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  • Trouble sleeping at night

    I just had 2 stage scoliosis surgery on May 17 and May 22. For the most part, I am doing quite well. However, I am having trouble sleeping through the night. I can't even sleep through half the night. I've tried going to bed early when I am first tired, I've tried going to bed later to make sure I am really tired, I've tried drinking hot decaf tea, a couple of nights I took melatonin, another couple of nights I tried xanax, nothing works. I keep waking up after an hour/hour and a half. Only a few nights have I woke up, went to the bathroom, climbed back into bed and fell back to sleep but this is not the norm. I end up waking up around 6 am and am hungry so I eat breakfast and because I'm tired, I go back to bed. It's usual then that I can sleep about two hours. Then I get up and try to do a few things around the house or I walk inside. I try to take only a short nap in the morning and if I need to only a short nap in the afternoon. I've even gone days without an afternoon nap and I still can't sleep in the evening.

    Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what have you done?
    Marjorie

    Surgery in 2 phases, May 17 & May 22, 2012
    Prior to surgery: Thoracic 75, Lumbar 45
    After surgery: Thoracic 27, Lumbar 28
    Surgeon: Dr. Nathan Lebwohl, Miami, FL

  • #2
    Been there done that.

    I finally got a foam topper for my bed and it doubled my sleep. I would suggest 4 inches thick, latex foam.....

    Your body is healing at a fast rate right now. It takes a tremendous amount of energy.....

    Your almost past the hardest part, very soon things will improve.....

    Hang in there
    Ed
    49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
    Pre surgery curves T70,L70
    ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
    Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

    Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
    http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

    My x-rays
    http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

    http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi,

      Sorry to hear of your insomnia, but I definitely had a transient bout of this also, about the same time as you. As Ed says, it does get better. For me I think I was waking up uncomfortable and had to change positions a lot. I was too uncomfortable on our worn-out temperpedic, so I was sleeping on a very firm hospital bed for the first 5 weeks. It was easier to change positions in it.

      I would suggest napping in the daytime if you need it. Your body is working so hard to heal right now. Your nighttime sleep will improve here pretty soon.
      Gayle, age 50
      Oct 2010 fusion T8-sacrum w/ pelvic fixation
      Feb 2012 lumbar revision for broken rods @ L2-3-4
      Sept 2015 major lumbar A/P revision for broken rods @ L5-S1


      mom of Leah, 15 y/o, Diagnosed '08 with 26* T JIS (age 6)
      2010 VBS Dr Luhmann Shriners St Louis
      2017 curves stable/skeletely mature

      also mom of Torrey, 12 y/o son, 16* T, stable

      Comment


      • #4
        Me too. :-)

        This too shall pass. I didn't even start worrying about the sleep issue until I started thinking about returning to work. By the time I was ready to return full time, my sleep schedule was back to normal.

        --Linda
        Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
        ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
        Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

        Comment


        • #5
          I would take a valium before going to bed for the first two and a half months post surgery. That helped me sleep through half the night....then the pain med I would take around 2 helped with going to sleep (eventually) until next time to take med...around 6 a.m.
          Discovered scoliosis when 15 years old.
          Wore Milwaulkee Brace for 1.5 years.
          Top curve 85 degrees, bottom curve 60 degrees

          Surgery completed August 23, 2011 (during an earthquake, can you believe that?)
          Dr. Charles Edwards, II
          The Spine Center at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, MD
          Before and after xrays:
          http://www.valley-designs.com/myspine

          Comment


          • #6
            I had insomnia for the first few months after surgery and almost dreaded when it was time to go to bed. I took my Ipad to bed and watched movies for the first few weeks. It gets better as your body heals and you're more comfortable.
            Karen

            Surgery-Jan. 5, 2011-Dr. Lenke
            Fusion T-4-sacrum-2 cages/5 osteotomies
            70 degree thoracolumbar corrected to 25
            Rib Hump-GONE!
            Age-60 at the time of surgery
            Now 66
            Avid Golfer & Tap Dancer
            Retired Kdgn. Teacher

            See photobucket link for:
            Video of my 1st Day of Golf Post-Op-3/02/12-Bradenton, FL
            Before and After Picture of back 1/7/11
            tap dancing picture at 10 mos. post op 11/11/11-I'm the one on the right.
            http://s1119.photobucket.com/albums/k630/pottoff2/

