Last night I tried catheterizing again -- it took a number of tries, and I finally was able to push the tip of the catheter through the stricture and hold it while urine drained out. If I let go of the catheter, the stricture would push it back out and the urine flow would stop. I then put on a Depends and took an Ambien -- I just picked up the prescription yesterday afternoon, and hoped that I could get some sleep. I have never tried Ambien or any other sleeping pill before, so I did not know what to expect. I fell asleep easily, and although I woke up several times when I felt a bit of urine spurt out, I was able to go back to sleep relatively quickly. I don't remember having any dreams, but the luxury of getting more than four hours of sleep easily outweighed that.
I woke up at around 7 am, stripped off the sodden Depends, and sat in the hot tub for a while. I tried to decide how I felt. I had fewer aches and pains, my brain seemed a little less foggy that it has for a while, but I did not feel totally refreshed. I don't know if it is the result of many weeks of sleep deprivation, or if the Ambien interferes with REM sleep, or something else, but I'm going to continue taking it and hope my body can approach normalcy.
Ambien, ahhhhhh, the gift of sleep.
ReplyDeleteWet dreams, hummm, a whole new meaning....
Ken. Dr. Cyn says "Take the Ambien." As though you're getting any REM sleep now... I know there are dire warnings about people doing stuff in their sleep that they aren't aware of -- preparing food and eating it (like that's new), gambling (I somehow don't think so), or having sex (talk about a great side-effect!). This sleep deprivation is messing with you big time. Try it for a few days consecutively and see how it goes, ok? If you show up asleep on our doorstep at 3 in the morning, we'll give you a cookie and some milk, call Jen, and send you on your way. Just no motorcycle. Deal?
ReplyDeleteKen, I use Ambien occassionally. Habitually, I sleep 4-5 hours a night and awaken alert and engaged, but then hit a wall mid morning. The Ambian gives me a good night's sleep, but if I have to get up after fewer than 8 hours I awaken groggy and spaced out and also not totally refreshed. The payoff, though, is later in the day when I am better focused because of the longer night's sleep. Since your not rushing out the door in the morning right now, awakening not fully refreshed might prove a small inconvenience for the benefit of good focus of longer duration later n the day. Good luck.
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