Good Night's Sleep?

I get through the night without waking about one out of ten days. I think it just so happens the food I eat at dinner has to be very slow moving stuff (like proteins) and no sugar or anything that want to hurry through.  I'd experiment (and I might if I wasn't so hungry at night!) -- could you try not to eat dinner one night, just see what happens?  I know I have very little will power for not eating!  

^^^Thanks for replying.  If I skip dinner, not only do I wake up to use the bathroom but also to eat something.  But I like your idea of maybe just sticking to protein at night.  All our systems are so unique from each other, even people who have things in common such as jpouches and similar disorders.  Anything is worth a try. Thanks for replying.

A number of tricks have been posted here - you might try a search for "sleep." I sleep through the night almost all the time.

 

Some report good results from a small, fatty snack (like peanut butter) at bedtime. It's probably not just one magic thing. I do use Lomotil at bedtime, but I also don't eat much after dinner. Consider that you can choose not to eat when you "get up to eat." If you're eating just before bed (beyond that small snack) or during the night, it may be hopeless until you change that.

^^^Thanks.  I'm doing the search for "sleep" right now.  I usually try not to eat after dinner.  Only if I'm starving and the empty stomach (which causes gas) is keeping me awake.  That's the problem with me, any little bit of gas wakes me up and I can't go back to sleep until I use the bathroom.  It is now three years after my surgery.

You've encouraged me to try to figure it out for myself, too!  Yesterday I walked 2 miles after a gluton-free spaghetti dinner.  (I think I might do better on gluton free, not sure it's a requirement, though!)   I had no dessert and was up until midnight trying to catch a glimpse (and photos) of the SuperMoon.  I typically go to sleep around 10:30.  I went to the BR just before I went to bed and -- didn't wake up all night.  Now, was it the dinner?  No dessert?  The walk?  Staying up late?  The late BR trip?   I think I am going to try to stay clear of dessert as my control item, first off.

 

 

If it's gas, you might want to explore possible causes. You might have SIBO, or you might benefit a bit from Beano. Gas is a bit different from an overactive gut moving food through.

Well... I got my one good night's sleep last night.  Didn't wake once.
With me. It's a cycle.  Of no sleep... Or interrupted sleep for a week or so and then being so exhausted by that time it's inevitable that I will get a full nights sleep.
Last night was it. No rhyme or reason.  This has been the way it's been for two years.  No matter what I eat.
Richard.

Hey KLUNKLHEAD, what time did you have dinner? How much time was between dinner, your last bowel movement, and bedtime?

Thanks for your reply Scott.  Well it feels like gas at first.   Like just a grumble in my stomach but then it feels like I have to really use the bathroom.  And sure enough there is good amount of poop coming out when I hit the toilet.  I will do my research on SIBO and Beano.  Thanks you for your help.

Yeah I know how you feel Mysticobra.  I've been able to adapt to the weird broken up sleep some what, but some nights it just feels like I didn't get any sleep.  I have just always been the kind of person that needs a lot of sleep to function.  It really messes my day up.

I love it!  KLUNKLHEAD!  I had dinner about 6:00, not sure when/if I had a BM after dinner, but proactively BMd at about 11:45 just before bed.  

Most of this isn't mysterious. If your pouch fills up with poop at 2 AM (for example), you're not going to be staying in bed until the morning. Almost all of that poop is residue of something you put in your mouth with your own hands. Depending on what you ate, you might even recognize some of it, though you're probably not on a first-name basis. If you're having one (or more) full BMs during the night, and want to stop that, you probably need to change your eating habits, your nightime bowel speed, or both. If you are feeling urgency when your pouch *isn't* full, that's an entirely different problem.

Scott, that's perfect and I had a good chuckle!  You are right on!

