adam 12-21-05]

I used to call it the 4's...

I would wake up between 4:08 and 4:20am and then I would be up for the rest of the night, tossing and turning in bed.

Then, I developed a strategy to handle the 4's.

Exercise every single day.

I have not had insomnia in many months.

My advice, tired yourself out!

Good luck! Adam

 

[Pegasus]

Thanks Adam. We are exercising every day - we have to, we have very active dogs we need to tire out. Still, he is awake. Calming teas before bed time haven't worked either. Maybe acupuncutre will help - otherwise we just have to live with it. He doesn't want to take meds for it. I think we need the Serta sheep!

 

[Ross]

Someone asking for us?

 

[Superbob]

Let us know if the acupuncture works.

I have had sleep problems since my surgery little more than 2 years ago. I took a doctor's advice and tried temazepam (generic for Restoril) to help me through a rough patch (I thought). But I became dependent on it. My first new GP when I moved out here didn't seem concerned about getting me off the pills, even though temazepam info says normal use is only for 7-10 days. I changed GPs for that and other reasons, and my newest GP has given me some samples of Rozerem and a prescription. Rozerem works in a more natural way, interacting with melatonin receptors, and is not supposed to be habit-forming. But after a few nights, I can tell the transition is not going to be easy. Slept hardly at all last night after dispensing with the tema. Still I think this may be a helpful transition to where I can take or leave the Rozerem.

I endorse your determination to avoid sleep meds if at all possible.

As for merely tiring myself out in one way or another in order to induce sleep, that doesn't work for me. If anything, I sleep even less when I go to bed very tired.

 

[Pegasus]

Rachel, thankfully he doesn't have any respiratory distress. He also sleeps nearly flat on a very thin pillow since he has an old neck-sports injury and he can't tolerate being propped up. He did have a chest x-ray and echo at 5 months out - all was fine.
Last night he actually slept through for 6 hrs and he said this morning he feels even more tired and his muscles ache from lying still so long . We both had our 2nd acupuncture appt. today but too early to tell. We will be trying to go to bed earlier, maybe that will help.
Thanks everyone.

 

[chilihead]

sleeping

sleeping

I have had a similar issue for over 3 years. I wake up around 3:00 AM every night. Occasionally if I really exercise a lot in the afternoon I will sleep all night. I ususally have a hard time getting back to sleep when I do wake up. For a while I had this weird idea that that may have been when they restarted my heart after the OHS, but I know that that wasn't nearly close to the actual time looking at the surgeons records.