Sleeping after bypass surgery

[Kayzeekat 15]

Need input please. Almost two weeks post op and sleeping is a major issue for me. I sleep fine, but only for about two hours, then have to get up as legs and hips are in agony. Moving around helps, I was having some swelling in my ankles as my surgeon took me off my Aldactone, which was for high blood pressure, it is a diuretic. He felt it would be better since I need to keep hydrated. Can't sleep on my back, stomach or in a recliner. I know this is temporary until everything is healed but sure would like to know how others got through sleeping. Also, my upper butt feels numb...is this normal??

[James Marusek 5,244]

After I lost significant weight after surgery, my sleeping habits changed significantly. Before surgery I had a frequent urination problem which cause me to wake up every hour on the hour to use the restroom. A couple weeks after surgery that problem disappeared. I also had a problem with sleep apnea where my snoring kept my wife awake all night long. Now I sleep so quietly that my wife wakes up and stares intently at me to see if I am still breathing; my breathing is so quiet. I also had a problem where I could only sleep on my right side. Now I can sleep on my back and both right and left sides. I have found that sleeping with a pillow between my legs helps. When you loose significant weight, you become more bony. And bone against bone is irritating.

[winning_by_losing 107]

In the first week after surgery I think I slept a total of about 5 hours. It was miserable. Of course it didn't help that I am a stomach sleeper and couldn't do so with the JP drain sticking out.

Once I got the drain removed and could return to my normal sleeping position I haven't had an issue since. I now get my full 3-4 hours each night and wake just as rested as I always have.

As for the numb butt thing - yeah I get it all the time. I work a desk job for 16-19 hours a day which definitely doesn't help at all, but I find after sitting in the same position for more than 2 hours now my butt, lower back and upper legs often go numb so I have to continually change positions and when meetings allow for it, get up and stretch much more frequently.

[gjbsgirl 0]

I used a wedge pillow and it helped so much. The pillow was about 1 1/2 times as wide as me then and came all the way down to my hips. It really helped with the pulling pain I was experiencing inside but also my hips. I also used a pillow between my knees, still do.