Unable to sleep on a night.

[Familyfirst1]

Good morning , I have a terrible sleep pattern at present, wide awake till about 4am and once asleep I am having very clear vivid dreams which I do remember. Don't know if this is anything to do with all the meds I'm on. If anyone else experiences this any advice would be appreciated. Thanks hope you all have a great day.

[Hidden]

I had a HA in June last year, I had a couple of sleepless nights when I first came home due to the "demons" in my brain filling it with negative thoughts about further heart issues, I soon got over them. Since then I've slept very well with the clearest craziest dreams I've ever had most nights of the week, I definately think its meds related.

[Familyfirst1 in reply to Hidden]

The dreams are so mad and vivid aren't they. Glad I'm not the only one.

[Hidden]

Dear Familyfirst1

Like you I suffered with restless sleep and very vivid dreams.

The dreams are without doubt from the medication but from which one I don’t know, but maybe someone will be able to answer that in a later post for you.

I for one enjoy the dreams and it’s a new experience for me to be able to remember them, I don’t have any nightmare and hope the same for you.

My sleep was all over the place and after trying some so called natural sleeping pills { no effect on me } my doctor prescribed some sleeping tablets to take for a short period { 3 nights } .

The idea was to get me back into the rhythm of a sleep pattern, and it worked for me.

Hope any of the above helps and that soon you will be able to relax back into a good nights sleep.

Take care

[Familyfirst1 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the reply, yes the dreams are so strange and sometimes funny. I still remember the dreams that I had while in a coma after having a cardiac arrest. Once I came round I believed them to be real for a while. Take care.

[Maisie2014]

I had very vivid dreams just after my heart attack. The cardiac nurses told me it was the statins. Apparently it’s a pretty common side affect. They suggested taking them in the morning instead of at night. I no longer take statins and I keep a regular routine for bedtime. Only decaf drinks after 12 noon, switch TV off at 10:00 pm and wind down before going to bed shortly afterwards. I don’t watch anything too stimulating at night as I’m thinking about it all night. I record programmes to watch during the day. I get up around 6:30 am and go for an early swim/walk in the local pool 2/3 times a week. Always go out of the apartment on the days I don’t swim in order to get fresh air. I now find I have a fairly good sleep now.

[Familyfirst1 in reply to Maisie2014]

Thanks for your advise I too feel better when I have had some fresh air. My dogs ensure I have good walks. I'm still on statins so it's probably them causing the dreams. Good idea to take them on a morning. Take care.

[Hidden]

Hello

From having my first heart attack to been out on meds a triple Bypass 5 months ago my sleep has been dreadful

Having a heart attack can be a life changing event one which our bodies recovery quicker than our minds do which could be one reason you are suffering with these dreams

I would speak with your Doctor , it could be one of the meds it could be your recovery but they can take a look at what you are taking and maybe adjust one or more

Just to let you know you are not alone with this problem but hopefully in time if it is meds or our minds needing more time it will all settle down eventually x

[Familyfirst1]

It certainly is life changing isn't it and so hard to come to terms with. Before my arrest I worked full time, never had a minute and I never went to bed before midnight but the 4am is too much. Will take your advise and have a chat with my GP. It worrys me that all the advise says to get enough sleep at night. Thanks for your reply and take care.

[Treetopp]

I had a heart attack in October since then l am having lots of disturbed seepingFor example tonight was awake at 2am. its now 5.50am and I am awake again and probably will be for about an hour or so.I did read on one of the medication leaflets think it was the statin one that can happen.

Ironic isn't it when we really need our sleep most to stay well.

[Cocolelaissey]

Oh yes, still do...... i believe it is the concoction of meds, i am 14 months after a heart attack and daily have a power nap

[Ruby300]

Hi I HA in March I had the same thing I was up all hours for months like I would go to bed about 11 have ten min sleep then I would be awake right up till 5 in morning. I went to the GP she said it could be the statins and that she could give me sleeping pills but I said no she said I had to keep on the statins. So what I did I thought to myself I have got to get myself into a routine every night so what I do now I make sure I am in bed by 10.30 I make sure my mobile is on mute and I just stay there sometimes I would listen to the radio but I make sure I stay in that bed except for the bathroom. I started this in Dec so far so good I normally wake up at 5am but I thought that is better then being up all night. My GP ask how I was getting on I told her what I did she said that is really good but I did say the dreams I have are unbelievable 😂 wish you well.

[Rowan666]

Morning, if you're on Bisoprolol ... that can cause vivid, not so nice, dreams!!!

[Dralex]

Hi, I was put on atorvastatin about 18 months ago. I immediately suffered extreme insomnia, and like you, when I did eventually get some sleep, I had really vivid, sometimes alarming dreams. My doctor stopped this medication after only 2-3 weeks.........

