Fatigue and sleeping

[TJRCGG]

My husband is sleeping a lot.  This morning he literally put a picture up and was shattered.  How long does this go on for?  He’s 3 1/2 months post PASAH

[Super Mario]

Nobody can answer that question, each recovery is individual. It is like asking "How long is a piece of string?"

 

I, for one, was still sleeping almost all day 4 months post SAH. Every little effort is exhausting.

[Macca]

I slept a lot after my SAH. It went on for months and then they did some tests on my hormone levels.  They discovered I was deficient in growth hormone because they had damaged my pituitary gland when operating on me (which produces it normally) and it stopped producing it.  This caused me to sleep up to 20 hours a day.

 

I haven't heard of anyone else suffering this.  I now have to have daily injections but other than that I am now fine. They wouldn't test me until 12 months had elapsed. There is no guarantee this is what the problem is for your husband but it is what happened to me.

 

Lots of people suffer fatigue after SAH but there are many different reasons for it, and your doctors are the best ones to tell you what is happening.  Patience is what you require at the moment and giving your husband the time to heal in his own time.

 

You can't rush it I'm afraid.  The brain is the core of everything and it doesn't like to be cajoled into anything it doesn't want to do.  Please give it time to heal and keep talking to the doctors.

 

Best wishes,

 

Macca

[Eric270]

I am coming up on 11 months since my bleed. I still have days where getting dressed for work and getting a cup of coffee is all I can do.

 

I still have periods where I am stuck in bed for three days. Each person is different. I just recently had my mra check up and was told that all the symptoms I have been experiencing are completely normal and that they may go away with time and they may not.

 

The docs recommended setting a strict schedule and sticking to it to help combat the fatigue.

 

Get up and go to bed at the same time everyday (even on days you don't work). They also recommend a nap midway thru the day.

 

Hope this helps and finds you well.

 

Eric

[Skippy]

Hi there

 

I slept an awful lot after my SAH - I was having four hour daily naps from about 2pm to 6pm for a good few months - it wasn't until just after a year after that I stopped having daily naps.  Even now 11 years on, there are times I come home from work and I nap on the sofa for a good half hour and still go to bed at 10ish to get up at 6am. 

 

As has been said, everyone is different, but sleeping and the fatigue are all very normal and natural affects of SAH - think about it, your brain never ever stops working.  If your feet ache you can sit and put them up, but your brain cannot stop it can only rest.

[frmertd]

I was tired and had a strange sleep schedule for, well I still do! i never complain about it because I know i'm lucky to be alive. You gotta look at the big picture!

[sue984]

Sleep is so very important.  I have been doing the same things before bed for so long it's now habit.

 

I still have days when I think I'm doing well if I make it to the sofa, and that's usually the day after an outing of some sort.  I've mentioned to my husband that I am busier in the morning when I feel better, but that I have a finite amount of energy, when it's gone - it's gone.

 

[Kay]

After my original SAH I was still having a nap half way through the day after 4 months. If I went out for a day I definitely couldn't be doing anything for the next two days at least because I would be totally wiped out, so what your husband is going through sounds totally normal to me, but it's always best to be on the safe side and go back to his neuro team and talk it over with them if your concerned.

 

Right now after this latest NASAH I don't yet know my limits to be honest, I've just recently conquered the stairs again, but I'm not having to nap in the middle of the day this time round, maybe 5 mins on the settee if I've done something particularly strenuous (and I would class putting up a picture as particularly strenuous)

[Susan]

Hi TJRCGG

 

As others have said it is not unusual to be very tired in the early months following a bleed.

 

Just a thought - I see in another post you say your husband is still on the SSRI sertraline for anxiety. This drug can have the side effect of causing fatigue. I know I can't give medical advice and am not qualified to do so but just wanted to relate my personal experience of taking an SSRI.

 

I took a different SSRI (citalopram) for a short time a few years back (prior to my bleed). One of the side effects for me was fatigue - for the first couple of weeks I slept for around 16 hours a day and for the 10 weeks I was on it I was tired/lethargic throughout the day with insomnia at night. I could not function on it at all and decided to taper off with the advice of my GP, and my energy did return.

 

Side effects seem to vary from person to person  - I know friends who have taken an SSRI and not suffered this effect - so I am not suggesting that this is the cause of your husband's fatigue, but just something to consider. Always consult your GP if you wish to make any changes to prescribed medication.

 

Amongst other symptoms, I suffered fatigue and insomnia for months following my PM- NASAH (and still do to a lesser extent 2 years on). From 4 weeks on I was not on any drugs other than my usual BP meds, which I had been taking for a couple of years prior to the bleed, and the occasional paracetamol, so I guess that my symptoms were all the effect of the bleed itself. 

 

[Swishy]

I am now nearly 9 months out from my SAH followed by vasospasm...No way do I have the endurance I had prior to this...I am better, much better than I was at 3 months and 6 months but still not back to normal.   For me it is a different tired, my body gets tired and I get swishy...bump my elbow on things...feeling when I bend over I may keep going...wobbly almost...and my brain gets fatigued as well...I do feel like I will continue to get better and fatigue less quickly...but ...it is a process and I am now more confident to listen to my body and rest when I need to...it feels different from any illness I ever had (I guess because it is) .... hope each day finds your husband a bit better...

