How can you wake up tired?

[Daffodil]

Another thread on the dreaded fatigue...there are probably a hundred on here already on this very topic but I decided to start this one today after yet another morning when I have to be roused physically by my husband , literally he has to shake me awake in the mornings and that's after going to bed at just after 9pm when I am worn out. I sleep very deeply , I doing have problems sleeping but I never wake up refreshed. My doctor has been fab listening and understanding but also just says that this is often the way with brain injury and is one of the hardest things to adjust to.

This morning hubby said to me "how can you wake up tired?" It was just a throw away morning comment which was said without thinking but it cut me to the core to be honest as it's the thing I struggle most with and the most lasting legacy of the SAH and other than the obvious answer I just don't have any explanation.

I average at least 9 hours sleep a night and yet still wake with a heavy head, sometimes I wonder if the shunt exaggerates this as although it has a gravitational valve on it it does mean that I would drain less when lying down which might mean I go slightly higher pressure at night time....that said not a lot I can do about it if that's the case, just my rational mind wanting to figure out a reason .

Anyway , anyone found a way to wake up refreshed?

[Karen]

Daff, afraid to say that I haven't woken up feeling refreshed since the bleed and I don't have a shunt.  In fact I sometimes feel more tired when I wake up than when I do before I go to bed. I can't remember now what it feels like to have a "good nights sleep", as this heavy feeling seems to be my new normal.

 

It takes me a good couple of hours in the morning after waking up to actually feel human.  In the early days I found sleeping with a V pillow and being more propped up helped the heavy morning head, rather than lying flat. I haven't used a V pillow for years but I'm thinking of buying another one to see if it helps again.

 

This is yet another morning for me of getting up late ... Eric working away and he's normally my alarm clock for getting up.  I also find that too much sleep can make me feel worse in the morning....however, I could sleep for England after 7am.

 

I also look tired and this morning I've put in some moisturising eye drops, as it helps a little.

 

I don't like having any appointments in my day before 10am, as I just don't feel "all there". 

 

I think that's what is great about sharing this sort of stuff, as you tend to think that it's just you experiencing it. xx

[Super Mario]

After my SAH I didn't have any problems sleeping and never woke up tired although I would soon be tired again and falling asleep.

 

Over the last year or so I did wake up tired but I think that I did because although I felt as if I had had a good night's sleep I wasn't. I think it was my knee pain that was disturbing me, a bit like sleep apnoea. Now I am on morphine it doesn't often happen.

 

There could be a reason other than the SAH as we tend to blame everything on that. Why not go to your doctor and ask to be referred for a sleep study, that would rule out or confirm a reason for waking up tired due to sleep disturbance.

Even a shunt check may be a good idea to ensure that it's setting is correct for you. I have heard of shunts having to be adjusted over the years as pressures can change. 

[Gill C]

I never wake refreshed and haven't for many years. I have sleep apnea which doesn't help and although I have been on a cpap since Christmas I am feeling more tired than ever. The sleep nurse said it might not help with the fatigue but as I wasn't getting any rem sleep my heart rate was always high. So the cpap is protecting my heart but quite honestly does nothing else for me. In fact since being diagnosed I feel a bad night much more. I wake at least twice to go to the loo and take a while to go back to sleep. Have been waking around 5 ish as our room is east west facing and when the sun comes up I wake up.

 

I've given up saying I'm tired, for me it's a given every day. Would love to be refreshed. I think the best I felt was over Christmas where I slept in every morning for almost three weeks! You're def not alone hon.

[Macca]

Hi Daff and everyone,

This is me also!  I rarely go to bed after 9pm and I sleep for England!  Often, I wake up feeling worse than when I went to bed!  About 4am I wake and read for a while and then I drift off again until about 9 am.  when I do get up it takes me ages to feel 'with it'.  Still, I am still here but it is frustrating.  My pituitary gland was damaged during the coiling and I now have to have growth hormone injections everyday.  I was even worse before I had those!  I am not allowed to have more than I get now as the hormone will make my heart grow and increase my blood pressure etc etc.

 

I am thankful for what I have and the gift of seeing my beautiful wife and my kids and grandchildren every day. That is a huge bonus!

Thanks Doc!!!

Macca

[iola]

Good grief I never wake up refreshed or feeling good. I do not sleep well and normally wake around 2 am and do not fall back to sleep until 4 am or so. I have to prop myself up to sleep. It's a real bummer. Then I'm up by 7 am.

I must get in the shower to start feeling normal and many times eating makes me nauseous so it is not til around noon I start feeling decent.

I

[kpaggett]

My routine:

 

legs/balance/drunk feelings @ about 8:30pm

White knuckle it until at least 10:30pm 

When my head hits the pillow, I feel this wonderful sensation

I have to listen to a book on CD or I can't fall asleep

I wake at 4am

I toss and turn often in pain, but yet I CAN'T seem to get up yet

get physically up @ 7am

by 9:30am I feel like I can approach the day

 

I loath this.  I've tried to modify so many times for a week or so only to find that nothing seems to change.

~Kris

[DawnS]

It's very interesting to read how similar our stories are. I never feel refreshed and don't sleep well. It changes regularly for me, but the latest manifestation of poor sleep is waking very early. Yesterday, it was 04:20 and I didn't manage to get back into bed until 23:00 which meant that today I had a lie-in all the way until 06:00  

 

I am up twice each night to use the loo and no matter what adjustments I make to my fluid intake, this remains the same and it can take a long time to get back to sleep. I wake up exhausted and like a few have already said, it takes me a couple of hours to feel remotely human. My partner will often ask me why I've woken up moody. I am not in a mood - I am shattered. He has always been very supportive but can't seem to get the hang of this one and by the time he asks me a third time what's wrong, I am in a mood and he then feels justified grrrr!

 

It seems that the more exhausted I am, the harder it is for me to sleep.

[Louise]

Cant tell you the last time I woke fresh and ready to face the day, think if I ever did it was before the SAH...

 

When I'm over tired I can't sleep vicious circle...