Hi. I'm on heart failure medications. I'm keeping well and still enjoying long walks with the dog. A number of side effects from the meds but suffer lots of nights where I wake after a few hours and can't get back to sleep.
I usually take half a 25g sleep aid which help. But the pharmacist got quite hard on me this time when I went to buy them and said I shouldn't be taking them with my medication.
Has anyone else had this problem? I've been taking a small dose of these sleep aids for a few years with no ill effects. I feel a lot worse with lack of sleep and unable to function. In the past the pharmacy have just given a warning but this time I didn't think she would let me buy them.
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Bletchleygirl2
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This is something that your really need to have a discussion with your GP about.
He/she will find out if it is the medication that is doing this but don’t be surprised if its not, like my case in question.
As much as I hated to admit it but the whole heart thing was playing with my mind a bit and disrupting my sleep.
I was prescribed full strength sleeping pills that after a few nights did the trick and my sleep pattern was restored.
Its important that if you are going to take a sleep aid {herbal or prescription } that your Dr is fully aware { of course they will be with a prescription one } because it can be done on weight/ medication already on etc.
A lot of folk suffer side effects of disturbed sleep pattern when they have new meds/change of dose etc, but this normally goes off after a short period.
You have to remember that I am not medically trained but I urge you to take advice from someone who is.
Please keep us informed as I am sure that there are many on here that would love to see the answer to your problem.
Take care
Hello
It is very true after a heart event and the medications we take a lot can find this happens why I am not really sure
They were just looking out for you as to why they replied as they did as sleeping tablets are fine short term but long term they can stop working and you need more and start to get addicted to them
You Doctor could prescribe you something a lot better and worth talking this through with them
For me and this would not be for everyone the only way I can get a straight 7 hours sleep is staying up till 1 in a morning , like I say I know that would not be for everyone but it works for me
Speak with your Doctor they are understanding and let us know how you get on x
Getting decent sleep is one cornerstone of your recovery.Diet and exercise are other cornerstones.
.Try retiring at the same time each night. Use a tinnitus relaxer. Try more covers, try less. If possible, change your mattress. Try a light on. Sleep in a different room.
Ignore your old sleep pattern, start from scratch.
Try relaxation techniques
I took many weeks to establish that I needed 7.5 hrs sleep and that 10pm was the retiring time. So different from before the ops.
Medication is a blind alley, except for prescribed by your Doctor.
You can do it, and get your life back. You might get horrid dreams, but they will ease given time.
My EF was 20% two years ago, with LBBB. I didn't have I was put on various meds and an ICD, it is now 60%, and the cardiologist has discharged me. 55% does not sound too bad. Dr Google is not very useful.
I’m new to this and only 6 weeks post quadruple bypass a massive shock out of the blue and my sleep isn’t good but I think it’s down to my mental state of thinking about being dead. I’ve got a councillor now and some happy tablets, in 55 years I’ve never had any mental health problems but like so many more on here I think what we have all been through just pushes you over the edge.Im also trying to be good and be in bed for 11 to 11.30 which is early for me it used to be around 1 am even if I was at work for 6 the next day I don’t think that probably helped my heart.
I get by on 4 or 5 hours a night.When I asked the GP about it he said it was because I did continental shifts for so many years.Now when I get up between 2 and 3 I either get on my exercise bike for a half hour or I go in my garage for a workout then shower then do the ironing or washing,have breakfast then a 20 minute nap.Then I am ready for the day ahead.None of us are the same you have to work out what is best for you and get on with it.There is no magic pill or portion.If you need naps throughout the day take them,but get on with your life and enjoy it to the fullest.x
I have developed a pattern of getting six or seven nights of good sleep, eleven till six thirty. On night seven or eight after about a hour and a half I wake up.It was a concern for the first few times then I got used to it, the doctor was not overly concerned as it's a stable pattern.
One odd thing is that on the 'white nights' I don't feel any different during the following day no excess tiredness it's just another day.
As my sleep was awful after my quad,so I am quite happy to work with what I have, I regard it as 'hobby time' and go to my workshop without being told to cut the grass or anything else that my wife thinks is vitally important for world peace.
If it's bothering you talk to the doctor,in fact even if it isn't bring it to their attention, it's a bit of information that informs treatment options.
But if you cannot get back to sleep after about twenty minutes,get out of bed and leave the room, lieing awake in the bed starts to set a pattern which actually makes the bed a unpleasant place to be, you will start to feel that it's not a place for rest rather a ordeal to be endured. That's not good for your mental health, so get up and have a cuppa or watch some TV. Give it a hour or so and you may feel sleepy again and can have another bit of sleep. Or else you can use the time for something else, but not housework, something that you enjoy.
But your first port of call is the doctor they will be able to advise you, and if appropriate give you some sleep in a bottle, and one that works with your own cocktail of Meds.
Good luck, Dan.👍
Hi Bletch,
I worried about this too - waking after an hour or two, then can't get back to sleep - until I read somewhere that a break in sleep is fairly normal for a lot of people.
Split the night into two, so just accept it and take a short break before the next phase.
Don't fight it.
I get up, (usually prompted by my bladder) have a drink of something and distract yourself by sitting reading in a different room for a short time (about 1/2 hr) until I feel dozy, by which time I'm ready to get back to bed.
No more trouble for the rest of the night. I've never taken sleeping pills.
Hi Blue, What kind of sleep aid are you talking and did the pharmacist particularly pinpoint and cardiac drug which interact with the sleep aid. Are you normally a poor sleeper by habit? Any physical and mental exercise 2hours before sleep should be avoided.
I care for my husband who has severe heart failure. At the moment he's going through a very bad patch and sleep has become a massive problem. Gets out of bed after about 2-3 hours sleep and watches television. I checked his meds and found that some can cause insomnia. He has AF and is on the highest dose of Bisoprolol and also takes Digoxin so that his CRT-P (pacemaker) will work. (Also other meds.) There seems to be a relationship with insomnia and Bisoprolol. We're seeing the GP soon so will ask.
Hi. I’m on 10mg bisoprolol and was taking it in 5mg doses morning and evening. I had horrendous insomnia. My gp said it wasn’t bisoprolol but my pharmacist said to take it all in the morning. It cured my insomnia but now I’m tired during the day. I’d rather be tired during the day than awake all night though. Lots of heart meds have difficult side effects so perhaps have a look at yours and speak to your pharmacist to see if they need to be moved around.
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