Hello all! So, the past week pretty much hasn’t been the prettiest for me. Went through horrible Tramadol withdrawal over the entire bank holiday weekend (lived off toast and minimal water thanks to nausea etc) and ended up going to the doctors on Tuesday afternoon after spending the morning at work feeling like I could vomit any second, in incredible amounts of pain since I’d run out of Tramadol and found that at many times I felt I couldn’t breathe. Let’s just say, my body is clearly not coping 😅
The result of the doctors (the dr was absolutely lovely!) was I was given more Tramadol to take once a day or so (less than before so I won’t go through that awful sudden withdrawal again), Naproxen which I’ve been nervous about as my body doesn’t really like anti-inflammatories after being on anti-depressants for 10 months and Omeprazole to try and help rein in my nausea.
The doctor also signed me off work for 4 weeks because I’m so exhausted from everything. This doesn’t help my situation at work in the slightest and explained that to the doctor but she strongly believes my body needs the time and I won’t argue with that.
My issue is, I feel like I’m really struggling to rest - sleeping feels impossible most of the time! This morning, I woke up at 02:45 and couldn’t get to sleep after waking up thanks to pain, nausea - you name it! I gave up at 04:30 because I knew sleep just wasn’t going to happen. I’ve felt like a bloody zombie all day.
Does anyone have any tips on how they relax enough for their body to get the rest it needs? I spray lavender pillow mist on my pillow every night, I don’t eat late and I don’t have caffinated drinks often - if I do, it’s no later than maybe 4pm so it shouldn’t affect my sleep.
Thank you in advance 💛
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Lofty1589
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Sorry your still suffering lovely but pleased you've been signed off work. Don't worry about that now, just concentrate on getting YOU better.
So I would say relaxation techniques may help. Meditation is also good. I was never good at visualising but I found that being in a comfortable position, emptying my head, this is not an easy thing to do!
My daughter struggles to fall asleep so I lie with her and go through the same routine every night, the relaxation of our bodies, feeling heavy on our bed . I work from feet upwards, and then counting breaths up to ten, if we find our minds start to think we focus on counting.
It's only recently that I've realised that I'm actually good at calming myself now and if I wake during the Night, instead of getting frustrated I'll just relax and listen to the silence, sometimes I hear owls outside which is lovely.
Over the past few months i have started practicing yoga from home to help with anxiety, stretching my body to help with endo pain and to help me relax. I have found it really helpful, it takes a few sessions to reap the benefits but i also struggle to relax at bed time and have found relaxation yoga classes very helpful.
There’s lots of great videos on youtube, even some specifically for people with endo.
I used to do yoga/plies/stretches every night for a good 30 mins. I did that for a good 8 months or so but then the pain has become so bad, I stopped. I’ve really been wanting to get back into it as I was so close to reaching the splits and had great flexibility and now I can barely lift my leg 😭😅
I’ll have a look for some endo specific ones and see what those stretches are like. Thank you 💛
I used to do yoga/plies/stretches every night for a good 30 mins. I did that for a good 8 months or so but then the pain has become so bad, I stopped. I do want to get back into it though so will see if I can manage my pain a bit better and get back into it.
I think the reason I loved hot yoga so much was because the physical movements are much easier than regular yoga (I am NO yogi and generally very stiff). It took me a few sessions to adjust to the heat and then I found it so incredibly relaxing I got addicted.
That sounds awful, bless you. First thing is try not to worry about work. I know it's hard but you need to focus on self care right now. Do you have a bath? I find having a hot bath helps with pain and relaxation, get a nice bath bomb or some something that smells nice to put in, light a candle and just soak. I also have a rule when I have difficulty sleeping to turn devices off a few hours before sleep, I find even not watching TV and reading instead makes me sleepy and ready for sleep a lot sooner than I usually am
I do have a bath, yes. But I’m an idiot and lost the plug and it’s the only bath in the house. The ensuites only have showers. So, I need to find a plug but I’ll give a bath a try.
I do that every night. I focus on reading - which is something I adore! Getting to sleep is easy for me, it’s more the staying asleep.
You should try taking magnesium supplements. Women who suffer from endo has a magnesium deficiency, which is why we have such a hard time sleeping. Magnesium helps you to sleep and your body to relax. You can read about magnesium and endo. I hope this helps
Sorry to hear you're having such trouble at the moment, it's really tough when you're struggling to sleep, I know I've been there! Meditation/yoga are great, the key thing is not to try falling asleep, just relax your body. Start at your feet and work your way up your body, tighten and release muscles in turn. As previously suggested, empty your mind, don't think about work or getting to sleep, if counting helps do that, or find something else. Reading is better than watching TV, also try not to have your phone in the room with you, leave it to charge in a different room.