            Comment


            • #7
              My surgery was January 23rd, and I'm still having trouble sleeping. But then, I had also had issues before the surgery as well. Some of the challenges that I face with regard to sleep beyond the surgery are that (1) I'm naturally a night owl so under normal conditions am up until between 1:30 and 3:30 a.m.; workdays are not normal conditions, so I have to try to force myself to get to sleep by midnight at the latest, but it rarely if ever works. (2) I have mild obstructive sleep apnea, which leads to lots of times where I wake up but don't really know or remember that I woke up. (3) I have fibromyalgia, which by itself is a cause of insomnia -- I take amitriptyline for it, and without that I'd be in really bad shape because I would probably never even be able to fall asleep in the first place. Before the surgery, if I actually got to sleep, then I generally slept well, but always woke up at least once in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. If I was asleep then got woken up, I could usually go back to sleep pretty quickly depending on the length of the disturbance. But getting to sleep in the first place was not easy for me then.

              These days I still have the above problems, and in addition can never get really truly comfortable in my bed. The most sleep I get in one shot is usually an hour and a half to maybe three hours if I'm lucky. I'm constantly changing positions when lying in my bed because nothing feels comfortable. Unlike some other people, my bed is one of the most uncomfortable places I can be -- I'm much more comfortable sitting in one of my chairs than I am lying down in my bed. I did get a recliner, and sometimes start off sleeping there for the first hour or so -- but that's less comfortable now than it was at first.

              I just tried a mattress topper to make to my bed more comfortable, but it didn't work. I'm going to have to return it. I found that I was even more uncomfortable on the mattress topper, because it was even harder to reposition myself than it would be on my bed without the mattress topper.

              I don't really have any good solutions; I wish I did.

              My coping mechanisms so far have included:

              -- in the early days (for about a month and a half after the surgery), pain meds at night -- right before lying down to sleep, and then taken about four hours later the first time I would wake up to use the bathroom
              -- sleeping in a recliner (mine is a Golden Technologies Zero Gravity Power Lift recliner)
              -- Sonata taken just before getting into bed on some nights after pain meds ran out
              -- Ambien taken just before getting into bed on other nights after pain meds ran out
              -- Melatonin taken a bit before getting into bed on still other nights after pain meds ran out
              -- dairy item (either yogurt or Kozy Shack rice pudding) consumed about two hours before trying to go to sleep (my husband has always had a glass of milk before going to bed for as long as I've known him)

              I'm trying not to rely on the Sonata or Ambien too much, which is why I tried the Melatonin recently. And I've seen another herbal remedy advertized that I might try out -- called Alteril (I think); it has both melatonin and L-tryptophan (the item in turkey that makes people tired).

              On nights when it doesn't matter how late I go to sleep (generally a Friday or Saturday night), then I'll spend a lot of time on my hobby in the evening. I'm into genealogy big time, and spending a lot of time searching for new records -- such as trying to find people in the 1940 census records that were just released in April -- can lead to real exhaustion after looking, looking, looking, looking and not finding. Unfortunately actually finding can have the opposite effect -- excitement makes it even harder to get to sleep.

              Your body needs sleep now, so get it however you can, whether that means a nap or two during the day or not.

              I am not normally up early, but in the first few weeks after my surgery, I rarely slept past 6:30 or 7 a.m. Now I can even sleep until 10 a.m., but never in true comfort. [I used to be able to sleep until noon or later with no problems at all if nothing woke me up.]

              -- Good luck,
              Mary
              -- Mary D. Taffet
              Lumbar curve 27 degrees in 07/2007 > 34 degrees in 03/2009 > 38 degrees in 02/2011 > 42 degrees in 09/2011
              Laminectomy L2-L5, Fusion T9-S1 (sacrum) with pelvic fixation 01/23/2012 w/ Dr. Richard Tallarico, Upstate Orthopedics, Syracuse, NY

              Comment


              • #8
                I had no trouble sleeping at night until I dropped all nighttime and evening pain meds. Then the insomnia set in for a week or so. Besides the meds, one thing that helped was changing positions. Sleeping on my side with a pillow between knees, if only for a short period of time. Also no caffeine at all during the day helped me. I have a soft memory foam mattress and when I'm on it I can't feel my hardware! Good luck--it will pass.
                age 48
                80* thoracolumbar; 40* thoracic
                Reduced to ~16* thoracolumbar; ~0* thoracic
                Surgery 3/14/12 with Dr. Lenke in St. Louis, T4 to S1 with pelvic fixation
                Broken rods 12/1/19; scheduled for revision fusion L1-L3-4 with Dr. Lenke 2/4/2020
                Not "confused" anymore, but don't know how to change my username.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by titaniumed View Post
                  Been there done that.

