Does anyone have trouble sleeping?

[lin14534]

I've posted before but would like to ask if others have an issue sleeping or more to the point, staying asleep. I wake up at 6 am when I normally used to sleep until 8-9 am (I'm retired). Last night I took a Tylenol PM and I slept till 7 am. I took a 5 mg of melatonin the night before and it made me feel strange. I also tried chamomile tea which helps me feel drowsy but I still wake up early. I've had big anxiety issues since finding out about my ckd 3 about 2 months ago and trying to avoid going back on the anti anxiety med Effexor. I'm struggling with this but think that if I get better sleep it might help me cope a little better. Someone suggested a shot of cognac-lol

[Hidden]

Hi again, Staying asleep is a different issue from getting to sleep. I've dealt with that also. My research has led to to several solutions.

1. Not drinking anything 1 hour prior to bed.

2. Going to the bathroom, prior to getting in the bed.

3. Have bedroom as dark as possible. (no early morning light, no nightlights)

4. No snoring from significant others or pets to wake you up.

5. This is the hard one: Let your mind rest and not think about anything that negatively stresses* you. (*Remember stress can be both positive and negative)

6. I do take a 10mg tablet of Melatonin about 1 hour prior to sleep and I get anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep. That's more than enough for me without taking daytime naps.

Hope that helps someone

[judystuddard in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I do, even with Zanax. From what I have researched, no sleep is one of the symptoms.

[Milko]

I too am having trouble sleeping, after a couple of hours I wake up and cannot get to sleep again for 3-4 hours and then wake up again at about 6. I have CKD Stage 3 and am feeling really frustrated. I have read that this can be a problem for CKD sufferers but having a quiet dark room doesn't seem to help at all. Do not want to have to resort to medication if I can help it. Has anyone else have this problem and been able to overcome it?

[lin14534 in reply to Milko]

Definitely my issue also. Thankfully I'm retired and don't have to deal with going to work. I've tried chamomile tea before bed and 3 mg of melatonin. I don't know what the answer is and it's very frustrating

[Milko in reply to lin14534]

Thanks for your response. I too am retired but do have some early morning commitments, I have not heard of melatonin but if it continues like this will give it a go. Although it is not nice for other people to suffer so it is good to know that I am not the only one going through it.

Hope you are having a good day to-day

[Cjw1943 in reply to Milko]

Melatonin is great, its natural. you can buy over the counter 5 mg is good.

[Zazzel]

I had years of both difficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep. Mr-Kidney had some great suggestions. The not drinking anything is my favorite as I'd used to get up and pee 5-6 times a night!

I started melatonin and it works great for me. The thing is that it comes in different doses. They are inexpensive so try starting out with 1mg and work your way up. You may have taken too much at first which is why it made you feel weird and the rest of you might try different doses. Of course, like anything, it doesnt work for everyone, but it's worth another shot. I had to experiment quite a bit to get at my level which is 3mg. I went up to 10mg I think, but that was too much and I backed it down to 3. I am really affected, so I have to take it only half hour before bed or I get to sleepy to get ready for bed if it's longer than that.

Second thing I do is listen to sleep meditation music or a sleep hypnosis video. They are free on YouTube. If your spouse doesn't like it, they have awesome nighttime earphones on Amazon that are comfy. I was one of those people who's mind races at night, thinking of all I needed to do. Now, I lay back and I'm serene and drift off to lovely relaxing music and tell my brain to take a hike for awhile and leave me alone. Here is a link. There are lots to choose from. It's worth a shot! m.youtube.com/results?q=sle...

Blessings and sweet dreams to all of you!

[Milko in reply to Zazzel]

Thank you so much for your reply. I had not heard of melatonin before nor Mr-Kidney will look the site up. It was very interesting reading your experience of melatonin and will certainly give it a go if things continue as they are at the moment.

Thank you for your kind wishes and hope you are having a good day to-day.

[Zazzel in reply to Milko]

Your welcome. Just to be clear When I said Mr-Kidney, I meant the member of this group who commented above . Lol! He does have a great name for a website though. Lol!

A good website to check out is holistic-kidney.com. Helpful holistic tips. Have a happy day😄

[McLabhran]

Hi there.

Another thing to remember is that as we age our body requires less sleep as our body chemistry changes. I have always had an issue with first getting to sleep and then staying a sleep for a great period of time. Interestingly enough, if it is raining, or if I have consumed a little alcohol or extremely tired, I fall asleep easily and at least get 6 hours of sleep. Have no idea why my body behaves that way.

