I can't sleep for the pain

Hi. I have fibroids and possible endo. I'm having terrible back pain and cramps although I'm not on my period right now. I'm scheduled for TAH on 1/29, so I'm also tense about that.

I take ambien now, but it lasts two hours at most and then I'm wide-awake with the pain again. I've tried the ambien CR, but the dose to put me to sleep isn't strong enough and neither is the dose that's supposed to keep me to sleep.

I'm exhausted. This has gone on for about a week now and I'm afraid it's going to continue until surgery date.
I have a nice ice bag/heating pad thing. Is it bad to use the heating pad? Will it increase inflammation and cause more pain? Or is ice better?

Any suggestions for sleeping.

I'm really discouraged and just can't believe I have over a month to wait for the surgery and then have to go through the recovery before I start to feel better. I want to feel better NOW!

Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry you feel this bad. Have you talked to your dr. about possible pain medication? Mine offered a prescription when she saw how much pain I was in. You have several weeks of waiting; I hope you won't have to suffer through them.

Big hug to you. Hope you get some sleep.

I know how bad back pain can can be

I think talking to your dr about is is a good idea. Hopefully he/she can help you find relief.
I find that alternating the heat and ice help me for back pain. Maybe you could ask your dr about that too

Best wishes.

S

Marie, My doctor also gave me pain meds to take before I had my surgery. There were times I could walk for the pain. Check with the doctor. Happy to say now that it is all done I feel like a new person!! All my best and warm fuzzies too.

Besides the good drugs, I spent a lot of time with a heating pad. It helps!

Lena

I had the same thing several months before my surgery. I took tylenol with codeine and it helped a little. I know how hard it is. Try to take good care of yourself before the surgery. By the way, the pain I had before my surgery with my periods was far more severe than the pain from the surgery! It will be here before you know it!

I am right there with you! I also can't sleep, pain and no sleeps makes us cranky and un-happy, also our familys suffer. I had a bad wreck so the cramping made my back hurt even worse. I am also taking ambien and percocett. I find that a hot bath, and a couple percocetts help, after my bath I take the ambien and between the 2 meds I can sleep through anything, talk to your Doc first though! I have a week to go and then a tvh, getting nervous, and this does interrupt sleep. Good luck, talk to your Doc about pain meds, I thank God for them, they really do help. Merry Christmas all!!

A while before I had my surgery, I was having trouble sleeping because of my pain. Since I had been on pain meds for so long, narcotics had absolutely no effect on my sleep patterns. Not coincidentally, they also have a heckuva time knocking me out for surgeries.
When I was at my wits end, I asked my pharmacist for some advice, he gave me an over-the-counter antiemetic called Bonine (Antivert). It's a chewable tablet used for motion sickness. I took it and it knocked me out (we're talking flat on my back, drooling on the pillow, snoring!). I was actually shocked at how well it worked with me. Maybe it was because it wasn't a typical sleep-inducer, but it was great. Maybe it's worth a try?
As with anything, please consult your doctor before trying anything (it's contraindicated in some individuals).
Good luck & sweet dreams!

I'm in a similar position and really feel for others who are waiting as I am, to get their surgery out of the way so that they can look forward to some relief. I have some pain in my back, but mostly in my pelvic and belly area, particularly in my sides, which get regular twingy pains (like small electric shocks) punctuated by severe spasms from time to time. My left side is particularly badly affected and although I can usually drop off to sleep, I often have trouble staying there. Any hope I had that it was 'in my head' vanished when I was being woken from blissfully deep sleep by varying degrees of stomach pain. Although my period isn't excessive, either in length or quantity of bleeding, the pain, bloatedness, queasiness, breast-tenderness, concentration problems etc go on for 2-3 weeks out of every 4. As I'm on quite a lot of prescription medication for other health problems, I'm reluctant to use heavy painkillers till I have to, so I'm relying on paracetamol, warm drinks and getting up and moving around as often as I can to shift my sore muscles around a bit.

Anti-emetics can definitely help - lemon and ginger tea-bags and plain ginger biscuits are on my online shopping list at the moment and my DH grates a little fresh ginger into stir-fries and curries. It's good for him as well as me and we both like the taste.