Sleeping Troubles

[karen547]

I have had a lot of trouble falling and staying asleep lately. Last night I was tossing and turning until 2 am- then I woke up a few times. I am going to ask about this today at dialysis since I was sick yesterday and couldn't go. I just feel like a zombie right now- I just want a good night sleep! I am not usually this bad at falling asleep but it seems since I started dilalysis I cannot get my mind to turn off at night, and during the day I am sleepy. Do any of you have tips or advice you can give me? I will try anything short of selling my soul to the Devil at this point! Lol.

[bolta72]

I have the same problem, I fall asleep ok but wake up 5 or 6 times during the night and all I do is dream. I also am tired during the day. I believe it is dialysis related.

[KICKSTART]

I had the same problem for months and so do alot of other people on here! In the end i went to my doctor for some sleeping tablets and they have helped me alot. Alot of people on here take something at night to help them sleep as it seems to be the only option!

[MyssAnne]

I tried a couple of sleeping pills, what works for me is either benadryl or tylenol pm.
I still have a hard time falling asleep, but at lesat when I do, I stay asleep. Which is what counts!

Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you.

[Bajanne]

My sleeping patterns have completely changed since I have been on dialysis.  I used to be able to drop to sleep at the drop of a hat (even when i shouldn't), now i spend a lot of time thinking, turning over, getting up and doing things and going back to bed, and thinking and turning and......

[kitkatz]

In my mind I have a worry basket and when I begin to worry about things, I open it up and stuff everything in it, then I just go to sleep.

[donnia]

I went to my doctor and he put me on Ambien.  I don't take it on the days before dialysis, because I get up at 3:00am to be at dialysis at 5:00am.  The Ambien works pretty good.  When I get to dialysis I do ask for benedryl now.  I sleep most of the time I am at dialysis. 

[Sluff]

As most of you know I never sleep. karol told me to try Tylenol Pm so I picked up some advil pm and If I take 4 of them I can sleep for about 3hr intervals but at least by taking them I can go back to sleep for without them I can't once I'm up.

[willieandwinnie]

Sluff, be careful with Advil, it will kill your kidneys faster. Tylenol is much safer. Just what you need, someone to nag you!! Sorry, no I'm not.

[stauffenberg]

Sleeping problems have often been discussed on this board before.  While most people think of sleep as an automatic and passive process, in fact it requires considerable, powerful, healthy activity by the nervous system to be initiated and continued all through the night.  Because dialysis never clears the toxins from the blood as well as natural renal function does, the nervous system of renal patients is damaged by the accumulation of toxins, and one of the many symptoms of this is difficulty sleeping.  One of the first things you notice with a transplant is that normal sleep returns.

[Sluff]

Sluff, be careful with Advil, it will kill your kidneys faster. Tylenol is much safer. Just what you need, someone to nag you!! Sorry, no I'm not.

Thanks WW.

[Ang]

hey  karen,


it's  a  fact  that  your  sleeping  problems  are  a  direct  result  of  dialysis.
you'll  have  to  figure  out  what  works  best  for  you,  iwas  going  to  try  natural  sleeping  tablets ,  my  neph  said  take  1  a  week,  the  pharmacist  reckons  you  got  to  take them  for  a  whole  month  before  they  become  effective,  so  i  just  did'nt  bother.
during  the  day  if  i'm  sitting  on the  couch,  i'm  off  to  sleep  for  sure,gotta  keep  the  brain  active  and  i'm  usually  good.
generally  2/3 hours  sleep  at  a  stretch
good  luck  with  it  all.

[Claudia30]

I used to be able to sleep like a log and then college came and i became a light sleeper. i got lucky during grad school cause i was commuting and was able to sleep again but then life happened and i went on hemo. I can't tell you how many times i have laid in bed watching the clock slowlyyyy turn!! They say that you aren't suppsoe to have the clock next to you and if you do to have it facing away. Anyhow i spoke to my doctor and he put me on Ambien CR (i have tried several different drugs but they didn't work). I have been on Ambien CR for about 2 years now and most of the time it works. Just be careful when you are first on it to take it right before you go to bed and don't drive or anything cause when i first started taking it it worked in about a half hour and i would wake up at 2 or so and find the lights and tv still on from when i fell asleep. Now it takes a bit longer to fall asleep and most of the time i get a good 5 or so hours. The pill helps you fall asleep and stay asleep as the ad on tv says.

[karen547]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am going to ask my doctor about what he would recommend as far as sleeping pills go. I know some can be addicting or cause terrible side effects.

[Roadrunner]

My husband finds that having a book on tape or the radio on when he goes to be helps.  You turn the sound down so you have to concentrate to hear what is being said.  I think the strain of trying to hear the story or discussion program helps put him to sleep and also keeps other thought out of his head.

The University of Georgia did a small study where they decreased the the temperature of the treatment slightly and that seemed to help their small test study.  Maybe we can hear from those who don't have heaters.  We have a heater and my husband feels it is still not warm enough.  He would rather go without sleep than be cold during treatment.

[okarol]

If I take one Tylenol PM (which has the same thing as Benadryl, but with acetaminophen too) it usually knocks me out. But I can't do it back-to-back nights because it doesn't seem to work, so I skip a night.

Here are more threads about sleep:

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=4939.0 Medication for sleep
http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=548.0 Can't SLEEP!!
http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=4015.0 Insomnia and dialysis

You'll probably find more if you search for "sleep" or "insomnia" - hope you find an answer!

[karen547]

Good Morning everyone- I managed to sleep in almost 4 hour stretches last night I don't know how effective sleeping pills will be on me since whenever I get Benadryl at dialysis, I only feel the 'happy' feeling lol. I only have one tech who seems to give me a good dose to even get that- when other people give it to me, I may as well be getting water in my line!
I have a new bed and matress so It isn't my bed that is the problem- but I am still living at home due to my health and stuff, so I can hear my parents up at night talking, which does not help since I am a very light sleeper. Hopefully when I start back at school in a few days I will be able to sleep better.