[lisburb]

Morning, not good is it when you are awake and the rest of the world is asleep. Would def say chat to your doctor or heart nurses about it as, most of the posts on here say, it can be associated with your medication or a mix of them. Not the same, I struggled after my heart op as the by=pass machine can play havoc with sleep patterns and memory. I have an over active thyroid so am on meds for that and had terrible problems over the years with sleep, when its behaving, I can sleep like a baby, when its not I turn into a night owl, who cannot sleep and am the grumpiest git alive ha ha ha. I find the following helps, may work for you. I dont drink coffee after 11am, I drink weak tea, or fruit teas, I drink loads of water. I go to bed about 10-30pm most nights and read to drop off to sleep. I turn my phone off and if I wake up in the middle of the night, I get a weak tea and read. I know lying there, trying to go back to sleep doesnt work for me as I start stressing about it. Hope things improve for you soon

[rizal]

I think I must be particularly lucky. I have been on atorvastatin for years as cholesterol has always been a problem for me, the other one mentioned is bisoprolol, have been on that for quite a long time as well. After my heart attack a year ago now the bisoprolol was increased to 6.25mg. Never suffered much from sleep problems but did have disturbed nights with breathing problems. Then in July massive issues, blue lighted in barely able to breathe. Heart failure. Now I am on the same meds just a few extras. I have no problems at all sleeping. Sorry this seems like gloating!

But, I go to bed when I am tired, that could be 8pm or midnight, apart from visits to the bathroom (I am on furosemide after all) I get up in the morning when I wake and feel awake. I am careful to touch wood while writing this. Usually I sleep 8 to 10 hours.

Part of the answer may be that I am really scared of going through that last experience of being unable to breathe again. It was terrible, so I exercise. I use the cardio rehab mHealth app. I do 2x 30 minutes walk a day every day (I do this indoors in my little flat) and I do 2x the exercise class on the app per week. I have had to build up to this, and it is only in the last month that I have got rid of my walking stick and walk normally. On top of that exercise, I walk to the supermarket or market everyday to get my shopping. Again the fear of a repeat of the can't breathe incident has got me a bit fanatical about eating well and eating fresh.

So I guess I have been really lucky with the sleep issues, but I am sure the big increase in daily exercise has helped a lot

[Worvera in reply to rizal]

Hello. Where did you get the health app please. I’ve been looking for something like this for a while. Thanks 😊

[rizal in reply to Worvera]

Through the hospital Cardiac Rehab team. Because of covid, they could not do proper rehab classes, so I had one face to face session with them and then they signed me up for it. It is called my mhealth

[Worvera]

Hello. I experience this on and off but when I first started my meds it was awful every night. I’ve been on meds since last July and it is improving. 🤞

[Thumper-Rabbit]

Hi, i had a HA just over a month ago. Since then i have had numerous nights where i go to bed , drop off to sleep and then wake up about 90mins later thinking i have had a great long sleep only to find it wasn't long and then have trouble falling asleep again. Sometimes its a couple of hours before i nod off again. I don't get the vivid dreams as such but I had a month review with the cardiac nurse a couple of days ago and one of the questions she asked was did i get any vivid dreams. She did say that if i did they may be through the meds.

[Tullymore]

I find I sleep best if in bed at 10pm. Any later and there can be problems. Reading is a big help.

[Eastern123]

Such a complicated issue! Because it’s individual to you and your circumstances. Here are some ideas that may be relevant and possible helpful to develop a more healthy sleep pattern. Some of which I used when I was a night nurse in hospital. Measure each morning from 1 to 5 the quality of sleep the night before ( 1 being poor 5 very good nights sleep) write down also previous days events diary/calendar etc. diet, exercise, mood and other thoughts. Are these impacting on your sleep example drinking alcohol or lack of exercise. These ideas are self reflective you will able to assess improvement and whats maybe helpful. Are you waking up at a particular time with nightmares this is not uncommon = to break that pattern set the alarm clock I hour before you expect it to occur. This helps to break the cycle. Just a few ideas to improve zzz’s

[trebor5558]

I wrote on here some time ago about my weird and detailed dreams most nights. They are not scarey, just very weird and I'm convinced it's the Atorvastitin (which I take at night) I know they are vivid in my memory when I wake up just for a fleeting second

[Frootbat]

I started taking CBD oil recently for back pain. It didn’t help, but reading about it I saw that it may help with sleep and inflammation, which I thought, would be useful as I have heart disease. I think, and I repeat, think it is helping me to sleep better. I only take it at night. I am not an alternative medicine fan and take all my heart meds with informed enthusiasm! Just putting this out there.

[MikeBB]

Aye - me too - although far too many of the dreams I had were very unpleasant nightmares. It was the meds - I'm fairly sure the anti-platelet was the culprit as things improved once I stopped taking it at the end of the proscribed period.

[sphb]

Thank goodness for the great people that contribute to the forum!!

Diagnosed with AF, I had cardioversion initially and ablation last week. Medication is daily doses of Aplixaban and Bisoprolol.

Sleeping has certainly been disrupted. Go to bed at eleven and eventually get to sleep about three hours later. Dreams are certainly vivid and unusually repetitive.

I thought it was me.