Hi Karen,

Oh how I would love chocolates!! But my dentist has said as little sugar as possible!!

This thing sucks, one day I can feel ok and then next day I'm in the dumps again. I'm trying really hard to wean myself off these Fetanyl patches and the Temazapam. Still only sleeping 4 hrs a night with 1 Temazapam. Gosh I hope I get some sleep soon!!!

Karen, I wish you were in Perth!!

Minh

How about this: Buy some really, really nice chocolate (something expensive, rich, bite sized and individually wrapped in foil). Meditate over it, carefully unwrap it and marvel at it's beauty. Inhale the fragrance of it and then maybe give it a little lick. When you can stand it no more, take a bite, savour the flavour, more meditation, swallow it, bask in the afterglow then ... go clean your teeth. Repeat the procedure.

Unfortunately, I suffer dreadful migraines - made worse by chocolate (I think). I can only go as far as meditating over the smell of it but I do occasionally give it a bit of a lick and if I am really desperate, I will eat just one - migraine be damned. Then I take 2 Nurofen and go and lie down.

Karen - I also get headaches from eating more than 1 or 2 pieces of chocolate but it doesn't hit me until the next morning. I guess we just have to decide if the pleasure we get from eating chocolate predominates over the pain we suffer from doing it. I suppose that works for anything we like. My favorite is the chocolate foil wrapped caramel filled chocolate. Sigh . . . . . and I eat it exactly the way you do. Small bites, savoring each tiny piece, then brush teeth.

ssshhh... if Alex finds out the headache doen't hit till the next day, I won't have an excuse to have a nap in the middle of the day or just as the washing up needs doing

OK, Karen. It will be our secret.

Hi,

Years ago, long before being diagnosed with cancer, I ended up addicted to Ativan (lorazepam), which had been prescribed for anxiety (long story). It worked frighteningly well, but weening myself off of it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I've since read that it has been prescribed as a sleep aid (and I think this is very irresponsible), but then when you come off of it it causes......insomnia. Go figure, nothing's free. Perhaps different people have different sensitivities, but I would NEVER take Ativan again. As I weened myself off of it, eventually I couldn't split the pills into any smaller portions and had to just "stop" taking it. It took me three attempts. I suffered what I describe as "extreme agitation" and I remember sitting in a dark room, gnawing on my knuckles, and feeling that if I could open my skull and remove my brain I would have. And then, once I finally managed to stop the Ativan, I had weeks of severe insomnia. Then, when I did finally start to sleep again, one day I just sort of realized, hey, I slept last night........it was as if I hadn't noticed, which was strange, considering how much agony the insomnia was.

More recently, during my cancer treatment I was on the Fentanyl patch, and had terrible trouble weening myself off of that. I suspect I was offered the Fentanyl too casually. Looking back, I might have gotten by using just the liquid morphine, and wish I had stuck to that longer. I suffered insomnia I think as a side effect of weening off of the Fentanyl. You trade avoiding physical pain by having to suffer emotional pain (insomnia)? Again, seems that nothing is free.

I'm nearly seven months post treatment, and very gradually my ability to sleep has improved. I remember it being torture to not be able to sleep. Sadly, I never experienced a sudden return to "normal" but instead, very gradually over time, have started to sleep better, although I suspect not very deeply.

I'm sure this (above) is not very encouraging. All I can say is, be very wary of these drugs (benzos and opiods) and know that you may have to suffer very difficult withdrawals. However, that is possibly still better than severe physical pain. And yes, as is often stated here, it does get better (sleeping, that is).

You should never go "cold turkey" off of these things. Your doctors should help you ween down.

I'm struggling to re-approach life now that I'm in remission. I keep telling myself, well, self, you can only move forward from here.

This concerns me with my vicodin. I am not a big pain medicine taker - came home from surgery for neck and tongue on REGULAR Tylenol...not even extra strength! but have been taking 2 of the hydroco/apap every 4 hours at 12 midnight, 4 a.m. and one at 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. and depending on how I feel, one or two at 8 p.m. and going to bed if I take 2. I just conk out as soon as my head hits the pillow but I am afraid I will have a hard time sleeping without the meds. Do need them for pain right now tho...doing #18 radiation today. Otherwise I usually get by on Ex. Strength Tylenol for most everything! :o)

Michele in IL

Hey Michelle,

What you write rings a bell for me. I'm in a slightly different phase of treatment from you, in that I just got home from my first surgery a week ago, and I don't think I'll need chemo/radiation right now.

But what you say about coming home from the hospital on "just" Tylenol is exactly what happened to me. (Children's Tylenol, since it was liquid, therefore I could swallow it.) And, similar to you, I'm really strongly affected by medications, and I am very hesitant to get addicted to things. I also often have insomnia, waking up in the middle of the night, being awake from 2-5. So while my situation isn't identical, there are some similarities, and I understand a little of where you're coming from.

I think that if you're mindful, marijuana is probably an okay thing to try. From what I understand, it's not nearly as addictive as lots of other stuff out there, at least on a chemical basis. Though I'm not an expert on that.

I don't know if it will help you, but BC (before cancer), I figured out a solution to my own insomnia: my cortisol levels were checked (at the encouragement of a chiropractor) and they were a little off at night. So I tried eating just a little protein before bed - a handful of nuts, or a few bites of meat leftover from dinner - and lo and behold I started sleeping through the night! The protein supposedly helps balance the cortisol or adrenal function or something. However it operates, it certainly helped me - I have been much more likely to sleep through the night if I eat a little protein before bed. (Unfortunately, at the moment, since a pre-surgery exam suggested evidence of acid reflux, I'm no longer having anything except water 3 hours before bed, which will hopefully my throat a chance possible to heal from the damage caused by the breathing tube during surgery. So at the moment I'm back to insomnia, but at least I had a solution that used to work for me.)

Another option is to come up with an evening routine, something relaxing that includes a cup of tea. And being not on the computer or in front of a screen will help your system calm down at night. I've also discovered that doing puzzles in bed - crossword, sudoku, etc, will eventually put me to sleep. The puzzles are a crutch, a tool of sorts, but I figure they're not hurting me.

Hope some of those suggestions help!

:^) Rahel

Geez,

I cant believe that i thought 4-6hrs of sleep a night was not enough!!! With the lorazapam, i was getting 7-8hrs so it was a shock to my body to go to 4hrs a night but i eventually got used to it. I actually funtioned fine on4-4.5hrs of sleep.


Got off the fetanyl patch on Wed and have been getting 2hrs a night ever since!!! Night sweats, shakiness, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness etc are all withdrawel symptoms i'm experiencing right now. Still taking tamazapan and took two diazapam and they did nothing! Anyone have any ideas on how long i need to bear with this before my body adjust to it?

Minh

Hi Minnie. Since narcotics and anti anxiety meds are addictive and if you would like to try a non-addictive med... ask your physician about Trazodone... it is an anti-depressant but if you take 1/2 tablet and go to bed, it will put you to sleep. I've used Trazodone for years and without it, sleep is evasive and short.

Also the inability to sleep, sweats, anxiety are likely withdrawal symptoms from the Fentynl patch and the benzodiazepines. Narcotic withdrawal is quite uncomfortable and often feel like the flu. The symptoms should decrease in a couple of days!!

Dodie