• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Sleep Troubles

Does anyone have to deal with loss of sleep due to their Crohn's or IBS?

I used to lose sleep because i would be tossing and turning with pain. Luckily this hasnt been a problem for me for awhile, but it used to be another torture of Crohn's.
 
There are a few on here who have sleep troubles either due to pain or just because. I'm sure someone else will pop in here and say something. :) hehe I haven't been able to fall asleep until almost 1 or 2 am most nights and I'm up at 7ish. Ugh. Makes for one sleepy girl.
 

imisspopcorn

Punctuation Impaired
I have insomnia. I don't thinks it related to my IBS. However, last year when I was really sick, I was up most nights in pain alone....I watched a lot of late night infomercials in my delirium. I try to nap if I need it. I know you shouldn't nap but I've found it makes no difference either way. I think tonight is going to be one of those nights...sigh.
 
I've been waiting for you to join in on the fun IMP. I knew you'd show up in here sooner or later, but you're sure missing a lot in the other threads. ;)
 
I've always been a terrible sleeper, even before my Crohn's diagnosis. At the moment I'm really in pain, on the Fentanyl patch and I have to say that helps with atleast that aspect of the problem. I have also resorted to sleeping tablets, something I wouldn't recommend. Diazepam which I've taken in the past really helped me relax and feel less anxious about sleeping and therefore somehow I just drifted off easier. At the moment however I am taking Temazepam because I've been suffering from broken sleep. I'd fall asleep say 1am and wake up again at 3am and get up. It was getting ridiculous! My doctor advised me to stay on the medication until I can get my Crohn's a little more stable, but it's really not for longterm use.

Something a little more natural that I find helps me, is if I atleast make time to unwind in the evening. I will take a nice hot bath every evening, usually with some aromatherapy oils, get in my pjs and then go and watch television on the sofa until I'm yawning.
 
Loss of sleep could be a side effect of medication. I had some trouble when I was on high doses of prednisone. Although like others have said, feeling like you're being stabbed in the stomach will also do it.
 
I have poor sleep sometimes due to joint pains, usually jaw if I dont have my pillow just right and it ends up pressing on it.
Luckily I am a long term user of temazapam for other reasons so have a supply. And TBH it's a life saver. To avoid the dependency issues with it I initially had a pact with the original prescribing psychiatrist that I wouldn't take it more than 4 days in any 7. My GP now allows me 4 boxes of 28 a year, which I find more than adaquate. My usual regime is once I decided I need it is to take it 3 nights running and then break from it. My sleep patterns then usually drop back into some resemblence of sanity and I feel a whole lot better.

Opiate painkillers, which seem only marginally effective against my joint pains, seem to keep me awake.
 
for me it s the opposite,b4 i was diagnoised i used to sleep for 10 hrs.the fatigue and weakness was unbelievable.the only sleeping problem crohn gave me was wen the big D woke me up during flare up
now thanks to prednisolone i don't worry about sleeping.4-5 hrs a day and am up !and not even feeling sleepy or tired
 
J

JillianB82

Guest
My problem is usually with night sweats.....I will wake up in the middle of the night, thinking I've peed the bed, but I'm just sweating so much, my sheets are wet. LOL
 
Yeah it is 4:53 a.m. and I am still up.....So I UNDERSTAND. My Meds and my Pain keep me up so my Primary Physician is sending me to a Sleep Specialist........LET'S SEE HOW THAT GOES!
 
I'm going NUTS with the lack of sleep!

A couple of months back on the high dose Pred I didn;t WANT to sleep and was managing fine on about 5-6 hours.

Now, as tapering down, I am lucky to get 4 hours a night. Once I wake up, that's it, whether it be 3 or 6 am. Thus morning I woke at 4 and took a sleeping pill as I really neede dmire sleep and didn;t have to get up til 9. Two hours later - wide awake!

Is insomnia a side effect of pred tapering? I thought it would get better as the dose went down?!
 
I know all about the night sweats! Such an yucky feeling. Sadly, I'm cold all day long, but I guess I overheat at night. I also have to get up to pee a hundred times a night.
 
I have never slept more than 4-5 hrs a night and never all at once. Oh the night sweats. My wife use to have to change the sheets a couple of times a night when I was sick. It was like I had just stepped out of the shower.

When I was about 3-4 yrs old my mom says I would get up before 5 am and once she caught me standing on a chair trying to fry eggs. I think she got less sleep than I did. Of course she had 10 kids so no wonder.
 
Top