ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[SJJ]

For the last 5-7 years I have had varying degrees of difficulty in sleeping. Generally, I've been slow to fall asleep, but mostly I've been a very light sleeper, easily disturbed and awakened. In fact it had gotten so bad that I frequently had to move to the guest bedroom at some point during the night due to the fact that my husband has restless leg syndrome and runs and twitches half the night-how does one sleep with that going on! Well, I'm happy to report that since about 2 weeks after my AVR, I've consistently fallen asleep within 5 minutes of hitting the pillow and I've slept soundly through the night oblivious to my husband's running. I usually wake up around 4-5 for a quick bathroom visit and to let the cat out but then go blissfully back to sleep spooning with my honey. Just wondered if anyone else out there has had their sleep improve dramatically since surgery. It's definitely an added bonus that I wasn't anticipating and better sleep could account for some of the extra energy I'm enjoying as well.
Sue

 

[Ross]

Sleep? What is this sleep concept of which you speak?

 

[Glenda]

Oh, I certainly hope that after the surgery I will be able to sleep. I have to take Ambein every night now. I've afraid I'm hooked! but if I don't take it, I don't sleep at all. I'm a very light sleeper and my husband is a snorer so that doesn't help. I notice on this forum where so many of you post in the early morning hours.

 

[SJJ]

Glenda,
I took my husband to NYC for a month last fall to celebrate his 6oth birthday. Not being used to it, the street noise at night drove me crazy so I bought earplugs, the wax kind that you form to your ears. They really helped. If you haven't already, try some of those.
Sue

 

[Abbanabba]

It's funny, I've had so many people tell me that "once you get your heart fixed you'll probably find you'll sleep like a log". It would be nice to think this is true, but considering I've been battling my insomnia for nearly 30 years (..that I can remember..) I'm not too sure if this will be the case.

Funnily enough, since I stopped the antidepressants the Dr gave me, I've been sleeping quite well and over the weekend I slept 10hrs straight for 2 nights in a row!!! I don't think I've EVER slept that well before..... unfortunately I still feel exhausted, but I'm hoping this will be a continuing trend.

Glenda -
I was given a double dose of sleeping pills for a dental procedure. I don't remember anything much, but apparently I was still running around giving my flatmate hell. I've always wondered if these sleeping pills actually help you sleep, or if you just don't remember being awake! Perhaps it depends on WHY you can't sleep, so if the Ambien are working for you, it might help break the cylce. I'd definitely try Sue's advice of the earplugs though. I tend to sleep with them because we have a plague of crickets and their chirping is enough to drive me insane. The earplugs work a treat!!

Cheers all
Anna : )

 

[catwoman]

Glenda:

I had to get an Rx for sleeping aids last May. Not Ambien, but something similar. Made me too groggy all day long, so I switched to Tylenol PM (generic). Still use that every so often when I've had trouble sleeping. My husband has trouble sleeping -- has sleep apnea -- so occasionally he takes Tylenol PM.

 

[Harpoon]

Tylenol PM's got stuff in it that makes your heart race....

That evil pseudo-ephedrine stuff...

It's not the ephedrine that's killed people, but it's the next "best" thing.


Anyways....


I was on sleeping pills for a few nights while I was at Cleveland Clinic. I couldn't sleep at all with all the noise of the hospital and such and finally got up and complained about it after spending half a night sitting at the nurses station with the night shift listening to music and reading a book.

I think they finally figured something just wasn't right with my sleep patterns, especially after I got my breathing treatment AT the nurses station at 4 am (the treatments where every six hours and a HUGE pain in my arse)

Anyways...

Three nights I got sleeping pills at about 11pm and I slept for about five hours or so (they the damned pulminologist came to wake me for my breathing treatment, grrrrrr....) They the nurses said no more, they didn't want be becoming reliant on them to sleep.

Oh well, there goes that idea.

When I got home my family was nice to me, they arranged for me to have the house to myself from about 7:30am to 3:30pm every day for over a week.


Aaaahhhhhh....

After a few days I even sneaked out for a little drive. Went to the local corner convienient store and bought a Slush Puppy. I had been craving one for weeks while in the hospital, don't ask me why. I hadn't had one in YEARS.

Living on a feeding tube for 3 weeks straight makes you batty.

