julie.1 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hi, I'm sure there must be a thread somewhere on sleep problems, but I can't find it! Since coming home from hospital my sleep has been all over the place - I could sleep all day some days, but not settle at night. Other days I can't sleep apart from cat naps through the night. I've tried the usual things - regular getting up and going to bed times, no caffeine, cool room etc, but little success. At times I feel absolutely exhausted, but sort of restless and agitated at the same time. I can't seem to settle - is this normal after SAH? Any tips/ advice appreciated Julie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hi Julie I used to be like that still am on occasions try not to worry and sleep when your body tells you too drink loads of water. Jess.xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iola Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Hi Julie, I do not sleep well. Partly to do with anxiety and trying to get comfortable. I sleep best on my left side now. It's getting better but I still wake up quite a few times at night. When I do wake up in the morning I'm usually pretty tired. Need a shower to get moving. Iola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winb143 Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) Hiya Julie, As "I" has said it does get better, I used to get up at 2am then go back to bed and lay there trying to sleep. You will get better Julie. Love WinB143 xx Edited September 1, 2013 by Winb143 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie.1 Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 Thanks everyone, It sounds like this is a familiar problem then......I think I will just stop worrying and accept my sleep is a bit more disturbed at the mo. Its just frustrating to be tired and not manage to get proper rest. I think I might try having short sleeps at night and get up if I'm just lying there. I'm trying to drink 3 litres a day, its helping with the headaches I think, so maybe the sleep will come next. Thank you all! Julie xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Hi Julie, I think that the disturbed sleep has happened to most of us ... listen to your body and take naps when you need them. Your night time sleep will return and it will go back to normal. I can remember not being able to get to sleep until 4am and would have just nodded off when the rest of the family were getting up for work! ... so frustrating and know exactly where you're coming from ... May be it's the brain healing and trying to re-adjust? Who knows! It really does get better and your sleep pattern should return over time .. patience is a huge virtue post SAH and lack of information with this sort of problem, post hospital release doesn't help. You will get there ... take care lovely. xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie.1 Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 Thanks Karen, It helps just knowing its 'normal' for this stage and that it has improved for others. Thank you for replying, I'm finding BTG such a support at the moment. Would be thinking I was going bonkers without the kind words and shared experiences Julie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffodil Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Julie. I hated it when my sleep patterns were skewiff, it seems to magnify everything else. Mine is ok now pretty much with the odd blip but early on when it was awful I made little changes each day to my routine and made a note in my daily acheivement diary if it improved my sleeping pattern. Here's some of the things I learned. I needed to sleep with my head slightly elevated, still do in fact, three pillows, yikes! Also like someone else early on couldn't sleep on my left side but that's where my EVD and later shunt was placed so that made sense to me, now that's fine. I needed a routine to wind down for bed, even if I had slept most of the day and spent it all in Pjs I still had a going to bed routine. Giving myself a very very gentle neck and shoulder massage with soothing oil worked well and I still do this now if I'm having a whizzy day of headaches. I couldn't let anyone else touch my head but I knew what pressure I could apply. Gentle sounds helped me get to deep sleep. A friend who suffered a brain injury in a car accident sent me a cd of crickets and tree frog early on, I must admit I thought " what the eff" but it works for me. Seems to help me switch off something my brain was struggling to do. So we are all different, i hope you find the things that help you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryB Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Julie, I have this conversation with so many women in my life. I say we never sleep after we have a baby and that is why our health suffers more than means. We are light sleepers and once we become one it is hard not to be one. I have been working on my getting to bed by 10 up by 6:30 now. AS I am in a new stage of recovery. I like Daff have a bit of a routine. I have to sleep on my stomach as I have shoulder and hip issue, no pillow, head on side. I have slept this way for years now. But getting to bed by 10:00 is a tough one as I sometimes get my second wind from resting 4 hours after work! We also have a fan runing in summer and a humidifer in winter for background noise. One thing I had to teach myself was falling back to sleep. Too bad doctors over there just won’t give you a mild anxiety pill so you can learn to go back to sleep. If my mind starts in I literally have to say "shut up" and close my eyes and pretend I am just falling back to sleep, and breathe. It takes works almost like meditation. If you can get to that let it go part and just say STOP to your mind. Not that I never have a night that is bad but that is rare. I am lucky my family doctors the past 20 years get that night time sleep is so important to my fibro & my health that they gave me something to take the edge off so I can fall back to sleep. I have said before having fibro was a blessing because I already had down so many of the obstacles of adjusting my life after the SAH. I really do not get why doctors are so worried about a little something to get someone to sleep though the night as nothing is more important to your health no matter who you are. I look at the young mothers at work who have not slept in 4 years and jeez they are worse than I am some days! Good luck, maryb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie.1 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Thank you so much everyone! Good news - I had a much better night last night, may be a one off or because I have relaxed a bit - but it was LOVELY!! Thanks for the reassurance and tips. I am sticking with a wind down routine before bed. Pretty much given up caffeine as well since SAH. Daffodil - I tried extra pillows last night and it helped a lot, I didn't get up for extra pain tablets in the night. I've tried music and 'sounds' type things at night, but they seem to wake me right up because I start concentrating on them! I put a fan on last night and think staying cool and the white noise might have helped me get back to sleep after waking. Thought I would try keeping a note of how my day has been, if I do anything different at bed time and how I've slept to see if theres anything that helps particularly Julie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheezo Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Hi Julie great news that you managed a better sleep last night. my sleep was all over the place for first couple of months, sleeping loads during the day but then also going to bed early and sleeping - although not all through the night. Now I don't need a sleep in the day and although I go to bed about 10ish I am usually not sleeping till after 11 - I do wake three or four times in the night though, usually because i'm sleeping on my right side and my head feels weird and squashed ( the side I had the operation on) I have everything crossed that you sleep well tonight Julie Lesley xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie.1 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Thanks Lesley, hopefully its not just a blip! Julie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amexdm Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Hello all: Hi Julie, hope you are sleeping better. Sleep is so important post SAH. We need to recharge our batteries right? Try a fan away from your bed and eventually you get used to the noise. It works for many. Right after SAH, I slept 16 hours a day. Must have been part dog. But it was better than the pain. But your patterns will get better over time. My problems is nightmares which is a whole nother issue which just knocks the daylights out of you. I need a sleep doctor! Maybe we all do. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpaggett Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Sleep was/sometimes is a big issue for me. However, it doesn't seem to affect the next day energy wise so I guess I am getting enough overall. Just until about 2months ago, I was going to bed at 10:30 and waking at 3. Now, I usually do 11 to 5:30 or 6 so it is getting better with time. I still have an occasional night where I wake at 2 and can't go back to sleep. It seems when ever I wake up, I am up for the night no matter what I do. I am still exhausted at the time, so I just rest there and hope I don't have back pain. I no longer worry about it at all, though. Hope your pattern will improve with time. ~Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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