sleep my biggest porblem

03darhum

well ever since i had th pains i found lack of sleep was the biggest problem most of the time i am realy tired but even though i try to go bed i still can sleep so sometimes i can be up till 2 in the mornign which isnt fun when i have to get up at 7, when i do manage to fall alseep its staying alseep thats hard as well because i find i have to wake up in the nyt so move around or eals i stay stiff lastly lol when i have a "bad day" it seems to get worse can anyone help
becaouse my gp is usless and i wont see my ra nurse till the 23rd of feb :sad:

thanks everyone ow and the welcome has been great its realy nice to talk to someone who understands and thanks for all the help you have given me already

darren

jilly

Hi Darren , It is horrible not sleeping , i think it makes it harder to fight the pain . My doctor has given me amitriplyline they help to relax you and help with the pain . Perhaps it is worth asking your doctor,they are well used for arthritis pain worth a try. hope you manage to sort it ..........jilly

03darhum

thanks i will deffintaly try that, one small thing though my gp is a pain when it comes to giving me painkillers so is it best to ask my ra nurse?

darren

jassie

Oh I do so sympathise with this For years, I took sleeping for granted -slept like a log as soon as my head hit the pillow, mainly because my full-time job took every bit of energy I'd got. Then about 3-4 years ago when I went part-time, I started to have difficulty sleeping, partly due to the pain and stiffness in my joints at a level that I could no longer ignore, especially on cold nights. Recently, I can go whole nights without any sleep, or go to sleep at 12.00 am and wake up at 4.00 am. If I give in and take the Co-codamol, that knocks me out but then I wake up mid-morning and feeling disorientated and rather hung-over.

I've found the following helpful:

Warm bath before going to bed
Not watching TV just before going to bed
Not eating after 9.00 pm
Absolutely refusing to consider anything that worries me after 9.00 p.m.
Making my bed more warm and comfortable with a mattress topper and extra duvets and keeping the room warm despite the expense
Relaxation tapes or DVDs (I have a whole collection including sounds of nature and hypnotic suggestions)
Self-relaxation - you know: 'your toes are relaxed, your feet are relaxed ... your whole body is now relaxed etc.'
Think lovely thoughts about loved ones, good memories of things that happened in the past, things I'd like to do in the future etc.
Imagine myself completely pain-free

If all else absolutely fails, I can do a days work on the computer starting at 4 am and then take the afternoon off to do as I please. (That wouldn't work if you have a job, though). If I do that, I often find I can sleep normally the following night.

Why is your GP a pain over painkillers? I think you should definitely insist if you're suffering pain enough to keep you awake. I don't think that nurses can prescribe painkillers, but I may be wrong.

Good Luck. Jassie.

tjt6768

You need to be seeing a different GP matey, is that possible..???

dreamdaisy

You are very new to this, Darren and I think your GP is on the right lines at the moment. I think there is little for you to gain in resorting to the strong stuff at this point, as you will have nothing in reserve to call upon should things deteriorate. Unfortunately for you your gender is against you: males do feel pain more keenly than females which means that you have to start learning some coping strategies, and soon.

RA itself can cause extreme tiredness, so be wary of pushing yourself too hard with ordinary, every-day activities. When your body wants to rest, rest. I used to hate the idea of an afternoon snooze - now it's part of my routine when the PA is active - I cannot manage without it. Set your alarm so you don't sleep through any appointments etc (as I recently did - :oops: ) When you do wake in the night, just lie there quietly, thinking pleasant thoughts etc and you may well drift off sooner rather than later: if you lie there fuming because you are awake, you won't.

RA does change one's life but they have caught yours early, you stand a good chance of the meds being effective for that reason, but the meds themselves can also cause tiredness: we take some pretty heavy-duty medication, and it can take its toll on the energy levels. I think the essential first step for you is to learn to pace yourself: don't un-necessarily expend your valuable energy, you have to conserve it to make it last. This is by no means an easy thing to do, no matter what one's age. DD

03darhum

hanks for all the advise i will see how it goes for now but if nothing works i will have no choice but to see a new gp because it realy effecting my collage work and stuff and i have an exam in just less than two weeks (arrr)
thanks everyone you have already been a great help

darren

maria09

Hi Darren
We all know what lack of sleep is like
Ive tried everything nothing helps really but ive got a mattress topper thing & a special pillow to stop my neck from killing me in the morning which helps
I get so restless at night & end up going down stairs to watch tv(thank god for sky) so I dont disturb Hubby
Its worse when Im working nxt day as I have to be up at 5.30
ggrrr
Hope some of the previous advice from the others will help Its just trying to find whats best fot you
Keep posting
Maria x

tkachev

Good luck with the exam Darren and hope this lack of sleep doesn't cause you problems. I do not sleep well and wake up exhausted so know how you feel. But at Christmas I had mulled wine and I slept like a log!

Elizabeth

frogmorton

Hi Darren

I tend to take pain meds lateish so l have relief as much of the night as poss and now I have got patches for the pain (butrans for me but others have diferent ones) which helps and I takle amitriptyline too to realx me and my muscles and help sleep.

Good luck with the exam.

LOve

toni xx

elnafinn

Hi again, Darren

I see no harm in you talking to your gp about your sleeping problems and asking about Amitriptyline or any suggestions he may have. This medication is used for a variety of different "problems", in a low dosage it is used for migraines, slowing down the body/relaxing the muscles, so you sleep better, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and taking a much higher dosage, for depression.

Now that you are becoming more knowledgeable about arthritis, since you have been on the forum - what is it, 2 days? you may feel more able to discuss these matters with your gp. Knowledge is power, Darren!

I wish you well with your exam. It is a long time, since I took any!

Elna x

03darhum

hi gonna book an appoiment with a new gp instead of my regular cos i need to get this sorted and thanks for all the good luck messages about my exam i will need it

and elna it been three days i think my momory is short

elnafinn

03darhum wrote:

l: and elna it been three days i think my momory is short

Your memory is better than mine! Time flies when you are on the forum!!

I do hope that you are feeling much better from when you first posted on here. You have made friends with people who know what it is like to have arthritis.

I hope your weekend goes well,

Elna x

03darhum

well today has been a "bad" day with the ra but its great that i can talk to people who understand your all amazing

darren

elnafinn

I am sorry to hear that it is a "bad" day for you, Darren, but at least you have found us lot and we do try our best to help and support each other.

Elna x

speedalong

HI,

sleep deprivation is the worst.

You have been given lots of great advice.

The only thing I would add is sometimes the worry that you wont sleep makes you tense and this adds to the pain and it is necessary to break the cycle. The pharmacist should be able to recommend you a short term solution for this - some are even herbal. They tend to work best if you only take them occasionally - but no sleep/poor sleep can become habit - and this might help you break it.

Speedy