Night Howls

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  • iserbrown
    iserbrown Member Posts: 5,552
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    Did I  read previously you are going to Forge Creek?  We stayed there and loved it and loved walking down to the water

    Enjoy
  • Blossom1961
    Blossom1961 Member Posts: 2,377
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    @iserbrown That is correct. My Hubby loves the water and this place looked ideal. It is also close enough to my oldest daughter that her hubby can come with her on the weekend even though he is on call (Glengarry). He can make the 80 min trip back if he gets called in.
  • Bbbcm
    Bbbcm Member Posts: 53
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    Havent.  posted in a while, lurked a lot.  Night sweats are bad, sharing a bed with hubby pup and cat. Cant do it anymore so hubby off to the spare room cat will follow.  I lie awake listening to the radio til about midnight then just lie there in silence to 2.30.  go to sleep til 6 and then get up and wipe myself down. getting by on about 3=4 hrs a night So many side effect to numerous to mention, but when I do, the dr just nods and waits for me to go on.  2 yrs since diagnosed at stage 4 never had cancer before. How long can I go on like this? I alm sick of all the pain meds and all the rest . I am on around 15 tabs a day when you add in blood pressure and stuff.  no one tells you its such a mental challenge daily, no wonder I'm exhausted. just a rant great to have this outlet here thanx for reading  Barb xx
  • kmakm
    kmakm Member Posts: 7,974
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    @Bbbcm Barb, it's just f****d isn't it? I suppose all you can do is keep plodding on and try to find something to enjoy in each day.

    I'm sure you know this already but have you got a good counsellor to have a rant and a vent to? Doesn't sound like your GP is cutting the mustard...

    I really struggle with sleep and am now relying on a number of apps on my smartphone. Depending on my mood and state of insomnia, I listen to ambient music especially designed for sleep, rain sounds, nature sounds, and a sleep meditation. The latter is on Headspace. There are a number and I've found them incredibly good. They're set in a variety of places, an antique shop, a laundrette, a desert campfire, a garden and more. So good. There's the ambient noise of the setting, a few breaths to relax you, and then a voice just describes the setting and reactions to it. Eventually the voice stops and the background noise continues but I'm aknost always asleep by then.

    Anyway, give it a try if you fancy. Big hug, K xox
  • Zoffiel
    Zoffiel Member Posts: 3,372
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    Oh it's all such bollocks @Blossom1961!. Do the right thing and exercise---in the shit. Sit on your arse and do nothing--in the poo as well.
    Lift nothing heavier than a wine glass which should, of course, be only half full or half empty according to your current view of the world and how many endone you are you going to have. Enjoy your break, even if you are highway a kite (my prefered state TBH) MXX
  • Blossom1961
    Blossom1961 Member Posts: 2,377
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    Hi @Bbbcm Hop on and rant away. I will give you big virtual hugs in return. Summer makes me feel more overwhelmed with this BC. No relief from the night sweats even sleeping under the fan. Being sleep deprived does not help with our feelings. At least we all have each other cause “we get it” and it makes this whole thing that little bit easier knowing someone else understands. xxx

  • AllyJay
    AllyJay Member Posts: 945
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    Sucks puts it nicely as well as a few other rhyming words, when it comes to sleep. Sleep???? What is this sleep that you mention??? For myself (and poor longsuffering hubby), each having separate rooms has been a help. When we were both in the same bed, he would try not to disturb me, which would not be very relaxing, and I too would try not to disturb him by tossing and turning, covers on...covers off...rinse and repeat +++. Then, of course, he would fall asleep and then the great big 6' 4" sleeping, snoring, snuffling, grunting, lurching over left then right giant, would have my hot flushes ramping up into the danger zone, and my internal rage would boil away as I lay there awake and listened to him sleep!! Bah!!! Now we have our own room, and in mine, I have the queen size bed to myself, my ceiling fan and its speed under my control. The main light, (for knitting at ungodly hours), or my bedside light for reading my kindle. Sometimes just stopping trying to catch that elusive sleep, and doing something else instead, does the trick...sometimes being the reality, but at least the mutual guilt and resentment thing reduce and our daytime relationship is back to normal.
  • Flaneuse
    Flaneuse Member Posts: 899
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    @Bbbcm Rant here as much as you like. I've been doing plenty of it lately. The Cancer Council has nurse counsellors by telephone and they're great at listening to rants. Hugs.
  • Bbbcm
    Bbbcm Member Posts: 53
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    thanks so much. I have a counsellor but just woke up cranky. thanks for the support ladies.
  • arpie
    arpie Member Posts: 7,584
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    @Blossom1961 - ENJOY!!    I just love the water - we almost always visit places with water nearby ..... 

    @Bbbcm - that REALLY sucks big time.  Absolutely - rant away as much as you like - we all get it.

    My hubby took himself off to his own bedroom in 2010 after his own epic cancer/chemo treatment when he was having monumental sweats & 'bouncing around the bed like a jack in the box'!  And we don't have pets so I don't have to kick anything else out of bed!  I love having my own room & space to spread out ..... books & mags on one side, ready for the 2am read or as many times as I want .... 

    I think this interminable heat is getting to us all as well ...... maybe having a chat with the BCNA folk may give you a different slant on things as well ..... 

    I always used to say - sometimes I wake up cranky - other days I let him sleep in!  ;) 

    @AllyJay - your description so resonates with me!  Going thru menopause 20 years ago - even Keith's regular breathing would keep me awake for hours & I just lay there resenting it! HOW DARE HE SLEEP whilst I can't!!  So .... I was quite happy when he chose the spare bedroom!!  (Not that I sleep that well ANYWAY  LOL)

    All the best ladies xxx
  • Kiwi Angel
    Kiwi Angel Member Posts: 1,952
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    I went to sleep after 11 and was awake at 4.20am. Went for a run and am going to clean the house before work. At least insomnia is good for my productivity!! 
  • iserbrown
    iserbrown Member Posts: 5,552
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    This is a thread that I rarely contribute to or read for that matter as the name suggest Night Howls and that is something I am not. Sleep has never been an issue, but I hope I don't mozz myself with that statement!  
    I just wondered if between you all you have run a poll or something to find out what the common denominator is with the sleeping issue!  
    As the kids are returning to school this week the talkback on some TV and radio programmes is based around sleeping habits - just wondered that's all
    Hope you all can find a rhythm that suits and brings routine and better well being as this BC just keeps giving in different ways and knocking us around


    Take care
  • Flaneuse
    Flaneuse Member Posts: 899
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    Shit of a night - fourth in a row. Even after 30 mg serepax at 11 pm - Still awake at 3 am, aches in ankles, femurs, hands, then took Panadeine Extra. Woke to alarm clock bc I'm going to pelvic floor physio this morning. Hope she finds I've made more improvement in my "grip" with the exercises.  :)
  • Flaneuse
    Flaneuse Member Posts: 899
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    @iserbrown No poll that I know of, but It seems to be everything! After diagnosis of course there's anxiety that disrupts sleep, but from then on:When you look at the list of side-effects - post surgery, chemo, radiation, AIs ... sleep disruption is listed in ALL of them. It never stops. Add of course the anxiety that comes with decisions to be made about various treatments, directions etc. 
    I was sent to a psych in Nov-Dec  (the top psych connected to oncology at the hospital) and she brightly suggested that my expectations of myself were too high, and I needed to set small, short-term goals. She suggested correcting my "sleep hygiene" should be the first and instructed me to never lie down during the daytime, set my alarm for 5 am every day to reset my circadian rhythm. She seemed to totally dismiss the fact that I was a cancer patient; unaware of the side-effects of treatment. Needless to say, I've not been back to her. The only useful thing she did was teach me the "worry postponement" method of dealing with worries - always "postpone" them to the agenda for a specific worry management time every day. It sounds wanky but it actually works for me, most of the time. But no afternoon rests and getting up at 5 am after a lifetime of slog, no thanks.
  • arpie
    arpie Member Posts: 7,584
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    @Kiwi Angel  - you can come to my place & clean it any time you like!!  ;)  LOL

    @Flaneuse - that's a bugger.   I still wake up a few times, but manage to nod off again (tho sometimes not :( )

    Luckily, we've had 3 'cooler nights' in a row with no humidity, which has been a real bonus.  Still 'hot as' during the day tho.