As far as caffeine goes, it has a hlaf life of 5-7hrs, so if you're going to have it, I'd recommend having it in the morning and not having any after about 2pm if you can, decaff is slightly better but there's still caffeine in it so still need to be careful with how much you have.
If you don't like reading, try audio books I've just started with a book called "why we sleep" which is really good, and the guy who wrote it says it's OK if you fall asleep while you're listening to it!!
Lastly, I realise you may not want to go on medication, but it might be worth speaking to your doctor to see if there's anything that could help (not sleeping tablets though, they can be addictive).
Hope you find something to help you soon, not sleeping totally sucks.
I read every night and absolutely love it (I’m on book number 42 of the year at the moment). For me, it’s the staying asleep that’s the issue and when I’m up during the night, I don’t like reading and hate going on my phone as I know those will just wake me up. So, it be difficult.
For me, I think reading is meditation as I relax and forget about problems etc. When I do try to meditate, I can never clear my mind, I overthink then tend to get upset randomly 🤷🏻♀️
Hi! It sounds like you're having a rough time, but I'm glad your doctor seems to have been supportive. My suggestion is to book yourself in for a reiki treatment. It tops up your body's natural energy supply which improves it's ability to heal itself (including improving sleep). Also, if you go for a few treatments & decide it's for You, you can learn to do it for yourself easily so it's always on hand when you need it. I understand that a lot of people find the concept of reiki weird & a bit hippy, I did at first - but tried it when nothing else was working for me and was so amazed by the results that i did the training (Ive now been a reiki master for over 12 years). Its not everyones cup of tea, but definitely worth a try once to see if it helps x
Hi Lofty, was wondering how you were doing/ coping. Firstly, all I can say is 'what a wonderful GP you have'. Mine wouldn't give Tramadol to deal with pain and said there was no reason why I should have any and the drug was too addictive... try paracetamol. Which made me burst into tears. It's the only drug that has worked to block my pain, or however it works. I used to live on loads of ibruprofen but it's not always easy to 'have a full stomach or eat first etc'. I was on so many I started coughing blood up on holiday and had stomach bleeding from having taken so many. I wouldn't ever go back to them.
Regarding sleep. I haven't got that one mastered as I'm not working now. I found if I took a T so close to bed I would have no pain, but lay there wide awake with my brain clicking until morning. Strange thing is, if I took them during the day I would feel a little drowsy possibly. Have a 'TTD list and pen near your bed' Things To Do, so you can unload your brain especially if you're thinking of work related things. A hot water bottle may help or I often drift off listening to youtube channels as a kind of 'back ground white noise thing'. Bloody nuisance as I can't drift off to other half snoring all the time. Listen to your body, take the time and rest it needs. You've been through so much already. Best wishes xx
Thank you for your reply! I was very surprised, that’s for sure. She isn’t usually a GP at the surgery so I’m wondering if she’s just one of those “drifting” GPs that go surgery to surgery. Even when I broke down on her, she was understanding and insisted on me listening to my body.
My usual GP was reluctant to give me Tramadol so we tried a lot of other meds first before I said I wanted to try it as the others weren’t strong enough. Issue is, the prospect of endo doesn’t seem to be something GPs want to deal with so they claim it is something else until they really have to refer you to gynae (that’s my experience anyway)
No, you're absolutely correct. I had to have private surgery prior to starting ivf as I knew I had problems and was told it was simply IBS, not managing period pain and eating the wrong food etc. Turns out I was stage 4 Endo with sooo much damage inside they nearly had to remove my kidney as well.
I don't have a regular GP, just locums as you say. I've found some of them to be brilliant but as soon as they say 'I have to run the prescription past the practice manager first' that's when I usually get stopped and told... paracetamol or buy something over the counter first etc. She seemed to have a bug about me having/ deciding to go private for surgery etc. Lucky yours didn't have to run prescriptions past people first. Soooo pleased they listened to you, and showed some empathy offered to help etc. Wishing you all the best xx
Hi! Yoga definitely helps as some girls have already told you. I also found that joining a pottery course has helped me a lot, it is super relaxing and because you need to focus so much it helps you forget about pain and endo worries and just enjoy the process of creating stuff with your hands. Difficult to explain but it is really so much help
I understand how you feel! For you, it’a pottery. For me, it is reading, writing and performing. Sadly the latter doesn’t happen often but I write as often as I can and read every day as distractions.
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