Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group
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Hey everybody,
I had a tonsillectomy last week and as am sure you know (if any of you have had a tonsillectomy as an adult) it's horrifically painful and sleeping is next to impossible.
I had been taking Percocet (which I was supposed to take one every 4 hours, but found the Percocet completely worn off by hour 2.5 even though I was staggering it with Ibuprofen), but yesterday was bumped to Vicoprofen (which seems to be helping me much more when I am awake, but isn't helping me sleep any better).
I think when I sleep my throat is getting too dry (despite my humidifier and the fact I am drinking water with honey when I am awake), and so after an hour/hour and a half I am waking up in tremendous amounts of throat pain.
I have been having rough dreams, though. I sleep in tank tops because collars around my neck when I sleep are a huge trigger for me. I dream that I am being choked/strangled, and this feeling has led to more flashback-based dreams than I care to admit. I managed to eliminate most of those by altering what I sleep in.
I can't shake this sense of physical pain because it's out of my control. I just had a tonsillectomy and this pain isn't going anywhere any time soon. Unfortunately it seems to be a chronic trigger, and while I can use grounding techniques when I wake up, the fact my throat is still actively in high amounts of physical pain, I am prone to cascading or back-to-back flashbacks while waking, and immediately upon waking up. My grounding techniques aren't as successful because I actively hurt.
Have any of you had this problem? How did you get past it?
Any words/tips of advice?
Thanks in advance guys!
I had a tonsillectomy last week and as am sure you know (if any of you have had a tonsillectomy as an adult) it's horrifically painful and sleeping is next to impossible.
I had been taking Percocet (which I was supposed to take one every 4 hours, but found the Percocet completely worn off by hour 2.5 even though I was staggering it with Ibuprofen), but yesterday was bumped to Vicoprofen (which seems to be helping me much more when I am awake, but isn't helping me sleep any better).
I think when I sleep my throat is getting too dry (despite my humidifier and the fact I am drinking water with honey when I am awake), and so after an hour/hour and a half I am waking up in tremendous amounts of throat pain.
I have been having rough dreams, though. I sleep in tank tops because collars around my neck when I sleep are a huge trigger for me. I dream that I am being choked/strangled, and this feeling has led to more flashback-based dreams than I care to admit. I managed to eliminate most of those by altering what I sleep in.
I can't shake this sense of physical pain because it's out of my control. I just had a tonsillectomy and this pain isn't going anywhere any time soon. Unfortunately it seems to be a chronic trigger, and while I can use grounding techniques when I wake up, the fact my throat is still actively in high amounts of physical pain, I am prone to cascading or back-to-back flashbacks while waking, and immediately upon waking up. My grounding techniques aren't as successful because I actively hurt.
Have any of you had this problem? How did you get past it?
Any words/tips of advice?
Thanks in advance guys!
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Hey All...I hope that you have a lovely, peaceful beginning of your weekI have a bunch of chores that need doing but may put them off til tomorrow and just hang out with my landlord/roomie todayWhat about you?...Anything special going on?Have a great day and take good care of you!!..Xo
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Once again I've had a fever today. I'm not going to the hospital because that's a huge waste of time but I did schedule a dr appointment for Wednesday afternoon.
That said, when my chest gets tight from acid reflux? OMG. I hurt, I can't stop it, I want to run from it, but I can't, and it feels like not breathing with pain, but it's breathing with pain, and you can see the circle I get stuck in right there.
Grounding does help, but for me, I have to do it *after* conscious pain control. My therapist deals with trauma, and ergo crhonic pain, and there's a few methods of "self-dosing" to help the mind and body relax.
One is the rolling eye. I only know the beginning of this, I can't go deeper without panic right now. (Mama drama fallout in my head is very bad.)....
Lie as comfortably as you can, or sitting up comfortably. Whichever.
Close your eyes.
As you inhale, roll your eyes back in your head a little. Just a little.
Exhaling, let your eyes drop back into their usual place, but keep them closed.
With every inhale, try to get your eyeballs a little further back; with every exhale, return them to normal position.
When you have hit the place where you just can't roll them up any further? Just breathe them to that place, exhale them "home".
This doesn't stop your pain but it does interrupt how your brain is "reading" your body input, so that you relax and oxygenate and are basically distracted. I know, lame, but I can't take pain meds beyond OTC, so I gotta do what I gotta do.
Wish I had better an dmore.
Healing to you, Alice. Remember, in a few days, your pain will lessen. It *will* ease.
http://www.tonsillectomyguide.com/blog/tonsillectomy-recovery/
Leo - I am DEFINITELY going to try that! I think if I can break my the way my brain is reading my body, it should give me the chance I need. By the time I've had a few sips of warm honey water I am A-okay. The dryness has already gone down and the worst is over. This technique sounds like it should be perfect for that.
Anne - no, but I don't need any. I completed several year's worth of CBT and successfully completed my program. I go back into CBT to tweak my grounding when I need it, but otherwise am usually okay. This week it's been rough for me sleeping simply because I underwent a tonsillectomy last week. I am on Prozac (not for anything emotional-related; I take it because I tremor and it helps keep my micro-tremors under control). I prefer to stay away from those kinds of medications because I feel (for me) that it helps treat the symptoms but not the underlying issue. I, personally, would rather undergo CBT to help address my PTSD than take medication to curb the symptoms/effects of my PTSD. As an adult this is territory I feel that I manage fairly well.
Looney - No. I don't snore. I just have a chronically dry mouth, and my throat's all gross and healing. :-\
Sun- I read that article, actually! We purchased a humidifier for our bedroom, I've been sleeping with my pillows propped to keep me at an angle, and I've been trying to keep warm honey-water in a thermos close by.