your sleeping patterns

[Ang]

just  curious to  know  if  dialysis  or  other  conditions  affect  your  sleeping  and  how?
only  been  doing  dialysis  since  june 06,have  had  polisystic  kidneys  for  some 10-11  years  now.have  been  unable  to  sleep  right  through  from  night  till  morning  for  20  years  i'd  reckon.
had  a  sleep  test  some  years  ago,  was  told  i  had  mild  sleep  apnea.
cpap  machine  is  not  an  option,  cause,  i  tend  to  toss  and  turn  through  the  night  and  wake  up  every  2  hours  or  so, probably  do  more  harm  than  benefit
nowadays  i  find  my  self  heading  of  to noddy  land  most  days  about  8-9 pm,then  i  wake  about  2  hours  later,  feeling  like  i've  had  5-6  hours  sleep,then  spend  time  watching  tv  till  about  2  am,then  sleep  till  6-7 am and  do  it  all  again.

[Redbomb]

Oh Ang!  a CPAP could very well be an option for you.  Honest!  I toss and turn a lot too and I'm on one.  I have the type of headgear that covers the nose only so I had to learn to keep my mouth shut (Yes, quite a feat).  The headgear routes the tubing over the top of my head, and I have the Unit either in my bookcase headboard or on the nightstand to the right of the bed.  It works great!

Once I got my CPAP, my sleep was GREAT!  If you need it, I hope that you at least try it out for a couple of months (It does take a while to get use to it).  My only problem now is that I wake up after about 3 -4 hours of sleep and cant get back to sleep!  (notice the time when I'm posting this?    ) .. so the Dr. gave me some sleeping pills, which are not too strong and the effects last for about 2-3 hours, just enough time for me to get back to sleep once I wake up and can't get back on my own (They are called Sonata).

Renwick

[KICKSTART]

Sleep problems .. yes . For ages .. yes . Like you can manage an hour or two before waking up , but my main trouble is actually getting to sleep. I go to bed as late as possible , really tired but always end up tossing and turning for a couple of hours before i get off to sleep. Doesn't help to get up, if i cant get to sleep straight away, as i only go through it all again later ! Had tablets which didn't help , but to tbh here in UK no one is very interested if renal patients cant sleep!!!

[Romona]

I sleep, but I don't feel refreshed when I wake up. I had sleep studies done but won't know the results until the end of the month. I am really sleepy all day long.

[stauffenberg]

Since dialysis replaces only about 10% of normal renal function, all dialysis patients carry a very heavy burden of uncleared toxins in the bloodstream all the time.  These toxins damage the nervous system, and this neuropathy is what makes it difficult for dialysis patients to stay asleep through an entire night.  Sleep is not just a passive fading out from exhaustion, but is in fact an extremely active procedure which requires a healthy and strong nervous system to be performed correctly, so dialysis patients with their neuropathy just can't manage to do it normally.

[paddbear0000]

I have a heck of a time trying to fall asleep. Benadryl is kind of a crap shoot too, since I have slow digestion issues. The benadryl, may or may not start working soon after taking it. And I hate waking up in the middle of the night because, again, I have trouble falling asleep. Lately, even if I slept for 8 hours at night, I find myself fighting to stay awake during the day. I'll lay down for a second and be out cold for hours! It sucks!

[MyssAnne]

That helps, Stauffenberg, to know there IS a valid reason why I can't sleep. I'm told...exercise. That'll get you to sleep!! Hah. I take benadryl OR tylenol pm, which takes about 3 hours to kick in. I take them at about 5 or 6, they don't kick in til 8:30 or 9. Then I have weird dreams. I can handle that. As long as I get my sleep.

[paddbear0000]

That helps, Stauffenberg, to know there IS a valid reason why I can't sleep. I'm told...exercise. That'll get you to sleep!! Hah. I take benadryl OR tylenol pm, which takes about 3 hours to kick in. I take them at about 5 or 6, they don't kick in til 8:30 or 9. Then I have weird dreams. I can handle that. As long as I get my sleep.

That's interesting you say that. I have weird dreams unless I take benadryl! When I do take it, I'm out cold and I can't even remember dreaming!

[MyssAnne]

Makes you wonder if we have weird dreams because we are on dialysis/have kidney problems, or because WE are weird?

[paddbear0000]

I think it's cause we're weird!!!        

[brenda]

Sleep? What is sleep? Can't get to sleep, can't sleep very long, can't sleep in.

[angela515]

Since my transplant I have been sleeping good. On the nights I do have trouble sleeping, I take an Ambien. I am a night owl, and like to stay up late, the problem is I am a single mommy, so I have to wake up when the kids do... so staying up late is usually a bad thing or me cause I am tired the next day. Since I am used to going to sleep so late, sometimes I can't fall asleep until later, mostly my own fault b/ I like certain shows and won't miss them for sleep. 

[goofynina]

That helps, Stauffenberg, to know there IS a valid reason why I can't sleep. I'm told...exercise. That'll get you to sleep!! Hah. I take benadryl OR tylenol pm, which takes about 3 hours to kick in. I take them at about 5 or 6, they don't kick in til 8:30 or 9. Then I have weird dreams. I can handle that. As long as I get my sleep.

That's interesting you say that. I have weird dreams unless I take benadryl! When I do take it, I'm out cold and I can't even remember dreaming!

I took 3-25mg the other night and i felt like shit the whole next day, it took me forever to fall asleep too,  So now, i just sit up and watch T.V. until i nod off then i go to bed,    lol, hey, it works for me

[angellady07]

Sleep what's that? I have terrible insomnia.

