trouble sleeping

[viamonv]

I sleep for about 2 hrs then up to pee every hour on the hour. What do you do to able to sleep? Stop taking water or liquid by 7pm and still going every hour.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Ask your GP to consider if you may have irritable bladder syndrome - it is commmon in PMR and with pred.

[viamonv in reply to PMRpro]

great something else to look forward to. I feel like I have to go all the time.

[Hidden in reply to viamonv]

To the Dr or the loo 😁

[viamonv in reply to Hidden]

both lol

[Hidden]

Are you on a high dose of pred?..in addition to above issues you might be running high in terms of blood sugar. That certainly impacts on bladder and sleeping.

[viamonv in reply to Hidden]

I never high sugar but I will check. I am 40mg daily.

[Hidden in reply to viamonv]

Good. I presume they check your hba1c?

[viamonv in reply to Hidden]

HAD MY BLOOD WORK IN DEC. AC1 WAS UNDER 5.5

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to viamonv]

Ah yes - but it is now nearly April...

[BonnyQuine in reply to viamonv]

Better check it again. Mine went up a lot on 40mg pred.

[Soraya_PMR]

What dose calcium are you taking?

Maybe a couple of days without (to test the waters LOL) might reduce the bladder irritation.

[viamonv in reply to Soraya_PMR]

WILL TRY

[suzy1959]

I find pred. has always kept me awake. Amitriptyline has really helped with this. If I forget to take it, I don’t sleep well at all. I usually get up twice in the night which I think is a pred. side effect. Paradoxically, the more I drink during the day, the less I get up in the night.

[Soraya_PMR in reply to suzy1959]

Dilute urine is less irritating than concentrated.

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

viamonv, have you had a urine specimen checked for a possible urine infection? I was up every hour too last week and am now on antibiotics for a UTI. If not an infection and you drink coffee, cutting it out might help. If none of these things and had only started since you have been on Pred, then it might be due to that especially as it is a high dose.

[Pongo13]

I was already on medication for bladder probs (every 15 mins) prior to PMR. Coincidentally my Dr prescribed amitriptylene for the sleep problem and I now find I only get up once or twice a night! (And if there is no snoring I have been known to sleep ALL night! Go to the Dr. Missing sleep is miserable!

[Soraya_PMR in reply to Pongo13]

Do you think the bladder issue was due to PMR? it’s muscle after all.

[Pongo13 in reply to Soraya_PMR]

I have had bladder meds for over four years. I hadn't made that connection - I doubt I will ever know for sure if answer is yes or no.

[SheffieldJane]

That symptom has gone for me (7mgs) but it was really troublesome at first. Perversely drinking water helps. Amitriptylin 10 mgs one hour before bed cured the insomnia as well.

[morrison in reply to SheffieldJane]

What is amitriptylin? Can it be bought over the counter?

[SheffieldJane in reply to morrison]

No you have to have it on prescription. It is a not very good anti depressant that was found to make people drowsy and to relieve chronic pain. It is often prescribed for Fibromyalgia. It seems to enable you to feel comfortable and calm before sleep. It has worked for me. I do resist most drugs that I’m offered but this one works and doesn’t seem to have any side effects for me anyway.

[viamonv]

Thanks everyone.

[navejasjoe]

My wife has that constant urge to pee throughout the day, but she seems to be under control at night. Her GP attributes it to high glucose levels.

Joe

[B4lamb]

Are you male or female? If the former it may be prostate issues like me. The Pred does not seem to make my night peeing any worse I have more problems with occasional night perspiration and wake up wringing wet. I spot my dose 9mg day and 4mg at night so half roughly for night time and that seems to work for me best. As I taper I will maintain that ratio.

[viamonv]

yesterday I did my meds in morning and i slept better last night. I was taking 20mg in morning and 20mg at night. i changed to 40 mg in morning and that seem to help with the bathroom and sleep.

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to viamonv]

That's a result, viamonv. With GCA, it's preferable to take the whole dose in one go early in the morning rather than splitting it anyway. Hope all your nights are better now but, if not, don't hesitate to get a specimen checked.

[viamonv in reply to Celtic]

Been doing two morning. Sleeping alot better.

[bunnymom]

I don't know where you are but I take one over the counter benedryl a night and it helps me stay asleep. Only get up once. Dr approved. It's an antihistamine that will make you sleepy

[Pennythedug]

Hi viamonv I was just like you for a long time until it was discovered I had Sleep Apnoea ( periods of not breathing properly, taking longer and longer to take the next breath and finally stopping for short time and then starting the cycle again). I was totally unaware that i was doing this. Apparently the body produces an anti diuretic hormone when you are asleep that stops you having to pee. When you don’t sleep well the hormone is not produced and so you pee a lot. I was given a CPAP (constant positive airways pressure) machine to use every night and sleep right through now.

I wear a small face mask and the small machine puffs air at a small pressure so that my airways stay open and I breathe normally all night. It is surprisingly easy to get used to. It is always something to think about and doesn’t involve drugs.