Sleep Disturbances

Monday was my 27th month appointment for the PRESENT trial. This was an easy one. All they asked for was 6 tubes of blood and some urine.

In these five tubes they checked my cholesterol, triglycerides and normal basic metabolic profile. My labs came back normal and my triglycerides had improved. I found that surprising because I hadn't fasted for the test and ate mostly ice cream the day before (It was 90+ and humid, I don't cope well). So that is all good.

However, I am tired. Really tired. And I know that part of it from scheduling myself down to the second for the past 6 weeks. But, there is another large part of it.

My hormones are likely going awry.

According to the HOW study (Health of Woman) #2 Problems with Sleeping occurs in 49% of all breast cancer survivors. This is a far increase from 34% of all woman who overall list sleeping problems. Here is what happens for me. I have no problem falling asleep, but I cannot stay asleep. Last night for example I fell asleep at 8:45 pm. I then woke up at 10:15 pm. Then slept until 3:15 am. Then woke up every 10-15 minutes until my alarm went off and I went for a run. Or sometimes I will sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning and be awake for a couple of hours.

My room needs to be cool in order to sleep. I have to be able to have at least a sheet on or I will not be going to sleep. I use my sleep timer on the television like it's my job. It's quite handy to not have the tv wake me back up and I keep running. I try to run at least 4x a week, but lately its been more like 3 times a week.
And I've been reading up on some tips for menopausal symptoms. I found this article from Dr. Susan Love Research foundation that confirmed I need to keep my AC cranking.

On Monday, I dragged my ass into my appointment. The research RN asked me how I was feeling. I told her tired. She asked me about hot flashes and I told her thankfully still none. She asked me about when my thyroid was last checked. I told her April and it was normal. Then my Oncology NP came in. Her and I are quite friendly and she asked me how tired I was. She said that she noticed that I have been a lot more tired lately. She knows that I am frustrated with how slow I've been running (she and I had a brief chat after the Lahey 5K) and she asked me how I was sleeping.

Me: "Not well"
NP: "Trouble falling asleep?"
Me: "No, staying asleep"
NP: "Should we start melatonin or anything else?"
Me: "I don't want to."
NP: "Ok, but I'm going to be checking in on you"

And then she added the thyroid onto my labs. And called me an hour later to let me know it was normal.

For now, I'll make liberal use of my AC and TV. And hopefully catch a nap or two,or three.