I am officially COMPLETELY fed up with this insomnia!

 For the past year or so I have been eating a small snack right before I go to bed in order to keep from being lightheaded and shaky when I wake up in the morning (from the plain, old, ordinary hypoglycemia, which is more of a problem for me than the mild RH that I have now).  Sorry that you now seem to be struggling from both as well.  At least my RH is easily controlled by combining carbs and protein.

Lora

me too H.B.......never had RH issues until after RNY....and also even if I have good dietary days or not eat enough (not even a carb), it could happen......sometimes if I am really active like cleaning house...

not as many RH episodes the further I am out, but I know my symptoms and for me they resemble dumping episodes with an anxiety attack combined

never had insomnia issues until post-op RNY.......it has to be the RNY, it has to be a undocumented side effect because I know ME and I have always been a early sleeper, a "debbie downer" at the clubs who could not stay up past midnight and that is on a good day

I had a sleep study pre-op and it was normal with a lil bit of apnea that was contribiuted to the morbid obesity. I knew I would cough and choke in my sleep and have interrupted breathing issues.  Since RNY I had a sleep study late last year to see about the insomnia and it was normal, completely normal.

I have seen all my doctors, had all blood tests run and everything normal except that I am severely anemic.  I was always anemic through my pregnancies but post-op RNY, I have been very low.

However, I have not been ordered to have a iron transfusion or blood transfusion thankfully....With both my abdomnioplasty last year and my breast reduction in May of this year I healed fine and came out of surgery with no problems.  But this time I was told that my hemoglobin was low before surgery.

And my last two issues post-op RNY is that in addition to the insomnia that started in April, 2012.....it brought along Acne and PICA (I crave only ARGO cornstarch).....I never have.....i don't eat it but when I go in that aisle my mouth waters for it.  weird

And the last thing H.B., I changed my OH page here and deleted all of my PS photos.....I shared with all my friends, but then my DH made it dawn on me......your intentions are to show your results to only your friends on OH and I only befriend females but that is not stopping any of your friends from sharing your pre-op and post-op results to their DH's or significant others....I was like..........................they had to come down IMMEDIATELY!

From listening to a lot of support groups and the numerous posts here, insomnia is a problem that faces a lot of us.  I've tried a variety of solutions over the past 6 years.  There have been some posts that some specific sleeping pills cause what I would call "sleep eating"--patient has no recollection of eating in the middle of the night.  I've taken Restoril for 20 years or so. Helped a lot preop, but not nearly as much post op.  Lately I've taken an alternative route. It's legal in CA to get medical mj.  I make medicated lozenges and take one of the 1/2 inch square lozenges under my tongue at bedtime.  I can now get 6 1/2 to 7 hours sleep each night, insead of the 5 hours or less without it. I still take my sleeping pills too.  The medication I make is not "maxed out" either, just a moderate dosage.  DAVE

The only thing that would help me out with insommnia was Ativan- and no it is not prescribed as a sleep aid, but was the only thing that would stop by brain from fighting sleep. With everything else I could feel my body wanting to go under and my brain just fighting it. I was super misserable and seriously thought I had some severe issues.

Then I found out I was pregnant and had to stop the Ativan cold turkey. I did not sleep for more than 7 hours in a two week period and was almost ready to get hospitalized. Then suddenly I started sleeping, but I think I ma sleeping now due to me beingoverly tired with all the crazy hormones, though I am certainly not getting enough sleep and it is never very restful.

 I didn't notice any mention of triptophan in your or others' posts. I guess L-triptophan is still illegal in the US, but 5-HTP is available, and that version of triptophan works for me. It doesn't always keep me asleep all night, but at least I get several hours. The other thing that works for me is hard, extended physical exertion. If you're already physically fit, maybe this won't work, but my body thinks I'm combatting some sort of calamity and knocks me out but good.

The carb coma works. That's one reason I got fat. I sure don't recommend restarting self-medicating with food, not to mention it's bad for your insulin-glucose system.

