Managing Back Pain & Insomnia?

[Ershin]

Hi again everybody, sorry for the delay in posting. I've made it through my second operation and had what I feel like was the least interesting hospital stay I could imagine. But now, about 1 week after being discharged, I noticed that I'm not sleeping so great, mostly in little 2-4 hour chunks with a lot of restlessness in between. My back has taken a beating in the hospital and I have a pretty large sore area, though the nurses and skin specialists didn't seem to think it was too concerning, which makes it very difficult to sleep. Is my only hope of dealing with this taking some pain meds (trying to avoid taking them, for the most part) before bed, or would I be better off finding ways to prop myself up with pillows and such? Appreciate any advice, thanks!

 

[honeybunny]

I slept in increments of a few hours at a time in my recliner. This went on for 3 weeks. Some times I moved to the sofa which wasn't much better. I take an anxiety pill nightly which helps me sleep and still had trouble. Remember they put your body into crazy positions during surgery so you have muscles affected in addition to the trauma caused by opening you up. IMO pain meds are helpful during the recovery period. I took Aleve when needed.

The only way to know if propping up on pillows will help is to try it. At one point I bought a pillow wedge but it didn't help at all.

 

[epstns]

I had a lot of trouble with sleep during the first couple of months after surgery. Partly due to discomfort - my intestinal system was at a standstill and I was so "bound up" that I had to be re-admitted to the hospital 4 weeks post-op to sort it out. Partly due to whatever it is that the anesthesia does to your ability to sleep. I would fall asleep, sleep for a few hours, then would wake up and be awake for several hours before I could get back to sleep. I came to realize that this was just my body trying to re-regulate itself, and concluded that as long as I was not back to work, I would just let it sort itself out. Many times I just sat and read for a couple of hours, or I would come here and chat with anyone who was around.

I also tried a remedy that my daughter told me was used in the medical facility where she worked. When they had patients who needed mild sedation, but not enough to warrant prescription meds, they would administer over-the-counter Benadryl (usually sold as an allergy medication), which would calm the patients down enough to allow them to sleep. This med had minimal side effects (mainly morning drowsiness) and was non-habit-forming. This often worked for me, and I was able to discontinue without any after-effects once things returned to normal.

The big thing is to try not to get too anxious about sleep. It will happen once your body adjusts. Just try not to be doing anything dangerous until it settles down!

 

[Paleowoman]

I too had trouble sleeping for the first couple of months post surgery. Partly because of the pain which meant I had to sleep propped up on the sofa. My sofa is really comfortable to lie down on but it's not comfortable to sleep in an upright position ! I had sleeping meds, made no difference. Like Steve I would be awake in the middle of the night and come on forum - a real god send to have people around who understood what it was like. I would also nap or rest during the day - in fact the hospital had that as one of their post op instructions, to take a nap during the day. Even if I couldn't sleep it was important to just rest.

I found it a lot easier to sleep once I could lie down properly without getting pain.

 

[AZ Don]

I couldn't sleep flat for over a month. I used a recliner. Also, I found that the beta blocker (metoprolol) can cause insomnia - it caused me some restless nights. I learned to never take it shortly before trying to sleep.

 

[tsanjose]

i'm 4 mos out from mitral valve repair surgery and i remember having trouble sleeping for the first 2 or 3. believe me it does get better in time. i always thought a lot of it was due to being in the hospital for almost a week and being drugged up for most of the day. throw in hourly interrupts for insulin checks, weigh ins and xrays through out the night and there you go.

what worked wonders for me was to make sure to walk and stay as active as you're comfortable with during the day. you'll be back on schedule in no time.

 

[almost_hectic]

Open heart surgery qualifies as one of those times when it's okay to take pain meds, unless they create other problems for you I wouldn't be afraid to use them, even if it's only at night to get some desperately needed rest. I found it really difficult trying to sleep too. Couldn't have done it without my pain pills. After a while the need gets less and less.

 

[epstns]

Open heart surgery qualifies as one of those times when it's okay to take pain meds, unless they create other problems for you I wouldn't be afraid to use them, even if it's only at night to get some desperately needed rest. I found it really difficult trying to sleep too. Couldn't have done it without my pain pills. After a while the need gets less and less.

Generally, I agree, BUT be aware of how those pain meds affect you. I took low doses of pain meds for a while after surgery, and it appeared that those meds, combined with the massive doses of similar stuff given at the hospital, were what caused my digestive system to come to almost a complete halt. Constipation is a real problem after heart surgery, and I am disappointed that the docs don't do a better job of educating patients about the causes, symptoms and remedies for digestive issues. I actually had to be readmitted to the hospital for a few days about a month after surgery - just to get my digestive system back into operation. It is definitely NOT fun being so stopped up that you cannot eat.

After my return visit to the hospital, then told me that I should use Miralax (or generic) for a few weeks, until all was back to normal. I was told to start with full dosage as per package instructions, then after a week or so, half dosage, then one-fourth, then discontinue. That, for me, was a life saver. [Note to "The Peanut Gallery" -- No comments about me being "full of it."]