Suggest Treatment For Post-operative Insomnia

Posted on Tue, 7 Apr 2015

Question: i'll try the best i can to keep this as short as possible. about 2 weeks ago i had my gallbladder removed. doctor determined that i had gallbladder failure, it just wasnt working anymore, and they removed it. after the first few days after the surgery, i felt pretty good, things seemed to be going back to normal. then on the 4th or 5th day, i started having some bad symptoms. whenever i eat anything now, about 10 mins later my head feels hot, i feel some nausea, a lot of abdominal discomfort. this wasnt happening before. also, im having extreme insomnia. i just cant seem to shut my brain off. all day and all night my brain is going a million miles an hour, and im also having some anxiety and stress along with it. im usually a very carefree person, nothing ever gets to me. but for some reason, i cant slow down my brain. ive tried all kinds of remedies. its like im wired and exhausted at the same time. my body is tired but my brain isnt and it just wont shut off. i havnt had any decent sleep for over a week, and im already getting very frustrated at it. the doctor cant seem to figure out whats causing my insomnia either. can someone please tell me what's going on with me?

Answered by Dr. Tushar Kanti Biswas (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Post-operative insomnia

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query. I can understand your concerns.

You are having post-operative sleep disturbance, characterized by decreased total sleep time,elimination of rapid eye movement (REM)sleep .The increased postoperative sympathetic activity with increased catecholamines may contribute to postoperative sleep disturbances,as high levels of nor-adrenergic activity maintain wakefulness. Zolpidem is the drug of choice in postoperative insomnia.

Regards

Dr. T.K. Biswas M.D. XXXXXXX

Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj