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Sleep Issues After Radical Prostatectomy

Posted by surfboard @surfboard, Aug 17 1:16pm

Has anyone experienced sleep issues after a radical robot-assisted prostatectomy? If so, how did you resolve the issue?

Thank you, and best wishes to all.

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surfboard | @surfboard | Aug 23 1:41pm
In reply to @retireditguy "I didn't sleep well during the week of the catheter. I think I was just too..." + (show)
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I didn't sleep well during the week of the catheter. I think I was just too anxious about tugging on the catheter during sleep, plus with the catheter I was just generally uncomfortable. It didn't help that normally I sleep on my stomach but with the catheter I was trying to sleep on my back. But I tried not to stress about it since I was retired and I could nap whenever I wanted during the day. After the catheter came out, I did much better sleeping, but with the exception that I had to get up much more frequently at night to urinate. That persisted for a while; certainly several months. I also think unconsciously I was worried about wetting the bed so I think that worry contributed to getting up so often during the night. One consequence of getting up so often was that if I got up later in my sleep cycle I'd then have trouble getting back to sleep. I did try to reduce my fluid consumption later in the evening to cut down on the need to get up so much, and that seemed to help a bit. That all gradually improved as time went on. At 13+ months (and 71 years old), I usually only get up once per night, although occasionally I'll get up twice. Best wishes.

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Dear Retired,

Thank you for the input. No doubt the catheter was a pain, but I did not have sleep issues at that point. My developed after I somehow got a rash. That kept me awake ... and then the sleep issues continued. After a number of possible solutions, including melatonin, I had to see my PCP, who prescribed medication. I don't love using any type of medication, but I could not go to work on 2-3 hours of sleep. I'm using it less now and hope be off it soon.

Thanx for your input. Best wishes always, man.

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frank73 | @frank73 | Aug 23 3:25pm

I had that and radiation for 5 weeks, for me, I wore a diper and drank before bed. I learned to control after about 3 months.

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kenk1962 | @kenk1962 | Aug 25 12:49pm
In reply to @surfboard "Hey Kenk, Thank you for your input, man. I am not scheduled for ADT. I am..." + (show)
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Hey Kenk,

Thank you for your input, man. I am not scheduled for ADT. I am not sure why my sleep issues started. I found out in December 2024 that I have cancer, and I did not have sleep issues then. It's weird they started now. Things are improving, however. I finally had to resort to medication, as I could not go to work on 3 hours. I'm using them less now though. 🙂
Thanx again for your input. Take care, man. Best wishes.

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Gosh...only three hours of sleep? That's terrible. Can't imagine needing to work and being that sleep deprived.

My wife bought me a smartwatch (a Fitbit - the Versa 4 model) as a Christmas present before my PCa diagnosis. The smartwatch provides a daily "zero to 100" sleep score. Before PCa and ADT my scores were typically 75 to 80. Now with six hours of broken sleep and frequent wake-ups, my typical sleep scores are usually in the range of 60 to 65.

Could certainly be worse, but I'm really looking forward to discontinuing ADT in October.

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