I’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping over the past few months and it’s starting to take it’s toll.
I have Crohn’s and I seem to get more abdominal pain at night, so depending upon how much pain I’m in it affects my sleep. Sometimes I get very very little sleep.
Of course, the less I sleep I get, and the more tired I am the more I hurt … it’s a vicious cycle and I just can’t seem to get myself out of it.
I keep thinking that if I could just be knocked out for a few days to a week it would break the cycle of pain and get me back into a decent sleep cycle again.
I never used to have trouble sleeping. It’s a terrible feeling to fall asleep for only a minute or two, hear a noise or feel a pain that wakes you up and then be up for hours again before you can fall asleep again for perhaps as little as a few minutes.
Do you ever have trouble sleeping?
I’m only writing about this now because I’ve just gone through three days with only about six hours sleep. I’m baked!
I’ve been an insomniac for many, many years. I was on Ambien for a long time. Recently, I’ve taken some over the counter, all natural sleep aid. It’s a goofy name, called Pretty in Pink, but it works. I also will take 3 capsules of 3Mg melatonin, but you have to take the melatonin right before you go to sleep because if you get too much light after you’ve taken the melatonin it does the opposite and can keep you awake. Maybe too, warm baths will help with the cramps. I know it’s rough and the more you don’t sleep the lower your immunity and the cycle continues.
Good luck and take care.
I feel so sorry for you.
I’m a bad sleeper too. Not crohn’s, but a bad hip.
It feels like never being able to relax properly, like being constantly on guard.
I hope it gets better for you soon, Tricia.
I have bi-polar and fibromyalgia, with degenerative disc disease. THAT can cause a person not to sleep. With this all happening, most of the night, I turn from one hip to the other as each takes turns aching.
They used to always put me on anti-depressants to sleep with, but they didn’t do enough good or would hang me over too much.
I started Ambien, and it works. Knocks me out. If MY insurance pays for it -state insurance-I bet anyone’s would. Maybe it would work for you. Talk to your doctor about it.
BTW, thanks for the advice on the melatonin from the above poster. I take it once in awhile to supplement the ambien of if I’m out. I give it to my daughter in small doses on occasions when she can’t sleep.
I’ve tried melatonin, it worked for a short time. I currently use an over the counter sleep aid which is just benedryl (25-50mg), I was using tylenol pm…but I don’t need the tylenol everynight….so, anyway-I hope you get some whell deserved rest very soon. Feel better
Hi Tricia.
Really sorry to hear about your sleep problems. Man, how can you even function on that little.
I know you don’t want to hear it but I sleep only too well. My secret?
Too much cheap Spanish wine. It’s a nightmare. It’s way to cheap and you can’t find one that tastes bad!
Not a good recommendation I know but when in Rome and all that.
Take care Tricia.
Good article. My whole life, there is nothing I am more jealous of than a good sleeper. I mean, I can sleep well, just not when I’m supposed to. Always been that way. So, if I have to force myself to go to sleep, it’s always been self-medication in one form or another. Whether it be many beers, wine, melatonin, benedryl, or some combination thereof. People who can just put their heads down and nod off have no idea how freakin’ lucky there are.
The problem with some of the over the counter sleep remedies is that they can dope you up and you feel horrible the next day.
Ambien work for most people, but you must take it on an empty stomach. Most people need only 5mg to fall asleep but if you have your doctor write you a prescription for 10mg it will last you twice as long (good if you’re paying insurance deductibles). For some people, Ambien will only last half the night. In that case you probably need Ambien CR (continued release).
I still think the best approach is to use: 5-HTP or Melatonin. Try the over the counter pills called, “Sleep pretty in Pink.” The name is dumb, but it’s got amino acids in there with melatonin and I swear it worked very well for me (especially if you are trying to get off ambien).
Another trick I’ve used, which may help you, is to drink organic vegetable broth before bed. This has nutrients, including calcium and electrolytes which can help with sleep. It’s cheap, easy and you have nothing to lose.
I really hope you get to the bottom of your sleep issues. I know it’s rough. My heart goes out to you.
I have to get up early at least once a week to go to a breakfast club and the sleep deprivation effects seem to wipe me out for the rest of the day! I’ve tried the usual, going to bed early, not eating or drinking after 6pm, having a warm bath but the actual physical act of getting to sleep is hard that one night a week. Whatever time I go to bed, I unfortunately now have convinced myself I won’t actually sleep before midnight! Therefore I make do with about 5 hours that night, which to some would be fine but for me I need at least 7!
However – I don’t have Crohns so feel a little guilty about feeling sorry for myself. I used to have really bad sleep problems; couldn’t get to sleep, couldn’t stay asleep etc. Thankfully, something just clicked and I realised if I just got up when I couldn’t sleep and did something really boring, didn’t put the lights up high etc that I could then go back to bed and sleep. Think my brain had lost the link between bed and sleep up to that point, but I also did all the relaxation things and avoided caffeine and food late at night.
Good luck!