Sooo tired, but too sick to sleep?!

Anyone else feel this way? I’m guessing at one point or another, it’s true for virtually all of us. Tonight, it’s my turn in the barrel :slight_smile:

I have fibro, and have been recently Dx’d with Gastroparesis,too. I am struggling mightily with what to eat and when. Thank goodness my husband, who had 90% of his stomach removed due to polyps, “gets it” when it comes to my new low fat, low fiber, high protein diet, or more accurately said,

These two chronic illnesses together are ruining what quality of life I was able to pull together. Now, my husband - my recently married to after a 30year separation high school sweetheart of a husband! and I aren’t even sleeping in the same bed :(.

I lost my career in the insurance industry in 2008, and haven’t been able to work since. I do a few things to help with my husband’s business,

I have a 24 year old daughter who won’t have anything to do with me, because she doesn’t like some of my decisions.

I guess mostly I am just plain tired. Tired of pain, loss, suffering, doctor’s appointments, nausea, sleeping alone, not knowing what meds to try, not being able to focus, etc., etc,

Hey there Julieb

I am so sorry to hear about your troubles! The fibro makes things very unbearable at times, but I also know from experience that stress and problems in relationships often makes it feel even worse.
Have you thought about counseling for you and your hubby? I’m sorry I am not trying to pry or stick my nose anywhere, but I know that counseling can definitely help just to get your emotions out.
Please feel free to talk or vent with me anytime.
Prayers and blessings.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. However, you misunderstood my relationship with my husband…we are not in the same bed many nights because of my health, and not for any other reason. He is a wonderful support, and we are as much in love as we were in high school! I just wish we didn’t have to fight fibro and gastroparesis…

I just finished an 8 week group therapy as part of a study on Fibro. It was very helpful - more than I thought it would be - in terms of getting at the root cause as to why so many of suffer. Counseling can be a real help, as can these support groups! Fibro folks are one of the highest percentage groups that use online support, which makes sense when you think about how isolated and alone in understanding it can feel.

I look forward to making some new friends here, including you, Ahava31!

Dear Julieb,

This is one of the worst things that we struggle with, I think, sleep, and lack of it. When it is so difficult to rest and restore our bodies, it just makes everything worse. Sometimes between the pain and lack of sleep I become rather short with my loved ones, and that is something I try so very hard not to do, so I stay in my room with the door closed at times.

With the aid of digestive enzymes, I can eat just about anything, though there are a few things that I just have to avoid. I am sorry you have to be so very careful with food, it is just one more time consuming chore for you, but I'm sure it is worth doing! I use Phenergan, it allows me to take morphine and keep it down, it can also help with sleep, something you may want to ask your Doctor about for the nausea.

Hopefully time and maturity will allow you and your daughter to be close again. I am sure that hurts you deeply. Thank God for all the good husband's and wives we are lucky enough to have. Most have been through a great deal with us!

I know about being sick of Doctor appointments, I now have to see my Internist and my Rheumatologist every 2 months, and because it is so difficult to ride in the car, they are about the only place I go anymore. There are many times I am at my GP much more often than that, thankfully he is very near to me!

I'm glad that you found us, glad that you posted. I hope that your Doctor is trying his best to help you sleep, there are few things better for us than a good night's sleep.

Wising you well,

SK


Hi Julieb, I'm sorry you're going through this! You're right, we all get tired, fed up, and defeated by these things, and then think that this is the way our life will always be. But things usually tend to get better- we get a new doctor, better medication, new husband....... ;) We just need to find the little things that can help make our life easier.

Make your new diet an adventure -take a class, watch the Cooking Channel, think of it as a good reason to clean out the cabinets, or try new things. Otherwise, it's a burden. I did this 10 years ago when I had a gastrectomy and ate strictly protein, and I began to HATE the idea of food.

I have a lot of problems with my spine and hips, and our new $3000 bed is way too hard. So I sleep on the old broken down but comfy couch while my husband sleeps in the pretty bed. Having a chronic illness is a lot harder than I ever realized, not only on us but on everyone around us. We need to work on that part first - come to terms with all of the nonsense we are forced to deal with, so we can move on and live our lives. I think you have the right answer with counseling and support groups, because no one else understands these things !!

I'm so glad you've joined us here!

Hugs-Renie♥

Uh oh, Renie! Sounds like 'the V' is in trouble again! LOL! I know you love the guy, and I know he adores you! Better kiss and make up soon!

Mine has been busy in the yard, he has been wanting to mulch, but I have such terrible mold allergies, so he has been doing trial and error, and research, and put down 2 or 3 truckloads of cedar mulch, around all of the shrubs that he never kept up with weed whacking. What a difference it makes! I made it out for my walk, even trimmed the dead bloom off my crepe myrtle, and have the sore hands to prove it, finally warm enough and was thinking that we must have planted at least 30 trees, and flowering shrubs since buying the house, so this is something that will keep the yard looking good, and hopefully no mold will collect under it!

Have you considered one of these mattress toppers, the high density foam ones? May make that hard mattress more tolerable! I know my son bought everyone new bedroom suites and mattresses when he bought his new house, the mattresses are good quality, high dollar, but they're like sleeping on concrete!

Our mattress is about 5 years old now, and it's about ready to be replaced, no matter how good, that seems to be when it's time for a new one, of course, I spend more time in bed than most people do, and my back is the worst part of me, a good mattress is the best investment you can make no matter how good or bad your health is! Mine is a firm, but not rock hard, hopefully I can get the very same Simmons beauty rest again!

Wishing everyone well, sweet dreams,

SK

It's 4:22 AM, and here I am, no sleep in me! Think I'm gonna go take a nice hot bubble bath!