It's 50/50 for me. I will either sleep through the night (from about 11:30/12 to 6:45 am when my alarm goes off), or I will get up once, which incidentally seems to be around 3 am.  I am sorry to say that I really don't have any particular tricks, nor does there appear to be any rhyme or reason to my pattern. I have a busy schedule so sometimes I don't have dinner until 8:30 even later, whereas other days I might eat at 6. It seems to make no difference how late or early I eat, so that doesn't seem to be a factor at least in my case.

 

Some people will try a higher fat late night snack, such as peanut butter crackers or a piece of cheese. The theory is that these foods are somewhat of a thickening agent and keep the bowel from churning on itself during the night, hence reducing activity.  Another thing is to cut back on liquids close to bedtime, as this may promote BMs.

 

That being said, if your pouch is newer, you are still going through the adaptive phase and you may just have to be patient as your body adjusts. Your frequency may decrease with time, which may also include being able to have uninterrupted sleep. I believe it was well over a year before I first slept through the night, and my first 8-12 weeks with the pouch, I was getting up 2 or even 3 times nightly.  This gradually slowed as my system adjusted. Hopefully the same will occur for you.

I always take Lomotil, but it doesn't seem to last longer than a few hours. So I also take a half to a whole melatonin and a benadryl to really sleep. I'm not trying to be a dope-head, but I've found that if I get into a deep sleep, my belly and bowels sleep longer too! This way I can usually get through the night with one or two bathroom trips, sometimes none at all.

jeffp, if melatonin and benadryl are your idea of what a dope-head is into, you are at zero risk!

 

A deeper sleep will definitely work for some, if the waking up is unnecessary. Others may get into trouble if they miss signals that they really need to head for the bathroom. That's the concern that has kept me from trying Ambien to get some sleep during red-eye flights. I even had a somewhat messy experience when sedated for an upper GI scope.

I also take benadryl and melatonin every night.  It's a good combo that works well for me.  It's certainly a preferred option to Ambien, which is very addictive.

So Jeff and CTB, you take the Benadryl Allergy pills?

All Benadryl (diphenhydramamine) is the same. It is an antihistamine with sedative qualities. It is actually one of the side effects people don't like when they take it for allergies. You do not need the brand name. Any generic will do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphenhydramine

 

Jan

I take the Benadryl allergy liquigels.  I had to because the Walmart generic brand has dyes which I was not permitted to consume while on the low iodine diet for my thyroid cancer treatment.  Which is now over but I had to buy a large supply of the liquigels which are clear and dye free.

 

They all have the same operative ingredient, Diphenhyrdamine HCL.

Just the generic stuff from Costco for me. I can get a huge bottle for very little cost.

Take one or two tablets of Benedryl?

Everyone gets a different degree of sedation from diphenhydramine. Regardless of what other folks take, I'd suggest you try one about a half-hour before bed time and see how it works for you. If that's not enough, try more the next day, up to the maximum dose on the label. You really want the *minimum* effective dose.

Thank you everybody

I seem to always be the member playing the "why don't you think it's pouchitis" card, but no one has mentioned it once in this thread that I saw.  If you are getting up all throughout the night and can't sleep, that would be my very first question.  If you've had a scope and tried antibiotics and it didn't help and it's not pouchitis, then yes, I would recommend trying all of the above sleep meds and bowel slowers.  I'm not saying that everyone should be able to sleep through an entire night, but getting up more than 1 or 2 times sounds awful to me.  I've been there many times, but it's only when my pouchitis is flaring.  Once treated, I can then go from being up every 2 hours to sleeping 10 hours without having to get up.

Good point, clz. That's what I was hinting at with "if your pouch isn't full...", but I don't know why I left it at that.

I thought pouchitis had to be like life before surgery (tons of pain, blood everywhere, vomiting your brains out, hell, etc). I don't have any of those symptoms.  I just wake up 2-3 times (which sucks as well but it doesn't remind me of colitis flare up).

