Sleep!!

[barbthy]

I'm back again. Sleep, or lack of it is, wearing me down. Am currently on 20mg for another 9 days and then down to 15. My problem is when to take so I can sleep. Tried splitting it, major part in morning and then lesser at night because of break through. Last night I was in kitchen eating yogurt at 1 AM and bread at 3 AM. Tired and gaining weight. What is best time to take prednisone and should I split dose? I realize fatigue is part of PMR but lack of sleep makes it worse. Thanks to all of you, I learn so much from this forum.

[SnazzyD]

Hello, others will reply on the splitting thing. However, another thing that might not be helping is low blood sugar, especially if you are snacking on carbohydrates like bread or anything sweet. This just makes your blood sugar go up and down like a yo yo. When I was constantly hungry on higher doses, I found having something with protein like a slice of meat and some cooked veg before bed took me through the night. If you are getting low blood sugar because an earlier snack has sent it up then crashing down as it can, it can wake you up because the body is distressed by low blood sugar. With Pred as well it is a double whammy.

[SheffieldJane]

Hi barbthy,

It's miserable isn't it? I resorted to 10 mgs of Amitriptylin one hour before bedtime and it worked.

I am on 7 mgs of Pred now and sleep like a top and have a nap in the afternoon if I can.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It is recommended to take pred as a single dose as early as possible in the morning. Some people wake early, take the pred and settle down for another couple of hours to give it a chance to work. If you need to split it - don't leave it until late to take the second lot, take it before the pain restarts but not in the middle of the evening if it interferes with your sleep.

If you are gaining weight - cut the carbs. Pred makes your liver release glucose spikes anyway, no need to add more by eating carbs! If the yoghurt was a full fat plain yog that was fine - but low fat and sweetened will just leave you starving as your blood sugar plummets again. Same with the bread - as Snazzy has explained.

Both the fatigue and the pain will be helped by pacing:

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk......

Just because you are on pred doesn't mean you are cured - your muscles remain intolerant of acute exercise, you will develop DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soremess) which will take longer to go aware than normal. So YOU have to do YOUR bit.

[barbthy in reply to PMRpro]

Oops, fat free sweetened yogurt. Will take prednisone early tomorrow - hopefully when I wake about for potty break. I usually have fruit at night as a snack - would it be better if I had some peanut butter or cheese with it. Other than arm and shoulder discomfort at night, 20 mg are working well. Plan to follow your advice and go down to 17.5 instead of 15mg

[Hidden in reply to barbthy]

just the cheese or peanut butter better. fruits are carbs... sadly. increase fibre as much as poss and can help slow down release of carbs. as does fat .

[barbthy in reply to PMRpro]

I will cut carbs especially sugars, please explain why plain full fat yogurt is better than plain fat free Greek yogurt. Being a weight watcher and down 50 pounds I usually don't eat full fat anything. I think I have to split my dose of red. Took full dose yesterday at 10AM and this morning at 5:30 there wasn't a part of me that didn't hurt. Will split 3/4 in morning at 1/4 at 4PM so as not to interfere with sleep. Thinking about going to a senior exercise class 3 x a week. Was going to start today but too sore.

Thanks again

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to barbthy]

Because full-fat almost never has added "stuff" to make it thicker. And 5% fat isn't high fat anyway. Having fat in your dairy means the calcium will be absorbed - it isn't absorbed as well from skim products - and you will feel full for longer so in the end probably won't eat as much overall.

[piglette]

I found the lack of sleep a real pain but discovered the BBC World Service and so I am now a lot more knowledgable about the world!

[Slowdown]

I split my 7.5mg dose into 5mg at 8 a.m. and 2.5mg (both gastro-resistant) around 9 p.m. and recently have started to eat a small bowl of porridge with a dollop of organic Greek yogurt at around 9.30 - it seems to promote a good night's sleep.

And yes, piglette, the World Service is a boon but almost TOO interesting - I'm fighting that sleepy feeling to listen sometimes

[Hidden]

Others have so much more knowledge than me but all the replies seem sensible. As someone who also suffers from severe fatigue but also can't sleep I sympathise totally. I have tried everything and have just had to accept that this is the new reality. Try reading a really boring book - it occasionally works for me!

[jayboy05]

I have trouble sleeping, however I put my iPad on my bedside table and

listen to meditation music on low its great, still have the odd sleepless night,

but the soothing music certainly helps. Type Meditation Music in Google

and lots of different types of meditation music comes up, lasting hours.

Worth a try !!!! My husband sleeps so soundly it does not bother him.

JayBoy.