Tired of being unable to sleep & constantly agitated

Hi, I am new to this but am really desperate to get a grip on Crohn's and to stop it taking a hold of my life for any longer.

I was first diagnosed with Crohn's in March this year. It was a relief to know what was causing me to feel sick for so long, but it has also been one hell of a year having to deal with two hospitalisations due to flare-ups and being told that I will need surgery for the small bowel in the new year.

When I was first diagnosed I struggled with the side effects of being on prednisone and a number of other meds, but the side effects were never as bad as now. My days now consists of being unable to get to sleep until 2-3am then having to get up 7am for work. And to top it all off, I have lost any ounce of patience i might have once had- i am constantly agitated, taking it out on loved ones and just feel incredibly frustrated by it all. I am sick of hearing myself apologise to loved ones for being a grumpy and angry person.

And it is hard the effect it has had on my social life, especially at this time of the year. People don't understand why i can't always go out and turn down work drinks, because I am feeling tired or just plain unwell and wish to be by myself.

I just want to feel like myself again. I feel like crohns is robbing me of the emotional capacity to handle things, which normally wouldn't be such a big deal for me. I know that it is a mental fight more than anything else, but i don't know how to snap out of it.

I wish you all the best on your journey with Crohns

I too suffer anxiety. i also don't sleep well either. I don't think each helps the other. Crohns is life changing, mind, a few on here would say its not. but my life got wrecked when i was 12 years. I'm now 50 and still on and off the bog. Its not funny, i think i'm just greatful that i didn't weigh enough to get pregnant. Children take so much energy. I think perhaps when they get things under control, and hopefully they will, you will feel a lot better. there are some good threads on here that deal with depression/anxiety, tiredness and vitamin deficiency etc. You are now in the right place to learn a lot more than your specialists will ever have time to tell you. So welcome aboard!!!

I am recently diagnosed too, so I can't offer a ton advice, but I definitely know what it's like to not be able to sleep. Since my diagnoses I haven't been sleeping well at all. I've found that a low dose of ativan helps me quite a bit when all other methods fail. Takes the anxiety away and allows me to sleep. Hope you find something that works for you

The things that work for me:

* Take prednisone early in the morning, rather than at night, unless you have a split dose and it can't be helped.

* Drink one glass of wine (I prefer Merlot) with dinner when you know you'll have trouble sleeping. I sleep like a baby even on high doses of Prednisone by doing this.

You have to be careful with alcohol, many of us can't tolerate it or have to heavily moderate our use. I suspect that one reason wine works so well to get me to sleep is that I'm a very light drinker (except for egg nog season).

I had trouble sleeping after starting prednisone. I tried a lot of sleep meds that didn't help, then my doctor prescribed me amitrptyline. It's an antidepressent, but it's also a pain killer and makes you sleepy. It's helped me a lot - I posted about it on this forum, I'm so happy to be sleeping again!

I don't know if it will work for you, but it does suggest that something might work, it's just trial and error finding what helps you personally. I know some people dislike countering side effects of one med with another med, but I was so desperate to sleep again, it's been more than worth it for me. Have you asked your doctor if there's anything they'd recommend?

As for the mood swings, I think it sometimes helps to tell people that they should expect you to be moody because of the medication - then at least they know it's not something they're doing that's making you act that way and they can understand it's not your fault if you're irritable. It helps to remind yourself it's due to medication too, so you know it's temporary and isn't something you should feel bad about yourself for.

I forgot to mention that caffeine is a no no for me. No sleep and slightly agitated too. So if you can cut that out it might help. good luck though.