                  I finally got a foam topper for my bed and it doubled my sleep. I would suggest 4 inches thick, latex foam.....

                  Your body is healing at a fast rate right now. It takes a tremendous amount of energy.....

                  Your almost past the hardest part, very soon things will improve.....

                  Hang in there
                  Ed
                  Thank you Ed for your reply. I actually have a temperpedic bed which is real comfortable. Your comment about my body using a tremendous amount of energy to heal right now was not something I even thought about so that actually makes me feel a little bit better about this. Also, your sentence about my being almost past the hardest part was VERY encouraging. Thank you!!
                  Marjorie

                  Surgery in 2 phases, May 17 & May 22, 2012
                  Prior to surgery: Thoracic 75, Lumbar 45
                  After surgery: Thoracic 27, Lumbar 28
                  Surgeon: Dr. Nathan Lebwohl, Miami, FL

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by leahdragonfly View Post
                    Hi,

                    Sorry to hear of your insomnia, but I definitely had a transient bout of this also, about the same time as you. As Ed says, it does get better. For me I think I was waking up uncomfortable and had to change positions a lot. I was too uncomfortable on our worn-out temperpedic, so I was sleeping on a very firm hospital bed for the first 5 weeks. It was easier to change positions in it.

                    I would suggest napping in the daytime if you need it. Your body is working so hard to heal right now. Your nighttime sleep will improve here pretty soon.
                    Thank you for your reply. From the folks that wrote back, insomnia seems to be a common occurence from this surgery. Knowing this helps as I was getting concerned because everything says to get a good continuous night's sleep and I thought I might be the only one having this problem. As a matter of fact, I was getting very frustrated which I'm sure wasn't helping the problem.

                    I do nap during the day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Again, it's only for about an hour at a time. I'm glad to hear that the nighttime sleep will eventually improve.That's encouraging.


                    Marjorie
                    Marjorie

                    Surgery in 2 phases, May 17 & May 22, 2012
                    Prior to surgery: Thoracic 75, Lumbar 45
                    After surgery: Thoracic 27, Lumbar 28
                    Surgeon: Dr. Nathan Lebwohl, Miami, FL

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I refer to the first 4 weeks of my recovery as my “survivor” period. Just like ‘survivor man”.......you eat a bug, you get your .01 worth of nutrition, and burn that up in a nano second. Oh boy.....every second of the day is critical. You try this, and you try that, anything to help survive. I took cat naps for 2 years, my body needed it. Fatigue takes a long long time to get over. I have a medium Tempurpedic and it wasn’t soft enough, but then I was pretty busted up. (smiley face) Man-o-man! I knew it was a going to be a long slow road.

                      I actually sheet rocked my garage this past weekend....and did it quickly. Heavy construction is an acid test. Lifting 2x6”s, sawing lumber, hammering and driving screws standing on top of ladders......why do I do these things? I don’t know.

                      I’m fully recovered, that I do know.

                      Set realistic goals....accept what you can do as you move along. If you cannot do it now, you will do it in the future at some point.

                      I took many hot 106 degree baths for the first 3 months for pain control....the heat penetrates and helps with the bone pain. It also helps with the nerve jolts.

                      Hang in there and keep smiling.

