Primarin and Sleep?

I'm almost 5 weeks post-op (TAH/no ovaries)... doc gave me a shot of estragen when I left hospital that was supposed to last for a month. Two weeks later, he started me on Primarin (0.625 MG). I started out taking it in the morning with my thyroid medicine (also new to me), but started to feel that one or the other might not be working as well, so split them up. I take thyroid pill in the morning, and primarin at night.

Problem is that I can't sleep (even with sleeping pills). Could it be the Primarin keeping me up? Is there a right time of day to take the Primarin?

Thanks!

Hi,
I'm not on HRT, but I found that birth control pills kept me awake and I had to take them 1st thing in the morning so I could sleep at night.

I take my estrogen in the morning or I would be up at night too. I also started a little progesterone and that helped me with sleep. Being sleep deprived is terrible. I hope you get some relief soon.

Pauline,
There really isn't one time of day that is the right time of day for all. You may need to experiement to find the right time for you. I do think you were correct in splitting up the time you take your thyroid and premarin. I recall reading that they should not be taken at the same time.

You could try reversing the regime, or try taking the Premarin late morning or early afternoon to see if that helps.

Wow after reading this I wonder if I should split up my med's also. I never even thought about doing that before I read this. I take 1.25 premarin, wellbutrin, nexium, antara (just started on that yesterday), and 2 baby aspirin every morning all at once.

Usually if I don't set my phone alarm I forget to take.

Pauline,

Insomnia is very common at this point in recovery. It may not be the Premarin, but your body adjusting to all the changes and new source of Estrogen.

I take my thyroid first thing in the morning when I wake up. Then I wait one hour before I eat anything else or take any other meds.

During my first few months post op, I kept making changes to my HRT, trying to find a combination that would help me sleep. Truth be told, I am now back on my original dose/method. The most important thing that my Sisters here kept telling me, and I didn't listen to, is that Patience can be your best friend.

I am not a patient person. However, time allowed my body to make adjustments and recover from the surgery, and my body calmed down, and eventually I started sleeping.

Hang in there. You might want to check out the Post Op forum and find how others are getting through this difficult time. I found that 1 mg of melatonin every other night about 20 minutes before bedtime allowed me to get some sleep. However, if I took it every night it didn't seem to work as well

I hope you are able to get some sleep soon.

s,
kay

Thank you all for your replies - I did finally take a 4 hour nap yesterday that felt really great - that's the most consecutive sleep that I've had in weeks. I'm typically waking up every two hours or so. I do manage to dream when I sleep, which I guess is a good sign, right? Of course, my dreams are pretty crazy... almost like a science fiction movie!

Pauline,

Are you taking pain meds? The narcotic pain meds cause me to have weird dreams, AND they very commonly will cause insomnia.


Kay

Nope... I haven't take anything for pain since day 10 after my surgery. I think I'm just demented!

Pauline, I take my Premarin at night and have been doing that for almost 7 years now. I had problems sleeping for the first few months after my hysterectomy, but now I sleep great.
I think we're all different in how our medications work. Especially HRT's. I hope you can get the right balance soon, that works well for you.
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