Insomnia after ORIF of wrist

Posted by walk4life @walk4life, Aug 2 5:06am

I had ORIF of my right wrist on July 30. Since the surgery, i have been unable to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. It is nor due to pain. I am alternating Tylenol and Percocet.i also have had a few nights where i couldn’t get to sleep until after midnight. I was just wide awake. Is this common after surgery ? I received Versed and a nerve block for the surgery.

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gloaming | @gloaming | Aug 2 1:19pm

Yes. Surgery is intrusive, disruptive, worrying, novel, distressing, painful, and expensive. This would be no different from having trouble sleeping if you knew your child was sleeping over for the first time, or that your car's engine had just blown, was going to take $6000 to replace, that you'd have to commute via public transit in the meanwhile, etc.

If you'd like to 'fight' the insomnia:

Exercise daily. At least 30 minutes at a brisk walk, or cycle, or hike, or work out at a gym;

Take 3-5 mg of melatonin just as you go to bed. Do this every other night, or every third night for best results so that you don't become dependent on it. Make your brain relax by melatonin;

Find a way to be content with everything else that is going right in your life. Remark on your favourite possessions, your living circumstances, your garden if you have one, your friends, etc;

Ask your physician for a sleep aid. Take as little of if as you can possibly manage for the same reason you take melatonin every third night or so. Some nights you'll have to tough it out, but you'll get more rest using less of the aids; and

Acknowledge that your wrist has been fixed! Or mostly so, to be determined. The surgery is behind you, and you should look forward to improved life as a result!

walk4life | @walk4life | Aug 2 3:01pm

@gloaming I have tried low dose melatonin and I end up with daytime sleepiness. I am under instructions from my surgeon not to exercise until my stitches are removed. He doesn’t want me to do anything that could cause sweating due to the risk of infection. My question was basically could the Percocet and after effects of the versed and the nerve block be causing my sleep issues!

gloaming | @gloaming | Aug 3 2:00am

I don't see insomnia listed here:
https://www.drugs.com/tips/percocet-patient-tips
Versed is short-lived, maybe 4 hours at most if it is like Flexiril, which I took many years ago for a twitchy back (I haven't researched its bio-availability, or half-life, so take that for what it's worth). It should actually HELP you to feel less aroused or anxious when it is active in your system.