                      Ed
                      49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
                      Pre surgery curves T70,L70
                      ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
                      Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

                      Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
                      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

                      My x-rays
                      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

                      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Mary--
                        Your #7 post was really interesting to me. I could have written your first paragraph except for the fibro part. Not paragraph #2 but #3--yes, I really couldn't do the topper thing after a while. I've been a horrible sleeper since I was a little kid and just really get going about 9:30 PM. Tried everything too. I just mentioned on another thread my best sleep was while I was on hydrocodone--for about a year after surgery. After that it was back to the same old stuff. Some nights OK and others nothing works. It is so frustrating especially when you are trying to heal like you are now. It doesn't matter when you get the sleep day or night but the cat naps will help in the long run. My husband can fall asleep in mid-sentence. His advice was always--Just close your eyes!!! GRRRRR. Good luck. I understand your pain! Janet
                        Janet

                        61 years old--57 for surgery

                        Diagnosed in 1965 at age of 13--no brace
                        Thoracic Curve: 96 degrees to 35 degrees
                        Lumbar Curve: 63 degrees to 5 degrees
                        Surgery with Dr. Lenke in St. Louis--March 30, 2009
                        T-2 to Pelvis, and hopefully all posterior procedure.

                        All was posterior along with 2 cages and 6 osteotomies.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Thank You!

                          Thank you everyone for your posts. They were encouraging in the fact that obviously I'm not the only one going through this or have gone through this. Also, to hear that "this too shall pass" is good to hear as well as it's okay to take cat naps. Everything I read was saying how important it is to get a good continuous nights sleep for healing so I was getting quite frustrated that I couldn't sleep through the night. Also, I was wondering about the cat naps during the day but a number of you addressed that as well. Thank you again for all your responses. They really helped to put me at ease.

                          Marjorie
                          Marjorie

                          Surgery in 2 phases, May 17 & May 22, 2012
                          Prior to surgery: Thoracic 75, Lumbar 45
                          After surgery: Thoracic 27, Lumbar 28
                          Surgeon: Dr. Nathan Lebwohl, Miami, FL

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Doodles View Post
                            Mary--
                            Your #7 post was really interesting to me. I could have written your first paragraph except for the fibro part. Not paragraph #2 but #3--yes, I really couldn't do the topper thing after a while. I've been a horrible sleeper since I was a little kid and just really get going about 9:30 PM. Tried everything too. I just mentioned on another thread my best sleep was while I was on hydrocodone--for about a year after surgery. After that it was back to the same old stuff. Some nights OK and others nothing works. It is so frustrating especially when you are trying to heal like you are now. It doesn't matter when you get the sleep day or night but the cat naps will help in the long run. My husband can fall asleep in mid-sentence. His advice was always--Just close your eyes!!! GRRRRR. Good luck. I understand your pain! Janet

                            Janet, I'm just now seeing your reply. It's nice to know that I'm not the only night owl.... The mattress toppers I bought for trial purposes are going back to the store tomorrow.

                            I didn't even mention my neck pain earlier. I've been having neck pain all day long starting just a few weeks after the surgery. At first I thought the problem was related to my pillow because my neck pain seems worst as I'm getting out of bed in the morning, so I tried a couple of other pillow options, none of which helped.

                            I'm really hoping that some day soon I will once again be able to both sleep comfortably and wake up comfortably, but I'm not too optimistic about that right now.
                            -- Mary D. Taffet
                            Lumbar curve 27 degrees in 07/2007 > 34 degrees in 03/2009 > 38 degrees in 02/2011 > 42 degrees in 09/2011
                            Laminectomy L2-L5, Fusion T9-S1 (sacrum) with pelvic fixation 01/23/2012 w/ Dr. Richard Tallarico, Upstate Orthopedics, Syracuse, NY

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              The neck problems are something I still deal with a lot. Dr. Lenke said he could not make any promises about that at all. I think I've mentioned before that years of chiropractic kept me going pre-surgery. Since surgery my chiro uses only the Impulser--which makes just the most minute adjustments that is enough to help my neck, back and hips to relieve soreness. Also I have a massage therapist that does microfacial--I've just forgotten the name; that doesn't sound right! It's something like that but she really does help. It's a very light touch. Just a couple ideas.
                              Janet

                              61 years old--57 for surgery

                              Diagnosed in 1965 at age of 13--no brace
                              Thoracic Curve: 96 degrees to 35 degrees
                              Lumbar Curve: 63 degrees to 5 degrees
                              Surgery with Dr. Lenke in St. Louis--March 30, 2009
                              T-2 to Pelvis, and hopefully all posterior procedure.

                              All was posterior along with 2 cages and 6 osteotomies.

                              Comment

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