It’s lonely at 2:15am

Thank you for that link @Giovanna_BCNA
Much appreciated.
Hope you and everyone else at the BCNA office are managing to stay safe from COVID.
The overnight winds have certainly added more stress to us Victorians.  No damage here and the rain has now hit.

Good luck @kamada. I’m also not the best sleeper. I had a month of no sleep before I found my lump. Terrible time. Then another month of no sleep post op, thanks to the surgeon I had then. Even two temazepam didn’t help. Then I went to sleeping wonderfully for a couple months, now I wake randomly at 3 am for no reason 🤷🏼‍♀️. Thankfully I usually go back to sleep. I’m not even gonna start on the weird dreams. Ah the joys 😆

@rebeccamarie Glad you got some temazepam. I have used it every now and then after a run of bad nights to break the cycle. Still have the odd one now. I am wary of becoming reliant on it and so have only used 15 over the last nine months -  very economical 😂 but those 15 nights have been life
savers! @Sister I feel for you and @Afraser and don’t know how you manage. I was such a good sleeper before that it drives me nuts not being able to nod off and I am really pinged off that even on my good nights I wake up at least four times 😠. I will have a better look at the article @Giovanna_BCNA and try some of the ideas - thank you. Off to bed now to contemplate the coming joy
of bowel prep for end/col on Thursday 🥺. That will surely have me 💤 in no time! 😜

I have been without a proper night's sleep for so long.  As with @afraser, I have learnt to embrace it or I'd go crazy, although I do get up.  It does, however, mean that I really need the odd nanna nap - just wish that I was able to do that as it would make life much easier.

Hello everyone, 
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne produced the following booklet which you may find helpful.  
Can – Sleep:  Making night time sleep problems go away.  A guide for people with cancer.
kind regards

@rebeccamarie I should have been a little clearer. I found there seemed to be a residual effect from the steroids so the sleep problems could also occur at other times during the cycle as well as when actually taking the dexamethasone. Of course the chemo drugs probably also played a part in sleep pattern disturbances but either way help is needed and beneficial. At least the burst of energy is helpful getting a few things done before “crash day” arrives 😉

Hi @rebeccamarie. That sounds so familiar and I agree that the dear steroids are the cause. My first chemo experience was the same but then it changed with following sessions and I would go to sleep easily until around 3am when I would be wide awake and ready to spring clean the entire house for the next few hours. My onc gave me a script for temazepam and they helped a lot. I still woke but was sleepy enough to roll over and nod off quickly. You only have to take them when on steroids but sleep is very important in coping with chemo. It is a well known chemo problem. Hope you can get a solution. 😘

I hear you @ddon Sleep just doesn’t come. I normally fall asleep to a movie on Netflix after midnight. The movie noise keeps my mind away from other things, I choose movies I’ve seen many times so I’m not so concerned about what comes next ☺️. I put it on again if/when I wake in the middle of the night. If I pick up my phone I start working and then there is no chance of sleep!

I used to love climbing into bed at night, worn out, looking forward to sleep. Now, just something to be endured. Sweating and hot, tossing and worrying. So good when the sun comes up. 

@ddon that sums up how the other night was for me. A couple of nights earlier the wheels had unexpectedly absolutely flown off my bus and totally wrecked what had been a lovely family get together. So embarrassing after holding it all together for a year through the worst of the treatments. So I was still licking my wounds and was looking for distraction. You probably didn’t miss much @Pennylee and @ddon 😂.