I had a Stoke just before Christmas 2020, has anyone else found there body clock changed after having a stroke, I can't go to sleep till 2am at the earliest, have tried different things to help but nothing has helped, any help would be great
Hi, I had my stroke 10
weeks amd since then Iv struggled to sleep. I’m absolutely shattered but but struggle to fall asleep. I think I’m sleeping on average of around 2-4 hours amd when I do I have crazy child memory dreams. The doctor has given me tablets but they don’t work amd he said if they don’t then nothing will. Doc said it’s probably the brain re wiring ect but who knows. Hope you manage to find some sleep
Hi Chris, I know what you mean, I had the same trouble myself in the early days following the stroke I had over 4 years ago. My GP thought the sleep disturbance was due to anxiety/ low mood caused by the stroke and I think he was right. I now take Mirtazapine at night which helps, although I still don't get to sleep much before midnight, but I'm retired now and I think this adds to it. I used to listen to Calm sleepstories which you can get free on YouTube, I used to listen to The Nordland Night Train read by Erik Braa which I still listen to occasionally if I can't sleep. I have to say it was months before I heard the end of the story - I had usually gone to sleep. There are quite a few that are free, I'm sure you'll find one to suit you. I tend to wear ear phones when I listen to them.
I used to read at night but find I can't concentrate very well now. It might be worth trying to find a book you like and give it a try.
Hope this helps, I'm sure there will be others on the site who have some tips that have worked for them.
Ann
I struggled to sleep when I first came out of hospital. I don't think that the regime of being in bed for 2 weeks helped.
You don't say what you have tried but I ended up listening to audiobook, meditation, relaxing music. I noticed in other post people were using tinitus relaxer. I found a free app that did the same. All of these helped. Depending on how I was feeling I use different ones. The OT also suggested getting up for s short time if I woke up and get s warm drink. I did this couple of times and it did seem to work.
I don't now have a problem going to sleep. But I do wake up really early (it might be the light) so I use these strategies to get back to sleep. They work most of the time.
Yes, early on I couldn't sleep until 3 am, sometimes, 4 am. For me, lasted about four months. Nine months on I am sleeping better, I put a few drops of lavender oil on my pillow, and I use sleep headphones (bluetooth soft headband) and, intitially, a free app called the Beltone calmer (very good). You can create your own soothing soundscapes. Nowdays, I have a sleeping playlist on Spotify. If my anxiety is really bad at night, I take half a benzodiazepine and get a good nights sleep but GPs are reluctant to prescribe them as they can be addictive. I would sleep in until about 10:30 am at one point.
When I first came after my stroke my sleep was very poor. One night I woke on the hour every hour. I think this was probably due to a fear of dying in my sleep. I started to wind down by listening to Classic FM before switching the light off. Staying up till I felt really tired also helped. You could also try a nightcap or a herbal sleeping tablet.
Yes indeed, my body clock changed, along with a lot of other stuff. I realized that good sleep was essential to get any recovery. Essential.
i spent many many weeks determining how much sleep i needed and at what time i could achieve sleep. I also tried lights on, cooler, warmer and which room. I changed mattress, tried extra pillows. I too had a stroke just before christmas. It was autumn before i found the right sleep. And then the dreams. My word the nightmares and then the night terrors.
none of this remained the same as before stroke.
i now retire at 10pm and want 7.5hrs sleep. Nothing like before stroke.
pre stroke i knew my body clock worked on a 25 hour day. Now its 24 hrs.
best wishes
colin
Thanks for your replys, I am finding this the hardest part off having the stroke, can live with my short term memory loss etc but the sleep is horrible