Post Op Pain/Insomnia

[Tweety2505]

I am 5 weeks post-op from my hysterectomy, everything was removed with the exception of the ovaries.  I have had horrible insomnia since my surgery, and it seems like every night I'm falling asleep later and later.  I am already on Ambien and have been for quite some time, prior to my surgery, and it no longer helps me fall asleep.  I have even tried over the counter sleeping meds on top of it, and nothing still.  Also, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, and my joint pain has significantly increased since my surgery as well.  I finally had the pain under control prior to my hysterectomy, and now its worse than before.  Has anyone else had these symptoms?

[ipurr2]

I am sorry to hear of your struggles! Unfortunately the drugs we are given during surgery can mess up our balance as well as the surgery it's self...it takes me forever after a surgery to get things all settled back down again...I have autoimmune too and it does seem to always cause a flare...at first I feel pretty good but then after 3-6 weeks all goes down hill it seems for a while, but it does calm back down in time...have you talked to your Dr. about it? It could also be that your ovaries have gone into shock and are not working at their optimal levels so your estrogen may be low to non-existent...I would suggest a hormone blood panel just to see where your levels are and if you need some bio-identical hormone replacement therapy because when our estrogen is low our sleep is not there and our pain goes up...so get that checked...chat with the dr. if the dr. won't help find one who will! Keep pushing for answers to get your sleep back and pain under control so you can live your life!