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Trouble Sleeping Post Hospital Stay
As many of you might know, I am one of the moderators of this forum. I had to take a short leave of absence due to complications of an infection in my intestines and colon called cdiff. It is extremely difficult for those of us with chronic illness and lower immune systems to fight off any infection and this one left me in the hospital unable to eat for 6 days, throwing up anything I attempted to eat or drink, and really took a toll on my body physically and mentally.
After this hospital stay, and previous hospital stays, I have noticed I have trouble sleeping at night. You would think I would get 10 plus hours a night after being woken up every few hours being in the hospital, but that’s just not the case for me.
Whether it’s due to an increase in anxiety after an admission, the vent machine that I have to wear at night that reminds me of a hospital, or even the LACK of sleep that has my mind boggled and running wild, I am struggling with sleep.
I have been given anxiety medication to take before bed that are quick acting to help me sleep and I feel like I will need this for awhile to get myself regulated again.
Have you noticed difficulty sleeping post hospital admission? What do you think triggers this for you? What have you done to help manage this?
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4 Replies
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First thing I want to say is, glad you’re feeling better Cdiff is a bad illness. Yes I have trouble getting to sleep after getting out of the hospital. I have trouble taking anything to help me sleep any prescription medications really bothers my lungs. I’ve had good luck with 10mg fast dissolve melatonin tablets. I will be asleep in 15 minutes after taking one, the best part is if I wake up I can take another one. I’m not groggy the next day either.
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Jody,
Thank you so much for the response. Melatonin is a good alternative to other types of medications. Some anti anxiety meds leave me with the groggy (almost like a hangover) type feeling the next morning. Ativan especially makes me feel that way. The one I’m taking now and have taken in the past for this same reason luckily doesn’t cause that for me even though it’s in the same family of medication. (currently taking Klonopin .5mg ) . I will have to look into the melatonin though and maybe even try out a holistic store. I hate to be on anti anxiety meds long term for night because then my body just gets so used to it and I end up having to increase the dosage (which I want to avoid).
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I could totally understand this situation. Hope you are feeling much better now and are able to eat and sleep well. Take care. In Korean they say “Fighting” as in Let’s do this or good luck kind of a thing….so Fighting!!!
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Thank you Stephannie,
Things are looking a lot better for me and I am able to eat more than I was thankfully. It helps when you get some of the strength back that you lost in the hospital. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I will definitely keep “fighting”. 🙂
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