I have taken melatonin, valerian and other homeopathic treatment which only helped me for a month or so and then I was right back where I began. Could be my own physical make up. Just have to be careful with taking some products as they too can cause damage to kidneys, liver or stomach. I always offer for people's consideration to do research on products for long term side effects.

The other thing, if you are up for this sort of thing, is to listen to meditative music upon retiring for bed. If you are a tea drinker, chamomile and stress type teas are also good to have. A nice warm bath followed by chamomile tea and rub lavender oil on the bottom of your feet. Sometimes we forget how much weight and stress we put on our feet since it is the only part of the body that carries "all" the weight. That can also make you feel relieved.

Wishing you well.

[curleytop1 in reply to McLabhran]

I am very interested to see so many posts on this topic, as I also have the problems described. After being able to sleep without difficulty and for 6/8 hours at a time for many years, I am also experiencing this pattern of about 2/3 hours sleep, then a trip to bathroom to pass urine, then back to sleep for another 2/3 hours etc. I had put it down to getting older - I am now 76, female, and 18 months ago was told I have CKD stage 3, have probably only ever had one effective kidney, the other being a tiny shrivelled thing. Unknown to me, the medical practice has been monitoring me for CKD for over 5 years, during which I have remained pretty stable, cannot give any figures as I have not been told them. I did ask about them during an appointment at the local Renal Unit but their feeling is that in cases like mine it is too easy to get fixated on them and they fluctuate all the time. Many factors come into play - lifestyle naturally, overweight, high blood pressure and cholesterol, heredity (my brother, 2 years younger, had the same diagnosis about 2 years before me).

I have tried various natural solutions to solve the lack-of-sleep problem, such as shifting the taking of my cholesterol -lowering tablet, Atorvastin, to bedtime rather than the morning, not drinking for the hour before bedtime, doing some Sudoku to calm my mind (beware, it can become addictive and use up too much precious time), but I cannot say these have helped to gain extra sleep. What I find sometimes works is to get comfortable and warm, shut one's eyes and think about something pleasing - say a beautiful garden, wonderful beach or mountains, and all the wonderful colours that are present in these scenes, or something nice which happened in your earlier life. This ' meditation' technique is particularly useful when it is not necessary to set the alarm clock! Hope recounting these experiences will help someone to know they are not alone - Curleytop1.

[soozer]

I have been reading Peoples' responses to the lack of sleep with ckd. I am waiting for my next blood work to confirm 3a ckd (or better I am hoping!).

Sleep has been an issue for a few years but I chalked it up to emotional upheavals, caring for an elderly parents and dog.

I just tried Melatonin last night for the first time (3 mg) & it definitely didn't help me get to sleep but I do feel once I was asleep, I had better quality or deeper sleep.

I read on the packaging that it is only to be used short term (one month). Is this because your body can become dependent on it? I also didn't know it can be used with jet lag. I am flying overseas in a month & I definitely plan to use it then.

In the meantime, I think I will just take it when I've had a busy or stressful day to help with sleep.

What about a bath or soaking your feet in Epsom salts? Any success there from anyone?

Any other sleep aid suggestions would be appreciated!

Take care everyone!

[curleytop1 in reply to soozer]

Hallo Soozer, As you will see from my earlier reply on this subject, I also have sleep disturbance. There are lots of strategies one can try to help with this. I often find it difficult to go to sleep early enough to to allow for a full night's sleep (I am a 'night owl' by nature) so I write down everything on my mind, what must be done next day etc.... anything which I think might make me lie awake thinking. I find this allows my mind to have ' a rest' and before I know it, I am asleep. If I wake during the night I read through the notes, add a pair of foam earplugs (so the early morning traffic etc. doesn't wake me up) and very often fall asleep again, especially if I don't have to get up for a precise time.

Hope these ideas help everyone who has sleep problems, best wishes - Curleytop1.

[soozer]

Thanks Curlytop1. I started doing a 1/2 cup of Epsom salts (magnesium) in a container of warm water to soak my feet in and so far, so good!

If I do have a restless, disturbed sleep, I will get up, have some herbal tea, do a few gentle yoga stretches, read a bit and go back to bed. Most times this works too.

I have learned over time that if I have a busy evening, try to fit too much in, it can overstimulate me & that's when I have issues with sleeping!

Wishing everyone a good sleep!