I"ve never tried hormone creams--sweet potato extract, or whatever it is. I had surgical menopause when I was young and stayed on HRT for twenty years, then the AMA decided it was bad for us and I aged about twenty-five years fast. Anyway, if you don't have ovaries, do the plant-based hormones work? Would they help insomnia? I dunno.

 I have not tried triptophan, but will look for some at the health food store this weekend.

 Unfortunately, at almost 5 years out, I have never experienced the infamous "carb coma" even after a high carb meal.  (I also agree with your concern about medicating anything with food.) 

Lora

Lora, I am deeply in sympathy with you. My whole life I've been plagued with insomnia, but never EVER like it's been since I had RNY. From about 6 months on, I've NEVER slept without a sleep aid. Not one full night of sleep done naturally. Up until June of last year, I was on a revolving variety of sleep meds to help me sleep. Melatonin would work for two or three weeks before becoming less effective. Then I'd switch to Valerian Root, or Tylenol PM or Benedryl, or Ambien (if desperate).

I HATED ambien. I put me to sleep, but I'd always wake with a BAD headache. Tylenol PM gave me a headache and made me feel sort of hung-over. Benedryl helped but only kept me asleep for a short time.

The best med I've ever been on for sleep is my Elevil. I went on it a year ago June, and I immediately had my sleep improve. I didn't like the side effects and tried to go off it three tiems, and did go off it briefly for a similar drug (for the neuralgia... the primary purpose of hte meds) but the number of plusses ... including the insomnia relief... have so outweighed the negatives, I just can't change off it.

Lately, the insomnia is back.... I've started waking at 3 am (no hunger issues... but then there never is).... and so it's been sort of chiseling away at me over the last two weeks. I added some melatonin on top... no help there. Benedryl... still up at 3 am. I have Lunesta (my neurologist prescribed it, but I don't like to take meds that knock me out entirely)... so the last three nights I've taken the Lunesta to get me to sleep again.

I don't know WHY it's a common thread amongst those who have had WLS.... what causes it, is it physiological, psychological... or? 

I do know that for me it's likely a combination of both. When I was a child I started to have insomnnia about the time that one of my teacher told me that we spend 1/3rd of our entire life asleep. I sort of rejected the thought of sleeping one third of my life away. I even now have problems WANTING to sleep (because I never EVER get tired without a medicine to make me) and I want to USE my life, not sleep it away.

But it's strange to me how much worse it is now. Even when I know I'm exhausted, Sleepy, (as I call it) never visits me without drugs. I would be up 24/7 without drugs ... and getting weird as I get tired.

I am pretty sure that mine is mostly menopause related because the sleep issues I had before 
my RNY (PTSD related) and during the first 4 years after my RNY were only occasionally with falling asleep but primarily with staying asleep, but the past number of months the problem has been mostly with falling asleep.  At first Tylenol PM and Lunesta helped, but lately everything just makes me zombie-like but doesn't put me to sleep.

Lora

I might be perimenopausal, and that might have something to do with my recent inability to sleep the night through even though I'm taking meds... or it might be the RH or plain old hypoglycemia.

I typically have more issues in the summer when my normal schedule is disrupted. I'm not eating or drinking or functioning on a scchedule so my sleep is disrupted.

Generally I get it all back together again in the fall.

The inability to sleep is strange to me. I'll have a full day of work, then lie in bed wide awake knowing that sleep would be a really good idea. There's no sleep without my meds. I can't even nap midday because I jerk awake as soon as I nod off to sleep. I've given up trying.

For me this has been worse since RNY, but I did go through periods of time where for months I'd barely get an hour of sleep a night.

Maybe you can increase the meletonin.
I started taking it a couple weeks ago, after reading posts about it here.
After playing with the dose for a few days, I discovered that 10mg gives me a perfect, full night of sleep when I take it 2 hours before I take my prescription sleeping pill.
Good luck