An average adult needs between 7-9 hours sleep a night to function cheerfully in the day. An average burn patient needs more than this and here's the annoying part...they rarely are able to get it. In the first few months after my injury I slept most of the day. This was mostly because of the tremendous power of painkillers Oxycodone, Tramadol and the like. I'd get up, have breakfast, spend a few hours laying on the sofa and then have an afternoon nap. Get up for dinner, some TV, then go to bed. As I was so drowsy from the medication, it was fairly easy to sleep, despite my massive Chubb's Peterson cast. The problem came when I stopped taking the Oxycodone painkiller.
Oxycodone is a habit-forming and a hazardous drug if not used properly. When I came out of my first month of injury haze (the brain fog that envelopes you shrouds all else) and realised the power of this drug I couldn't wait to come off it. I knew that experiencing hideous withdrawal symptoms was a possibility as when having my skin grafts done the hospital had forgotten to prescribe me any of my routine medication. Not only did I have the most painful operation known to mankind, I also went cold turkey.
If you're coming off something like this you should speak to your Doctor about how to do it as you need proper information on the least stressful way to do it. Me, I'm all about finding out for yourself. I took the dosage down every week until I was on pretty much nothing and then I stopped.
Oh dear.
The side effects were rough. Ever seen Leonardo Di Caprio in 'The Basketball Diaries?' O.k, it wasn't quite as bad as that but I felt terrible for about a week and half. The biggest problem of all was becoming an insomniac. I didn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time for an entire week. As I was used to spending my time sleeping, this came as quite a shock. I was literally 'out of it.' I didn't know what was going on, what day it was, my muscles felt heavy, I felt panicky and had a fast heartbeat.
Then there were the nightmares. I'd had a couple previously, I think everyone does after a trauma. Your mind is trying to make sense of the non-sense that's just taken place and as such you get some interesting albeit frightening narratives happening in your head. I was told by a counsellor that the more intelligent and creative among us endure the worst nightmares/flashbacks/ and post-trauma symptoms. A very veiled compliment if ever I heard one!
If you're in this situation, you will just have to wait it out. Sleep as much as possible, when you wake up perhaps read for a bit. When you are really tired, don't fight it. Even if you have company they will have to leave early so you can rest, as you are likely to have another wide-eyed night when you are trying to sleep. It's important to keep trying because our bodies heal during sleep and as burn survivors, we need every extra minute of healing we can get!
I'm a bit further along in the healing process now and although it was only a few months ago, that horrible time seems quite distant. I still need lots of sleep though. At the moment I'm averaging between 9 and 10 hours a night and I could probably have an afternoon nap if I made time for it. I'm finding that I do wake up a lot and I often have very disturbed sleep.
Recently I made a discovery of epic proportions, Valerian root tea. Thank you Tesco! Valerian has sedative properties and because of the way it works, suppressing the nervous system, it can also help with nervous tension, excitability, stress, intestinal colic and sleeping disorders such as disturbed sleep.
As with any drug, even the herbal kind, you shouldn't overdo it because you can upset the positive 'side-effects' and end up with adverse effects. If you are going to take it as a nutritional supplement then check the strength and how to take it. It can also interfere with some other drugs and shouldn't be taken when pregnant. As with any sedative, you must NOT drink alcohol with it. (Check these things here, and here people but remember the positive effects as these list of side-effects are quite off-putting.)
Every night this week I've drunk one cup of Valerian tea about 20 minutes before bed and I have slept through my 9-10 hours solidly. I am happier drinking the tea because it's fairly weak in strength and I'm unlikely to get 'dependency problems,' it's herbal tea from Tesco's. I bought the Dr Stuart's tea because they have higher concentrates of active ingredients in them. Therefore they are a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for.
They also do a Tranquility tea and a Chamomile tea.
Last but not least, I thought I'd better mention that it's an acquired taste, somewhere between Chamomile and hamster cage. Overall though, it's mellow green liquid holds promises of deep, undisturbed sleep. Worth it.
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