Steroids are finally getting to me. I can't sleep - again! So, it's either a treat or a curse that I am back, rambling in the middle of the night. I asked my friend Jen, mother earth and knower of all things, if she had this issue way back when and is there a natural way to combat it. Lucky for me, or not depending on your view, Jen tried it all so I don't have to. Saved me a lot of time and frustration, not to mention even more sleepless nights, trying to find something natural that will help me sleep. For steroid induced insomnia, a sleeping pill is my best bet.
To be fair, pre-MBC diagnosis, I've been known to be somewhat of an insomniac, sleeping no more than 5 hours a night. I ended up watching a lot of Dr. Phil. OMG the drama! Anyway, my primary doc, Dr. Zook, has been telling me about the necessity of me getting my 8 hours in. He is a huge proponent of a good night's sleep. Especially at my "age" and cancer history. So he prescribed non-addictive sleeping pills several months ago. I have barely touched them. My mission this weekend is to find the correct dosage for me. I can take from 1/2 up to 2 pills a night; the trick is to take enough to help me sleep for 8 hours without waking up feeling like a zombie. Fingers crossed!
I am putting together a notebook with ALL my test results. I want to be able to compare one scan to another, one blood test to another, as we progress through treatment. I plan on creating a spreadsheet which details all my blood tests so I can easily see differences from week to week. Who knows when this information will come in handy in the future. I can pull and print all my test results from the patient portal at Texas Oncology; sadly, I can't easily copy and paste blood work results from an html page into an excel spreadsheet without major cleanup. I will see if they can send it to me in an email or put them on a DVD. I also need to find a way to get the CT, PET, and MRI images. I know I don't have the expertise to "read" them correctly, but I have the corresponding write up. I'd like to see the gnarly, weird tumor (docs description, not mine) that I've named Voldemort. On my to-do list when I go in for chemo #6 on Friday.
Sounds like someone is trying to project manage their cancer treatment. Who could that possibly be?
Sounds like someone is trying to project manage their cancer treatment. Who could that possibly be?
Yeah, I just took sleeping pills when I needed them during chemo. Melatonin these days, but I felt like chemo called for the big guns. Some nights other meds I was taking for side effects (like nausea) helped because they were a little sedating.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hate doing it but I don't have much choice. I was told by the PA that many use the nausea pills for insomnia. I have those too. Only took it once ... and yes, I was a bit loopy.
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