insomnia

i am 36 just had a complete hystarectomy (laproscopic). no doctor every told me about insomnia! even with ambien cr which is the narcotic one 12.5 mg. i am only gettng 4 hours of sleep and then it is choppy the rest of the night! i tried not taking it last night and was up and down the entire night. someone said try melatonin? i just dont want to be dependent on this pill which is not even helping that much. any suggestions?

I had the same thing. Do you still have your ovaries? I do & had to wait for them to gear up again. I rec'd 10 sleeping pills from my Dr to tie me over until he could determine my hormone levels. It turned out my levels were a bit low and I just waited things out until I was level again.

I think part of it is our routine; are you napping during the day? If you are early in your recovery, you probably resting & you should. I found that my naps made for wide awake time at night. Once I felt more functional and could push myself to stay awake for most of the day; sleep was still an issue but less so.

I also invoke a sleep enhancer agenda when I am having trouble. By that I mean, I get ready for bed somewhat earlier than usual, maybe a bath, definitely something comfy & warm and then settle down to watch TV with lights dim or relax and read a book. My husband suggested warm milk suggesting that it seems to worl for babies, so why not try? I had never been a warm milk drinker but it did the trick a few times. Otherwise, I typically settle in with a Sleepytime Tea. I keep noise down, tv shows more brainumbing then action oriented or news that makes me think and try to turn my thoughts off. Although it didn't work all the time, I did have some successful sleeps.

Keep a sleep/symptom journal so you can track and analyze your patterns.

I am 18 wks post op and have a night or two that really challenge me still. Now I just take a gravol and that seems to do the trick. My dr didn't seem concerned.

I hope you find something that helps.

I'm not sure how many weeks post op you are. I am almost 5 weeks post op and my sleeping patterns are back to pre surgery rhythms now. I am using a little melatonin (it doesn't help me very much) just to help my body stay in a pattern. In the early post op weeks I tried not to fight it. I slept when I was tired(throughout the day) and if I woke durring the night, I just sat up and watched tv - telling myself that I'd catch up on the sleep durring my naps. As I heeled, and sleeping was more comfortable, and heavy meds weren't messing with me anymore, I started working on getting a more normal rhythm back.
Good luck and good sleeping! (((hugs)))

I've had the same problems, choppy sleep, only 3-4 hours at a time. Finally, I went out and bought some melatonin and took it last night. I slept 9 hours last night!

what dosage?

3mg

Sorry Ile123 ... I just got on my computer and can see that we are not in similar situations re ovaries. I couldn't read that on my blackberry where I read your post.

I am having occassional insomnia. I have xanax from before my surgery to help me sleep, but I prefer not to use that. I haven't taken melatonin, but I have used benadryl. It's commonly suggested by doctors and pharmacists to help with sleeping. It is actually the sleep ingredient in OTC meds like Tylenol PM and Advil PM. You can buy the generic diphenhydramine 25mg tabs pretty inexpensive. Sometimes, if you can get 2-3 nights consecutively, your body will get back into a sleep pattern.
I also noticed that I am more affected by caffeine since my surgery. I used to be able to drink coffee or tea or even the occassional soda any time of the day. Now I have to back off by 1 or 2 pm if I plan on falling asleep at a reasonable hour.
One last suggestion.... before my surgery I could not fall asleep because my mind was racing. A friend suggested counting my blessings (instead of sheep). I tried it, and I know it sounds simple, but it worked to clear my head of my worries and fears. Each night I would start from my earliest memories and work forward to the present with all my friends, family, coworkes, etc. or work backwards the same way. It's very restful and makes me smile.

I hope some of this helps. Good Luck!

I'm experiencing insomnia too!

I'm 5 weeks post op and for the past week I have only managed 4/5 hours a night without any naps during the day at all. Before the op I easily slept 8/10 hours a night.

I've been on HRT for 4 weeks now so not sure that can be causing it.

Can anyone shed any light? I love my sleep

I've always slept fine, and needed about 9 hours a night. Now, I'm waking up every few hours either really hot or really cold. Blankets off and blankets on! I've had LAVH, removed everything. I'm not taking estrogen yet because I don't have any symptoms during the day that need fixing--after 5 1/2 weeks post op. But, I could use better sleep at night! Any ideas for someone who does not like meds?