[KT0930]

I take benadryl OR tylenol pm. Then I have weird dreams. I can handle that. As long as I get my sleep.

I had the same problem with Benadryl and weird dreams, so I had the doc give me Ambien, which helps me get to sleep, but I didn't realize until after that that I wake up EVERY night around 2:00 and stay awake sometimes for an hour or more. If it's not my bladder waking me up (yes, I still urinate, sorry guys!), it's because of my cycler. I *hate* it when a healthy person tells me they're tired!!!

[Ken Shelmerdine]

I just don't understand my sleep patterns. Normally it takes me about 2 to 3 hours to get off to sleep and after that I wake up two or three times but then don't have a problem getting back to sleep. I don't seem to go into a really deep sleep until about 5.am. I then have to get up at 7.30 am for work (also that's the time my cycler finishes) I could at that time sleep solid for a few more hours till about 11.am if I wanted   but if I do that then I feel sleepy all day.

 I can't understand why I actually feel better all day with little sleep at night than I do if I lie in till later in the morning.

I too have polycystic disease but I had no problems at all sleeping until I started dialysis.

[paddbear0000]

That helps, Stauffenberg, to know there IS a valid reason why I can't sleep. I'm told...exercise. That'll get you to sleep!! Hah. I take benadryl OR tylenol pm, which takes about 3 hours to kick in. I take them at about 5 or 6, they don't kick in til 8:30 or 9. Then I have weird dreams. I can handle that. As long as I get my sleep.

That's interesting you say that. I have weird dreams unless I take benadryl! When I do take it, I'm out cold and I can't even remember dreaming!

I took 3-25mg the other night and i felt like shit the whole next day, it took me forever to fall asleep too,  So now, i just sit up and watch T.V. until i nod off then i go to bed,    lol, hey, it works for me

I find that if I take 3, I can't sleep either. I think it has something to do with the warning on the box that it can also cause sleeplessness. They probably should add that that happens if you take more than the recommended dose! 

[Stacy Without An E]

I had sleep problems to the point where I had to seek help.  There was a story in our local paper about sleep and noted that the North Bay Sleep Clinic was just down the street from my work.  I did one of the overnight studies and found, even though I'm pretty thin, my body was waking me up every few minutes so I could get air.  I tried the CPAP and it seems to help.  It keeps me from waking up as often and it's pretty easy to use.  I do find that since I toss and turn as well, I'll wake up in the morning and it will be on the floor and I won't remember how it got there.

I also have trouble falling asleep when they take too much fluid off.  I can feel each heartbeat throughout my entire body.  Beat, beat, beat incredibly fast, as though I had just finished a workout.

I often find when I finally do get some sleep, since I'm usually pretty tired, my dreams are intense, frightening and vivid.  It's bad enough to go through Dialysis in the real world without being torchered in one's dreams as well.

[kitkatz]

I must be weird I sleep like a proverbial rock.

[fluffy]

i remember hearing somwhere that ppl with ckd are more likely to have sleep apnea. that can really mess up your sleep patterns.
as for me i cant sleep at night, i just cant turn my brain off. i tried sleeping pills but they make me too drowsy the next morn

[redz812]

Hi All,

My husband also has been having sleep problems along with dry nose and terrible leg pain. We think he may be taking too much fluid off during home hemo. He uses benedryl but that hasn't been helping lately. I have a scrip for Ambien and when he takes one of them he gets some sleep.

Benedryl works for me (2 every nite) but sometimes my mind just won't shut off and I think it's has to do with worry about hubby. so I take an Ambien but feel lousy the day after.

[Ken Shelmerdine]

Can anyone tell me what a CPAP is? I've noticed it used in a few posts about sleeplessness and wonder if I'd benefit from whatever it is.

[ODAT]

Can anyone tell me what a CPAP is? I've noticed it used in a few posts about sleeplessness and wonder if I'd benefit from whatever it is.

Ken, if you check out my posts in Other Severe Medical Conditions, it is titled Sleep Apnea. CPAP is a mask that covers your nose that you wear at night to keep your airway open so you don't stop breathing. My mom has a mild apnea and will get her mask on 2/12. She wants to try the nose piece that Redbomb uses.

Here is a quote by me that I have posted at work: "Sleep is to humans as defrag is to computers." You have to sleep in order to get the bits and bytes back in the right order. I don't sleep enough so that's why I walk around so scatter-brained! 

[livecam]

Just about every dialysis patient has to deal with severe sleeping disruptions.  I tried Temazepam and Ambien but neither helped.  I would still be up in the night and tired the next day with the addition of feeling drugged on top of that.  It was not a good way to live.  He has probably tried all of the common sense stuff like trying to relax and wind down for a few hours before bedtime, going to bed at the same time each night etc.  The time of day he dialyzes could also be playing a role in this.  I found it tough to dialyze late in the day and then try to sleep 1-3 hours later.

What kind of leg pain is he having?  Is it a constant thing or are we talking about cramps?  There are ways to deal with cramping, usually putting weight on the affected leg will take care of it quickly.  It can be a problem if he is all wrapped up in blankets and needs out fast.  Those cramps come on suddenly and are severe from the start.

Getting back to the sleep problem I found that sleeping meds didn't help.  My sleep was never perfect on dialysis but it was a whole lot better without meds.

[kitkatz]

 "Sleep is to humans as defrag is to computers." You have to sleep in order to get the bits and bytes back in the right order. I don't sleep enough so that's why I walk around so scatter-brained!




Is this why I am completely nuts?