Can’t stay asleep

[Kitkat27]

Hi I’m Kitkat just joined this forum tonight diagnosed with RA 3 years ago. My pain and inflammation is generally under control with medication however quality sleep, lethargy and low mood are becoming a real problem how do others cope with this? I recently stopped taking naproxen to see if I can now manage without for the RA but this seems to have brought back a painful lower back/sciatica especially uncomfortable at night making staying asleep even less likely. I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night.

[sylvi]

Hugs darling from me.xxx

[Kitkat27 in reply to sylvi]

Thanks Sylvi xxx

[Hidden]

Your not on your own I too suffer like you . The answer? I don’t think I have one . On good days I try to make the best of and enjoy. Hope things improve

[JBGen]

When I was diagnosed with RA, my back pain and sciatica was put down to a pre-existing disk and stenosis problem. Now that my inflammation is under control the back pain is the one thing that holds me back still in the mornings. Maybe a change of painkiller for that might help? J

[KittyJ]

Welcome KitKat27 😊

I would start taking the naproxen again. If it is controlling your pain/inflammation then it’s best to keep taking it. We all, from time to time think we are controlled enough to try and drop one of our meds but find that really we do need them. I do the same with diclofenac every now and then. I’ve been on it 30 years now but I always end up taking it again after a couple of days 😔 If you aren’t getting a good nights sleep then it will affect your waking hours. You could talk to your rheumy nurse about your sleep problems to see what they suggest?

[Mmrr]

Good morning and welcome.

Sleep can be a big problem for many of us. I'm much more relaxed about my sleep than I used to be, but I don't work anymore, so I can be !

I tend to have 2 sleeps (biphasic sleep). I sleep for 3/4 hours and then wake for an hour or more then sleep again for 3/4 hours.

During the hour I am awake I often get up, have a green tea, sit outside (weather permitting) , read my book, maybe just do nothing. Sometimes I take a couple of paracetamol, probably placebo effect, but hey.

I tend not to use IT.

We often worry about not sleeping through the night, but it was the norm up until about 150 years ago, when the industrial revolution made us work to the clock.

So, if you can I recommend not worrying too much about sleeping right through the night and just going with the flow. I know some people can't due to committments.

[JFlay]

Hi, I have sleep problems too, mainly due to my feet playing up (paracetamol usually sorts it) but it's not every night now. Sometimes though I don't have pain but still can't sleep 😣 so I started to take my hydroxy early afternoon (I'm on it twice a day) and that seems to work.

I'm not on MTX now but when I was I slept like a log! Maybe try experimenting with what times you take your meds? it might help 🙄

Fortunately, like mmrr, I don't work either 😁

[charisma]

Hi Kitkat, welcome!

I try this which is rather effective if done right and your lungs are not already compromised (meant for calming anxiety etc originally but great at inducing sleep) binged.it/2tOKPT5

Failing that, maybe you could try ‘tricking’ your body eg get up and go to the bathroom then have a drink before returning to bed. Good luck!

[Damitacrystal]

I couldn’t take it as caused me to have really bad stomach

Pains.

[Agoodlife]

When Naproxen no longer helped I started using LDN. Really has helped with my sleep enourmously and pain as well. I use no RA meds.

[RAreyna]

I have trouble sleeping when my shoulders are acting up. One trick I use to keep my mind occupied and bore myself to sleep is counting backwards from 358. I've never gotten to zero, though I have ventured into the 100s! I also pick a subject, like colors or vegetables or items of clothing, and go through the alphabet naming one for each letter. Even if I don't fall asleep, it keeps me from worrying and allows me to get rest.