Is insomnia common after hyster?

I was just wondering who else suffers from this? I went to bed fell asleep for an hour or two and all of a sudden was wide awake. I didn't fall back to sleep till 5:30 - 6 a.m. My sleep schedule is all messed up. Any ideas on how to get back to normal schedule? TIA

All I can say is good luck! A lot of us have this problem. I am still having troubles with it. My eye has started twitching (I assume) from lack of sleep and fatigue. Because I get night sweats, I have found that sleeping with a fan on helps. Using light-weight covers help. And I bought a chillow. That helps too. I still use Ambien once or twice a week too. Other people use melatonin. Other people have found that over-the-counter sleep aids help. Basically, things that work for one person, may not work for others. It is really trial and error. Good luck!

Same with me. I have had a problem for quite awhile and finally called and got a RX for Ambien. I take it evey couple of nights. I try to go to bed late and read for awhile to relax. Sometimes nothing helps and I'm up a lot of the night. This to will pass. Good Luck

I found out this was very common after mine. I was wide awake all night in the hospital. My nurse was concerned.

I found that putting myself back on a regular schedule really helped. I got up at a decent time (9am, its usually 7am, but DH took care of getting the girls off to school). Then we would get dressed, and go out for breakfast, very carefully. That would tire me out, so I would go home and relax on the couch. I tried not to fall asleep except midday. Then at night I would drink tea with milk, or have a glass of wine with DH (after I was off of my narcotic drugs of course....but I found a glass of wine to be more effective than those anyways). Then off to bed with lots of pillows and new sheets and figuring out a way for DH to touch me all night.....usually we sleep cuddling and I really needed that to sleep.

Yes!!!! I am 6 weeks out and I can not get to sleep! I feel really tired and when I go to bed, my eyes are wide open. I wonder what this is? If anyone has the answer, Please Post!
-Sleepless in California

Walking will help. You must start slowly, and only do as much as you can. I have had a long history of panic attacks, insomnia, weight problems. Prior to my surgery (TAH-BSO, Oct. 13) I was walking an hour each day as part of my regular doc's recommendations to lower my blood pressure. Well, much to my surprise, the other issues have just disappeared. It also helped the bowel function following surgery.

After surgery, I walked in the hospital, as required. When I came home, I continued the short walks in the hallway and around my bedroom, adding a little each day. After each session of walking, I went back to bed to rest. After a couple of weeks, I progressed to my driveway, and later to the street in front of my house.

Again, I have to emphasize, take this slowly. It is the regular moving of your body, however slowly, that will help with all those aggravating symptoms. I think that one problem is that we are all used to being up all day, working at whatever it is we do. Suddenly being required to rest all day leaves our bodies not de-stressed enough to sleep at night, even though we might be really tired.

Walking is cheaper than drugs, doesn't have any strange side effects, and doesn't require any special equipment other than some good shoes. At first you can just walk around your house in your slippers! I have not slept much in the daytime since my 2nd or 3rd week post-op, and I am sleeping all night most of the time now. I drink plenty of water each day, and take one stool softener, and have had no serious issues with constipation. The one night I had a hard time sleeping was after the day I thought I was "too tired" to walk. I learned my lesson that night, and haven't skipped walking since.

Good luck with this. I hope you will be sleeping more and feeling better soon.

Still sleepless here in California too. I've been excercising a lot more and notice it makes me more tired, but I still sit in bed most nights wide awake unless I'm popping an Ambien. Tried OTC progesterone. That helped with some things, but not with the insomnia. Am asking the doc for some estrogen. Something has to help with less side effects. The Ambien gives me Ambien hangovers. This is so frustrating.
Tara

I am a bit over a year and still have problems sleeping through the night... some more than others. It has gotten better than it was thanks goodness. I agree that everyone is different and what might work for one won't necessairly work for another. I know I tried many many things and found some would help for a while and then I was back where I started. I can now sleep about four hours at a time most nights and can usually fall back asleep within fifteen minutes. I unfortunatley still have those nights when I seem to wake after what feels like thirty minutes and can't get back to sleep for ages. I'm sorry, I know I haven't really offered any help, but knowing others are going through this and can relate when no one else can can sometimes bring a measure of comfort. I wish for you a restful night and hope you continue to recover and find a new joy in your life. Merry Christmas!

Had this problem pre-hyster, and my doctor told me it was a part of being anemic. Post laparoscopic hyster, my sleeping has been better, though once you've established a pattern of poor sleeping you will continue on that patttern.

After I had complications with my hyster (i.e. bright red bleeding and a n emergency trip to the ER and then the OR to get my cervix stitched up) I asked for a prescription for Ambien. I tell you, I hadn't slept so well in a long long time. The problem with Ambien is that it's addictive, so don't take it more than a week. But it can help you break the pattern of waking up at 3:00 am like I did and not able to go back to sleep until 8:00 am. My sleep pattern is way better now!

Hope that helps. Hope you sleep. Hope you dream sweetly.

Add me to the list of sufferers. I sleep during the soaps in the daytime. On the internet at night. My schedule is all messed up. (I am 10 days post-op, TAH)