Bad Nights

[Sarah4444]

I have never been a good sleeper, but since my dysautonomia issues have gotten severe I can barely sleep. I have trouble falling asleep, take Benadryl and usually end up going to sleep around 1 or 1:30. Then, 3-4 hours after I fall asleep I wake up sweaty, feeling terrible - short of breath, heart racing and pounding, nauseaous - and then usually have urgent diarrhea. Can anyone tell me why this is happening and if there is anything I could do to get more sleep? I often can't go back to sleep after these episodes, or like this morning I fall back to sleep and then wake feeling like this several more times before I have to get up to try to get my kids to school (all I can do in the mornings now is sit on the couch and try to supervise their morning routine without being too miserable). My mom thinks that my sleep/night problems may be caused by blood pooling while I am still, which leads to - what? A drop in bp? Is this episode similar to what people describe as an "adrenaline surge"? I'd really appreciate any insights and suggestions you might have - thanks.

[potsgirl]

Hi Sarah~

I don't have any big medical answers for you, but I had the same problem and ended up going on some sleep medication to help me sleep. I take Trazodone because the usual sleep aids don't work for me. I also started out with melatonin and other herbal sources, but they did me no good. You may want to talk to your doctor about a prescription you can take when you're having a rough night. Could it possibly relate somehow to anxiety? I know I have to take Paxil to help me with both my sleep, anxiety, and it helps with my POTS symptoms.

Good luck & cheers!

Jana

[lieze]

I don't have any advice for you but I am so sorry that is happening to you. I really think since school has started-this getting up every morning at 6 am is kicking my butt.

Sometimes I get back to sleep and other times I don't.

I have had the waking in a panic before. It seemed to help eliminate it by propping myself way up at night. I'm not sure how that helped but I notice I seem to have that occur less if I'm not lying flat and it's better for me to try to stay off my left side also.

[Ashelton80]

I have never been a good sleeper, but since my dysautonomia issues have gotten severe I can barely sleep. I have trouble falling asleep, take Benadryl and usually end up going to sleep around 1 or 1:30. Then, 3-4 hours after I fall asleep I wake up sweaty, feeling terrible - short of breath, heart racing and pounding, nauseaous - and then usually have urgent diarrhea. Can anyone tell me why this is happening and if there is anything I could do to get more sleep? I often can't go back to sleep after these episodes, or like this morning I fall back to sleep and then wake feeling like this several more times before I have to get up to try to get my kids to school (all I can do in the mornings now is sit on the couch and try to supervise their morning routine without being too miserable). My mom thinks that my sleep/night problems may be caused by blood pooling while I am still, which leads to - what? A drop in bp? Is this episode similar to what people describe as an "adrenaline surge"? I'd really appreciate any insights and suggestions you might have - thanks.

Hey Sarah,

What time do you take your meds? I know Florinef and Midodrine can both cause sleep disturbances, but I have also had this just be a part of my POTS when it is at it's worst. And yes this is what I would describe as an adrenaline surge when I experience symptoms such as this. Mine almost always get going at night too. When my symptoms calm down my sleep patterns tend to return to fairly normal. I used to also prop myself up like Lieze described and am not sure why that helps either??? but it did. Sorry you are having a rough time. There is nothing worse to me than not sleeping. My 3 yr old woke me up at 6 am this morning and I have felt exhausted and drowsy all day just from a shortage of 2 hrs. (normally get up at 8 am)

[Noreen]

I sleep propped up at about a 30-35% angle. This has reduced the number of episodes I have that are similar but not identical to yours.

Hope you find something that works. Sleep deprivation makes everything worse. Just curious, have you had a sleep study?

[Sarah4444]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. With regard to anxiety, I do find it stressful to get so little sleep and to wake up very early knowing how tired I'm going to feel, but the physical symptoms seem to happen in my sleep and then wake me, so I don't think anxiety is starting the process. I also find that during these times I have to lie on my right side - lying on my back or left side make things worse, but I can't figure out why. I do have the head of my bed on two two by eights - how do you get your bed higher than that, or do you prop up more with pillows? And no, I haven't had a sleep study - I don't know if they do them in my community and my ability to travel is very limited. Have others had sleep studies and found things that helped?

[skyblu]

Just a thought but Benadryl can cause unpleasant symptoms in some people. It does with me. I get shaky, I break out in a cold sweat and in general I feel very weird and creepy on it.

[pat57]

sleeping with head up reduces the urine output (in the AM). By retaining water you retain more

blood volume. There could be another effect- if there is -IDK about it.

[Tammy]

Are you taking a beta blocker at all? They can be helpful for the adrenaline surge type symptoms which sounds like what you could be experiencing as it reminds me of what I've experienced also. However, beta blockers can cause sleep issues so you may need to trial and error to find the one that works best with your body. For me, ambien works better with less side effects than benedryl does as benedryl makes me feel worse the next morning. You can also try drinking Lemon Ginger Tea by Yogi as for some reason it seems to help me in the morning a bit, and maybe it would help you a bit also. Does it work for you to go back to sleep once the kids are gone to school? The more sleep you get the better you'll feel. Insomnia seems to make symptoms so much worse and I have been down that road myself and still have times when it flares and getting kids ready in the morning definitely is very challenging.