poor sleep and nightmares

[Redmum2]

hi everyone. My daughter (17)has endo confirmed with lap. Long journey to get diagnosis and still haven’t found effective pain management. She has very poor sleep, partly due to pain and partly due to horrible nightmares - has anyone any suggestions to help with nightmares. Many thanks 🙏🏼

[Nikilll]

Hi Do one thing play with pets and see good cartoons before sleep. Take pain management Contains

Aceclofenac (100mg)+ Paracetamol (325mg)+ Serratiopeptidase (15mg) tab. Your child facing any heavy period issues?.

[Redmum2 in reply to Nikilll]

thank you

[hannah11]

That must be so hard for your daughter, I am so sorry she is struggling like this.

Is she on any medications for the pain? It's worth checking to see if they have nightmares as side effects. I would def talk to GP and see what can be done.

Are the nightmares different every night or one nightmare/theme reoccurring?

[Redmum2 in reply to hannah11]

thank you. Yes lots of pain meds and GP great, I think they are reoccurring and linked to all the horrible experiences linked to endo . She’s also seeing a psychologist - just wondering if any recommendations do a good self help book - all comments have been really helpful x

[hannah11 in reply to Redmum2]

The fact that she's having nightmares about previous medical traumas makes me wonder if she should be screened for PTSD. I'm not a doctor so this def needs to be checked by a medical professional but I am an endo patient with PTSD and nightmares like that are a symptom for me. Does she also have panic attacks, flashbacks etc?

[Redmum2 in reply to hannah11]

thank you, this is my worry she doesn’t have panic attacks, possibly flashbacks so difficult x

[MyStar86]

I am 36 and I also suffer with night terrors constantly with the pain it causes me to have terrible nights I’m in agony and burning up which triggers the night terrors where I can’t escape them. I have had this for years almost every single night, when I manage to wake myself out the terror I am not in a good state so I listen to music this helps get me out of the terror and enough to try and doze again but I never have proper deep sleep so I think that’s why I dream so much and the pain means they are always bad dreams.

I wish I could help but the only thing that helps calm me is music and I do feel her pain it’s a horrible thing as all I want to do is sleep and escape the pain but even in my dreams I’m in agony xx

[Redmum2 in reply to MyStar86]

thank you and I’m sorry things are so bad for you. This sounds similar to my daughter - pain and gets very hot - she sleeps with window open and a fan even in winter - that makes sense as well having a light sleep so dreaming more. So difficult and frustrating, I wish I could do more to help her and really wish there was more resource to support with this horrendous condition!

[MyStar86 in reply to Redmum2]

I do exactly the same I have fans going all year round in my room as the burning up definitely makes it worse. I brought a chillow in the summer last year for in bed as I have to rest in the day to where I still have the nightmares and the heat just makes it worse so it’s worth having a look at those as it’s soothing to have something cold. I take a bottle of water up to bed with me that I have kept in the freezer in the evening so it remains cold during the night as I get very dehydrated when I wake up from a terror. I always have terrible violent bowels which only adds to the problem as that is awful in the night and adds to the burning up. I never had any help with this and the terrors have continued 😞 I can only hope once all the endometriosis has been removed I will finally be able to sleep again.

Thinking of you and your daughter. This is a link to the chillow I use:

groceries.asda.com/product/...

Xx

[BlueGiraffe9]

There are tonnes of breathing techniques to try, I love one called box breathing and also bbc sounds has a list of tracks called deep sleepscapes I swear by. Finally gentle exercise often improves my sleep

[Booksareaslay]

I'm 17 too, got a lap and found the endometriosis, in October of last year. I completely feel your daughter, with the issue with sleep and pain management. I also have pcos, which inflamed my liver and pancreas, so that's another factor to my pain however, the ovaries and uterus feel like they're on fire constantly. My mum's sought to find help with a herbalist, who do look at you as a whole, rather than just specifically your illness if you understand what I'm saying. And with nightmares, the anxiety of what the pain is or why it's there may be a factor. Our bodies and brains interpret pain as a bad thing so it may perceive it as something else in a dream. I get very very strange dreams, some scary, and some just crazy. We've tried the herbalist, and they've given me so tablets from a herb that helps with sleep, and I've only been on it for a few weeks, but maybe that will help you? Herbalists are experienced in different areas, and mine is experienced in women's health, and she said she does see many links between endo and nightmares, probably due to anxiety and pain. I just hope something helps your daughter out because endo is brutal and horrible, and it's destroying so many of our lives. Hopefully you find some resolution.