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Reply to "Bad sleep, actually no sleep at all"

@RHolt posted:

I am sorry for your lack of sleep! Ironically, I was about to post a survey to ask if anyone with a J-Pouch sleeps through the night. For me, it has happened probably 5 times in the last 11 years of having a J-pouch.  (I am sorry to tell you this!!!) Usually I am up at least once with loose stool, and it can be challenging to get back to sleep once you make sure the toilet isn't a mess, you take care of the odor, and wash your hands. My guess is that most of us (90% or more?) do not successfully sleep through the night, but I would love to hear about this. If your pouch is not keeping you up, then I would try all of the traditional methods for a good night's sleep, like deep, slow breathing, melatonin (I know you tried this without success). I would avoid chronic use of sleep aids that have antihistamines because I have heard for the elderly at least, they are not good for the brain.  My GI doctor has me taking 2 imodium around 9:30 pm to see if it will help. It did at first, but it is not a reliable answer to sleeping through the night. When my pouch is gurgly and keeps me awake, I do an abdominal massage and maybe even use a heating pad to calm things down. Sometimes gas is what wakes me up. I release that and can go back to sleep. J-pouch wise, I have heard of people trying to thicken the stool before bedtime by taking psylium husks (like metamucil) to see if it helps slow things down. You are in the early stages with your pouch and you and your pouch will need to just calm down a bit post surgery and get into a groove that will let you sleep better.  Did you sleep well before the J-pouch? I have never been a heavy sleeper, so now the J-pouch is another thing that may wake me up!

Thanks for your advice, really. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough tho, I struggle to even START to sleep.
After surgery, I had the first three or two weeks of this out of fear (so I basically didn’t even sleep, so no night awakenings as I wasn’t even sleeping). Then it passed as I got calmer, I was also given 2 Imodium but I took it for 3 days since it was all about anxiety. I had found a sort of balance, with one night BM and a restful sleep even after that. Woken up by urge and then went back to sleep without even going to the bathroom. It was working, I don’t understand why it’s like this rn. I let go of night pads and all because of how safe I felt.

So right now: I do not fall asleep + when I do - only thanks to meds - the 3 hours I get are interrupted + no rest because of my daily activities

I do not even pretend a full night sleep, just actually falling asleep and then going back to sleep IF I have a BM would be fine seriously.

As for jpouchers… I know some have no problems sleeping, others have soiling, others have bad sleep. A poll is a good idea imho

Last edited by xwaterice
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