Hysterectomy, BSO and severe insomnia

[Elaine91]

Hi

Does anyone have any tips for helping with insomnia?

I haven’t slept well since my surgery 9 years ago and it became even worse after I tried HRT (Utrogestan, oestrogel, testogel) 2 years ago - 2 to 3 hours sleep a night at best. (Stopped the HRT now, but sleep never recovered)

I’ve tried the usual things. Exercise, warm baths, relaxation techniques, herbal remedies of various kinds vitamins, minerals (eg magnesium), I’m fit, slim, don’t drink alcohol, do everything you’re supposed to do, but every night I go to sleep for a couple of hours then wake up. I might sleep again for another hour, most of the time I don’t.

Any ideas?

[Gundula1]

My god, that sounds like quite severe insomnia, you must feel so knackered!There's not much to add to the list of things you have been doing. Early morning sunlight exposure. And that, even if you you don't sleep, but stay in bed resting is not as good as actual sleep, but better than getting up or read. That was probably what helped me best with my minor insomnia (waking at 4am) as I stopped stressing about not sleeping.

But have you spoken to your GP? They could prescribe you melatonin as a first step. Maybe check your thyroid. And as a last resort sleep medication.

Good luck!

[Elaine91 in reply to Gundula1]

Thanks for replying

I've tried melatonin - doesn't help much unfortunately

I haven't spoke to the GP as I don't want to try sleep meds - heard too many bad things - but I may have to eventually

[Gundula1 in reply to Elaine91]

I hope you have a competent and empathetic GP who will make an effort in diagnostics. There might be an underlying physical reason. Talk to them about your concerns regarding sleep medication. But maybe it's worth a try, in worst case it's not right for you and you are back to square one. Best wishes!

[Elaine91 in reply to Gundula1]

Thanks, it's kind of you to reply 🙂

The GP service here is pretty bad (the only decent doctor left) and the gynae who gave me the HRT didn’t help when the treatment made things worse. So thought I’d ask around here.

I know that some women are fine with sleep meds or hormones and can just start and stop with few problems, but I’ve become very oversensitive so it's a risk for me.

There's cross-reactivity and cross-tolerance between hormones and a number of other things, like alcohol or sleep meds because they affect the same GABAA receptors. (I was on Gabapentin for a while and developed tolerance within weeks.)

I had such a bad withdrawal from HRT (and that's having sailed through Prostap and surgery) that I'm afraid of having anything which cross-reacts.

[charlatan]

I know how you feel, I struggled with terrible insomnia myself. I know you said you've tried a bunch of supplements but if you haven't already, you must try ashwagandha. Not only has it been used as a herbal remedy for insomnia for millennia, it's also good for pain and inflammation. It worked wonders for me. One of those with a cup of Twinings sleep tea a couple of hours before bed, and I drift off to sleep without too much trouble. Try it. Best of luck to you x

[Elaine91 in reply to charlatan]

Thanks for replying

I've tried ashwagandha. Bought about 3 different brands, but they all gave me anxiety. It's really odd- I saw loads of good reviews on Amazon and thought it sounded perfect, but there must be something weird about my biology as it didn't suit me at all.

I do find some of the teas helpful for dropping off, it's the sleep maintenance that's the main problem.

[charlatan]

That's a shame - worked a treat for me. Another suggestion is H4CBD. It is pricey admittedly, but definitely keeps me asleep when I suspect I'll have pain that will rudely jolt me awake in the night.

[Elaine91 in reply to charlatan]

Thanks, I've tried CBD and unfortunately it did nothing, haven't tried the H4CBD though.

[charlatan]

Same here, CBD was money down the drain but H4CBD was well worth it. I buy this in the form of gummies. They take about 2 hours to kick in but a couple of them seem to do the trick.