Pouchitis is usually nothing like you're describing, Erik. Bleeding is rare, and pain is not what's most prominent. Vomiting seems quite unusual. Frequency and urgency seem to be what people report most often. For me the first sign is nighttime issues: leakage or getting up to go.

 

I'd suggest doing a search or two here and reading what earlier posts have said about pouchitis symptoms.

Damn it. Thanks Scott. I'll do that.

Hey Erik,

 

Don't get discouraged.  If that's what it is, for most pouchers, pouchitis is not a big deal.  I believe almost all pouchers will get it at least at some point in their lives with their pouch.  Treatment will usually resolve the symptoms within a day or two.  There are people like me, that suffer from it chronically, but there's no reason to think that's you.  I would call your doc and if they believe it's pouchitis, he/she will prescribe antibiotics over the phone.  If the symptoms come back again shortly after your course or the antibiotics don't help, they will likely bring you in for a scope.  

Thank you CLZ81.  I'm seeing my GI next week.  I'll be setting up a colonoscopy.  I need one anyway.  I'll be staying positive.

I have chronic pouchitis and up until about 2 years ago i never got a solid night of sleep because of waking to go potty. I saw huge improvements at night when i cut out gluten and other heavily processed foods. My GI had also put me on amitriptilin (sp?) at night to help calm my pouch while i sleep. Im also a extremely hard sleeper. So sometimes i wouldn't even wake up. No one wants to wake up in that mess. So i have to be really careful what i take at night. I also try to eat hours and hours before bed. But that can be tricky when you clock out at midnight.

I usually get up once or twice at night to dookie.  I guess I'm used to it because it really doesn't bother me.  You can use food coloring to figure out transit times for the different foods you eat, then you'll know sort of the latest time in the evening you can eat.

I take codiene pills at night slows your digestive track down. works pretty good.

I've had my J pough for almost 12 years. I take meds to fall asleep, and I STILL wake up during the night due to gurgling in my intestines!  It sucks!  I am small. 5 feet. 90 lbs.  I don't want to restrict calories, but unfortunately my appetite is the best at night!  So I guess I need to choose   - food or sleep?   Right now I'd say sleep! I'm pretty exhausted!  But talk to me at 9:00pm, when a few potato chips will sound really good!!

I'm still jealous of people who poop once a day!

I call it colon envy!

(I haven't been on this site for a few years.  I forgot how nice it feels to be amongst people who can relate to J pouch issues!) 

Lets talk about gas next!!!  12 years of explosive gas .....and counting!

I was so glad to see this post re: sleep. I'm 4 days after take down and having a terrible time sleeping. I'm not sleeping at all, actually. I have some kind of movement every 10-15 minutes all night long. I'm trying to wait, to consciously hold it for at least a half hour to cut down on my trips up and down, but this is unsustainable. How long does it take for the body to adjust after surgery? I'd be okay with waking up 3 times a night. But I've been up 3 days straight with constant BMs and I'm starting to despair. I tried eating a piece of cheese tonight a couple hours before bed - no effect. Last night I tried peanut butter but still was up all night. I took an imodium this afternoon but I'm still going and going and going. Is this unusual? I'm only eating small meals a few times a day.

Crankypants, things really should improve soon. I get the best result from Lomotil at bedtime (it works better for me than Imodium). Did your surgeon make any recommendation about Metamucil or other soluble fiber? I've had some with dinner ever since my surgery.

Thanks for everybody's input.  I am now getting great sleep and it's all because of all of you.  Here's my strategy:

1. I don't eat pass 7pm. Just drink water.
2. I take one Benadryl and one Melatonin pill (3mg) 30 minutes before I want to go to sleep.
3. Take one last trip to the bathroom to take a dump before I go to my bed and sleep.
4. Sleep like a freakin baby

The first night I did this, I didn't sleep that well.  But the second and third time was amazing.  I couldn't believe it.  Some nights I sleep 7 hours straight, not waking up once!!!!

Please let us know how it continues, Erik!