Insomnia anyone? Support/Suggestions?

[getwellsoon]

I also get the heart palps with some meds and also had it awful with CDiff. My heart would bang hard against my chest and start beating so fast. It is why they finally admitted me to the hospital and there they finally started my CDiff treatment even though I got an indeterminate test for Cdiff followed by a positive after suffering for over 5 weeks. Anyway hope the insomnia lets up. Your gut has so much to do with every other system in your body, its your second brain. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[gwang]

I get terrible sleep. I've actually been keeping track of it here, my fitbit tracks it: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

I'm 100% sure my sleep prior to c-diff was a lot better. I use to fall and stay asleep. When my c-diff first started (active), I'd wake up once a night in cold sweat and panicking. I'd then be able to go back to sleep till the morning. (ex: sleep at 10:30am, wake up at 12:30am, sleep till 6am)

However, after getting treated with Flagyl and FMT I wake up around 3-6x a night. I just push myself to sit in bed till the am. I don't think I'm really sleeping to be honest.

I've been testing with antihistamines and my sleep has been more restful, which makes me suspect that the c-diff triggered mast cell activation syndrome. I really hate taking meds on a consistent basis at my age (26) and not sure about the long-term side effects.

I've also searched all the keywords (sleep disorder, sleep issues, sleep disturbances, waking up at night, waking up multiple times a night, insomnia, etc...), found others who complained about sleep issues and messaged them directly. It seems like most people get better, but their sleep issues were short (1-3 months), and I suspect some of them are on meds to maintain sleep. I'm 4 months out so I think this sleep thing may be permanent without meds...

Hopefully, in months time we'll look back at these posts and laugh about it because our sleep returned to normal.

[Dianlynn]

So I think for me the Vanco does increase the insomnia. On the days I'm off Vanco for the taper, I sleep better but when I have to take the Vanco, those nights are worse. Everyone is different but it's good to know when I'm off Vanco, my sleep may improve.

[gwang]

@dian

That's good to hear! Hopefully, it improves while off Flagyl.

[justme]

I've always been a terrible insomniac (before, during, and after C. Diff). I take Zolpidem (Ambien) and it still takes me a few hours before I can sleep. I'm an avid reader and always have a book (on the john, while eating breakfast, before bed, etc). Because I've fallen asleep with my glasses on and/or had the book hit me in the face when I nodded off, I changed to audible books. I put the earplugs into my ear, turn on the book, and fall asleep listening to the pleasant voice of the reader (or music if so inclined). The only down side is that I have to keep repeating the same chapter over and over because I don't remember it. Also, like Bobby, I exercise to some extent nearly every day if possible. Be careful with antihistamines. There is a new study that some antihistamines (especially Benedryl and others) can cause memory issues over long time use.

I hope you find something that works for you.

Aloha,
Anne

[code3rn]

My doctor had me on Celexa for anxiety/depression, trazadone for sleep and ativan for the really bad days. I slept terribly when I had cdiff the first time around. This time I am not sleeping great, but much better than before. I now don't take the trazadone at all. It helped me a lot when I needed it and wasn't addicting. On bad days when I am super anxious or stressed from work I will take an ativan at night which helps me sleep too. Maybe see what your doctor recommends?

[notheidi]

I also had bad heart palpitations with c diff. In my case doc said it was because my magnesium was low due to the malabsorption, so I had to supplement.

Yeah insomnia sucks. I listen to soothing animal sounds on youtube.

My guerilla tactic is to get out of bed, open the phone book to a random page, and force myself to read it like it's a book--read the names and phone numbers for 10 minutes. It is the most incredibly boring thing to do in the world. After 10 min, get back into bed and try to sleep for 10 min. If you can't sleep, get out of bed and repeat. It really works. It increases your motivation to go to sleep because it's so incredibly boring and dumb. I can remember doing it and thinking 'no please don't make me get out of my warm bed and do it again, I'll fall asleep!' and I did.

[amyc]

The phone book haha. Before I started the meds I found reading happy parts of the Bible helpful. I believe Isaiah? I'm not even religious lol, but Isaiah is really lovely and encouraging and kind of repetitive. It made my grandma happy to see the Bible she sent me in my room too :).

[ResearchGrandma]

Ha - I like the phone book suggestion - maybe I will try it some night. Except I am not sure if I can see well enough to read the tiny print any more - probably have to make sure a magnifier is around. Here are some ways I try to bore myself back to sleep:
1: While awake during the day, memorize the states and their capitals. When you wake up at night, go over them very slowly combined with deep breathing. Very boring.
2: Make up an alphabetized grocery shopping list, alphabetized list of flowers, animals, insects, etc
3: Make up silly sentences with all the words starting with the same letter, or a sentence with the words being in alphabetical order
4: Or just count backwards from 1000 (again, very slowly with deep breathing)