[frmertd]

People speak about sleep as if its a bad thing. Of course very excessive sleep is not desirable but a new nap in the afternoon, what is wrong with that???? Perhaps your brain is tired and healing then. You might want to encourage sleep then, right????

[sue984]

I think sleep is a fantastic thing!  Healing and recharging is a plus for me any day of the week!  If I need a nap I take it; most times I have trouble falling asleep, (I'm not sure what that's about) however, even just a rest where I close my eyes for a while is helpful.

 

I've had tinnitus in my right ear since my SAH, and it gets louder as I get tired, so I have another way to gauge my sleep needs; the louder it is - the more I need.

[Macca]

Sleep is a necessary part of life.  It is brain recharging and maintenance time.  After SAH many of us feel fatigued and we therefore become more conscious of sleep and it's importance.

 

It takes a long time for the brain to repair itself and it does a lot of that, I think, when we are sleeping.  When we are awake we are draining life's battery, and when we sleep we are re-charging it!  Embrace it and let it do its job is what I say. It's the body's natural way of dealing with the problem, I like to believe.

 

I am over 7 years out now and still need to sleep more than a 'normal' (if that is the right term) person.

 

Three and a half months is no time at all in recovery from this event. Be patient and let him recover in his own time.

[Krislwal]

It's so weird because ever since my bleed almost 9 months ago now, I can barely sleep.  

 

It started with having to take meds every 4 hours around the clock for a full month, then it just remained that way.

 

Anything and everything wakes me up and I cannot fall back asleep, however, I do nap when I can which is so weird because I never napped before my incident...... and 9 months out and I still have headaches, fatigue, anxiety, weird head pains, off balance etc.  

 

It's a daily grind but I've come along way and I keep pushing forward.  I'm grateful to everyone on this site.  

 

Reading their stories and leaning on them for support and advice has gotten me through this!

[Susan]

Maintaining a good sleep routine has been a bit of a struggle for me post-haemorrhage. I get by but can't help feeling life could be better if only I could sleep better. I do sleep ok once I fall asleep (I do wake but generally go straight back to sleep), but my problem is the getting off to sleep in the first place - and the getting up in the morning having not had enough sleep.

 

To snooze or not to snooze - that is the question. I think in the early months it is definitely best to listen to your body and rest whenever it tells you. 

 

If sleep problems persist then it can get tricky. I go through alternating periods of being very disciplined trying to have a routine, and periods of relaxing and not worrying about it (with the very occasional zopiclone thrown in). I think having a routine definitely improves my sleep, but I'm just not very good at sticking to routines! I could not get off to sleep last night and this morning (non-workday) it was much too tempting to switch off my alarm and roll back to sleep (for another 3 hours!). I'm feeling great now and looking forward to a nice afternoon walk in the sun but I know tomorrow morning (workday) it may be a different story.

[Daffodil]

This who have read my posts know I do like a good analogy.

 

I see our brains as the power plant behind our entire physical energy operation. The brain dictates the pace of everything we do and think within our physical bodies, the movement of our muscles and nerves, the capacity to feel. Immediately post bleed it’s like there is an emergency shutdown of the generators running the plant to preserve functions and nothing works or has the capacity to do what  we did previously and then over time some operation starts to come back on line. BUT the energy and fuel consumption has changed for us, we burn our fuel and use energy faster, maybe it’s  because of all the unseen healing going on but maybe we just changed our operation circuits. We get tired faster and so need to pace accordingly to how we are using energy,

 

Sleeping is a great way to recharge the energy banks but pacing yourself in tasks goes hand in hand also. If you struggle to get to sleep it may mean you are doing too much without balancing with a short rest and you need to to inject pauses into your day a bit more. Also look at your diet, what  else you are doing, Try and get fresh air everyday. This is about adjusting and adapting. 

 

Like Susan mentions Also look at your wind down for sleep routine? Does it include anything that demands a lot of cognitive effort, screen time, loud noise can all signal attention to the brain rather than ready for sleep so try to cut those out. Find a wind down routine that works for you and try to stick to it. Nap when you need to in the day but maybe not for too long no more than an hour. All that said in the first year I don’t think there is anything like too much sleep. I would have won a gold medal so I would just go with what feels right for you. ! 

[Winb143]

Whatever you do listen to your brain xx I think that "letter from your brain" has it sussed.

 

We need to listen to our brains more but is it my fault when my brain gives me all these good ideas  ha ha  Yes Win !!

 

God Bless you all xxxxxxxxx Remain as happy as possible  xxxx

[Chris G]

I used to be one of those people who had a hard time going to sleep.  Every since my time in the hospital, one of my favorite times of day is getting in the bed.  I sleep so much easier now.  I don't think I sleep any longer than before, except for those first few weeks of recovery, but it just comes easier.