 

[Guest]

I am taking Melatonin to help with sleep. I only started recently, so can't be sure of the results. It _feels_ like I'm getting more sleep, but I don't know. Some nights, I wake up almost every hour on the hour (mostly Sunday nights right before I go back to work for the week). I get the most sleep on the weekends, but that's 2 vs 5 week days .

I think it's mainly stress...from my job . I'm trying to rectify that by searching, but it's hard.... I'm even expanding my search to include Nashville/Jackson TN and Charlotte NC...as well as my home area of Chicagoland. We shall see.

I never really have gotten a lot of sleep at night. In HS and, more so, in college, I ran on about 5 hours of sleep. I'm working on getting more hours of sleep those 5 weekday nights, but I'm not very successful at it . Too much to do...and so little time .

*sighs*

Cort, "Mr Road Trip"/"The Uniter", 30swm w/pig valve & pacemaker
member & newsletter editor, Faith COB = http://www.faithcob.org
"Mr MC"'s Family...& train & models = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
K's BL = http://forums.demonsoftware.com/index.php?showforum=15
Spotting MCs = http://www.chevyasylum.com/mcspotter/main.html
MC's Future = http://www.projectmonte.com/petition/

 

[Bryan B]

Sue,

Before surgery I had chronic problems falling asleep. I have definitely noticed a difference since my surgery. AND, last night I did have insomnia for the 1st time since my surgery and only got 4 and 1/2 hours sleep. I was amazed how decent I felt this morning. Before the surgery, if that would have happened I would have been dead on my feet all day. Instead I went to my doctor's appointment, stopped by my office and talked to my boss and coworkers, went though 6 weeks of mail (ouch), and took a 2.5mi walk.

 

[Gail in Ca]

I only sleep now if I am totally exhausted.
After my avr, the clicking, ugh! Then my dog decides she is a watch dog and must bark at pretty much anything. Now that she is better about it, my hot flashes have increased dramatically, day and night ,and I am not sleeping but about 2 hours at a time. Off with the blanket and On with the blanket..
Sometimes I awaken thinking my heart had stopped and I am freaked out, afraid to go back to sleep.I don't really know why that is going on, either.
Lucky you for sleeping like a log, I am hopeful to have that in my future.
Gail

 

[Bob]

Ambien be careful

Ambien be careful

They say you cant get hooked on Ambien. Well that aint true. My wife is in an addiction program right now from Ambien. Her Dr. would not renue the prescription for sleep so she went on line to something called Hope Mills Universal who took an order without a prescription. Yes Ambien is a schedule one drug (controlled). Hope Mills then farmed her out to RxDirect in Florida who filled the prescription again without a physician writing a prescription. She paid $262 which is an outrageous price and when it came in the mail lo and behold there was a Dr.'s name on the bottle. Not hers or anyone we know. Yes I digress. This is one big hurt for me and when I read this thread and the talk about Ambien it set me off. All I intended on saying is watch out for it. No its not like cocaine but it can grab you.

 

[Marge]

Harp, where do you get the information that Tylenol PM contains pseudo ephedrine?

According to the ingredients listed on the bottle of Tylenol PM in my medicine cabinet, it contains: Acetaminophen, Diphenhydramine HCl Cellulose, Corn Starch, Hydroxypropyl, Methylcellulose, Magnesium Stearate, Stearic Acid, Colloidal Silicon Dioxide, Polythylene Glycol, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Starch Glycolate, Titanium Dioxide, Blue #1, Blue #2. No mention of pseudo ephredrine.

That said, Tylenol PM does me absolutely no good in terms of helping me sleep and never has. I've been a light sleeper most of my life -- surgery doesn't seem to have affected it one way or the other. I have a hard time getting to sleep and I often wake up several times during the night. When that happens I don't fight it, because getting stressed out over not sleeping just makes it harder to sleep. I put on some music and just try to relax.

Oddly enough, at the hospital -- where most people complain they cannot sleep -- I slept very well. I had a private room well away from the nurses' station and I asked them to close my door so that I wasn't bothered by light and noise. I remember waking up when they came into the room to do whatever they think they have to do during the night but then I'd go to sleep immediately after they left. Of course I was also doped up to the gills