Post op Nightmares or vivid dreams, sleeplessness, and hot flashes

It's 5 a.m. & I am still not able to sleep 4 weeks post op. 2 nights ago I seemed to sleep & I thought I was returning to normal.

I guess not yet.

If I could sleep, I might have some dreams. I usually just turn from my left side to my back to my right side. I'm comfortable & usually don't bother getting out of bed until morning. I really dislike not sleeping yearn for a good night's sleep.

I'm going back to bed now to see what happens.

Suzi - you poor thing! Have you talked to your doc? You must be miserable!

Bee
I last talked to him about 2 wks ago. He prescribed in the beginning 7 sleeping pills. Needless to say I used them sparingly. I have 1 left which I plan on using tonight.

Doctors here just won't prescribe pills for sleeping.

Hi I am so sorry!! I went through it too, I got some ambien, I take them about 5 times a week. What type are you taking??? Mine give me such dry mouth I drink water in my sleep and have to get up about 3-5 times a night to go to the bathroom! Yes I do have bladder issues! I wonder has anyone tried anything natural to help sleep? Tea, tried, hot bath, tried, relax tapes, tried, gets me to sleep cant stay a sleep.. I wish you good luck

I took 1/2 an ambien last night. My sleep issues come & go. I tried melatonin but it didn't really help me too much. I think taking 2 benadryl works best for me. I am counting the days til I can take a hot bath - I think that will help me relax.

Hey Suzi,

My doctor prescribed some ambian so I could sleep. I don't like what I have heard about ambian so I asked him if I could try tylenol or advil PM. He said that was ok so I have been using advil PM. They seem to work pretty good.

Thank you for suggestions to help me sleep.
I must try & look for tylenol or advil PM. tomorrow. Have a good sleep everyone.

Sounds like alot of you have sleeping problems, I too have some night sweats and started taking estrace a few days ago, still have one ovary. Doctor said it may help with that and crying easily. I also take a mineral with magnesium and calcium before bedtime and they say it helps with sleep. It feels good I am not alone in this weird time of hormone fluctuation. My doctor had me on Lupron for 4 months which is supposed to put you into artificial menopause so God only knows what my hormones are doing right now. I am more anxious than usual so I am attending an anxiety class at my clinic to help me and not feel so alone and have Ativan on hand if I feel I need it. The hospital social worker said it is real normal to have those nightmares and anxiety after surgery so take the Ativan so you can get well, too hard to get well when your body is so out of whack. I am not one to want to take medicine but I realize I need to be good and gentle to myself right now and not try to buck up and push myself like I normally do. So I take maybe one a day or sometimes don't need to. God bless you guys and hang in there, we can do this. It won't always be like this.

Glad to have found this thread. Had my TAH/BSO on 9/8/08. Also had some terrible nightmares that seemed very real. They are pretty much gone now, however, I would love to get some good quality sleep. Never had a problem before surgery. Now, I lay down and it seems like I am sleeping but my mind won't rest. Seem to relive the day, what I watched on tv earlier, sing a song in my head that I heard that day........ Turn a lot from side to side because my side starts to hurt. I also will try and take a nap and it seems like I nodded off for hours but it's only a short time. I see MD tomorrow for checkup and will discuss with him.

Sue

I've always had a problem with nightmares. What I miss now are the very vivid story dreams I had when I was first home from the hospital. I'm pretty sure these were related to Percocet. (Didn't Poe do opium??) Anyway, I treasure my sleep time when I get it. The new thing for me is to fall over at 9 which is good since I often can't sleep past 3 am. The odd thing I discovered recently is that I was doing this BEFORE the surgery. So I guess it's anxiety. Only now I also have night sweats!

Geech.