Has anyone any advice on how to manage broken sleep with K pouch.
I stick to a healthy diet but can sleep no longer than 4 hours due to pain.
Pain gone when I use my catheter.
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I have to get up after 3 to 4 hours to pee. If I'm lucky I do that once. A lot of the times I have to get up - up to 3 times a night to pee. Very rarely do I sleep through.
I empty the pouch right before I go to bed but occasionally I have to get up to empty the pouch when I have a lot of gas but it's not painful. It's mostly annoying.
When the weather is hot as it is now, even though I drink the required amount of liquids (I'm required to drink between 10 - 12 cups. I can do 10 cups.), I wake up with nasty leg and sometime foot cramps. I try to stay cool and sometimes i can drink a little more liquids but that doesn't always help.
I can sympathize with your dilemma. Unfortunately, I've yet to figure out how to sleep through the night without having to get up at all. My best to you. Mary
Leg and foot cramps are related to dehydration. I didn't believe this when the doctor told me, but I started drinking more water and the cramps went away. In hot weather I drink over 4 L a day and 3 L on other days. Otherwise I have cramps so bad in my legs and feet that I can't walk to the toilet to pee during the night! I'm 70, which adds to the getting up during the night problem. Factor in your age along with the heat. You'll get benefits within a day so it's worth trying.
Also factor in situations that can dehydrate you, in particular airplanes. I've ended up in the ER, in places such as Qatar – – no rhyme intended– – Because of dehydration. Last summer for dehydration got so bad I was in hospital because of kidney failure. Be careful
Thank you for replies. My problem is the K pouch that wakes me with pain, but it always has.
I have a Barnett pouch and recently have been waking up at night with pain (which does not feel like gas pains). I've had the pouch for 15 years, but 3 years ago I had a 1.5 inch "stone" in the pouch and even though it was removed, the pouch has never been the same.
I go to Dr. Shen at Cleveland Clinic and a few years ago he prescribed opium tincture (formerly called paregoric) for pain. It's liquid and about the worst tasting stuff in the world--but it does work for pain the in the middle of the night. Most drug stores are clueless about this medication and have to order it. It's a controlled substance so there are no refills and it has to be a printed prescription. I take .3 ml before bed and I have not been waking with pain. I still do wake up for other reasons, and then I do empty my pouch. I agree, it's not fun at 3 am.
As far as dehydration, I have been hospitalized a few times. Both times the Doctors said, by the time you are dehydrated and feel the leg cramps and other symptoms, drinking water is not going to help. So now I take potassium, magnesium and electrolyte tablets that you put in a bottle of water called "nunn" which are available at vitamin shoppe. I also found some electrolyte gummies which are easy to take when you are out and do not have a water bottle.
Good luck with your problem.
I also recently tried immodium before bed, not sure if it really works, but it does supposedly slow down the pouch.