Insomnia, prednisolone, ivf

[Ttcpph]

Hi all

we have had the happy news of a BFP following loss and infertility struggles. I'm full of estrogen, progesterone and prednisone (20mg) daily. I'm really struggling with insomnia, waking at early hours every morning, 4am if I'm lucky, 1.30am if I'm unlucky, and not getting back to sleep.
im only 4 weeks + 5, I don't think I can go on like this. I think I have to continue with meds until 12 weeks so if it is the meds causing it, I'm screwed! Is there anything I can take? I also feel like the lack of sleep is making my anxiety much worse. Can't concentrate on anything through the day because of it.
any help or tips for pregnancy insomnia and coping with extreme fatigue through the day would be really appreciated 💕

steroids are well known to cause insomnia and/or mood/psych symptoms. No advice really, but maybe talk to whoever's prescribed it to see what they suggest.

How do you take the prednisone? Is it all at once or spread across the day? If you take it all at once, take it in the morning. It can affect your sleep.

Pred is awful for sleep. Sorry. Just go to bed at 8pm and read a book at 4am. That’s what I did til 14 weeks. Don’t stress. Just calmly accept.

@Ttcpph I have that and I’m not on any medication. Hcg in the early days just does that to me. It did in my first (mmc) and it’s how I knew I was pregnant with DS. I was waking up at 4am ready for the day. I think it only lasted for so long, maybe 8-12week point, until the hcg levels stabilised or the placenta took over. I managed to sleep until 7-8am after that point but still felt very tired by 4-6pm and in bed by 8pm. I had low iron levels too.

I have only just got a bfp and I have it again already.

Only wanted to add because I don’t see many people mentioning 4am wake ups. It could be your medication, or it could be hcg?

I’ve taken high dose pref for years and it’s terrible for sleep. It does keep the tiredness away too though so as above, you need to accept the lack of sleep and fill the time with relaxing. It will pass and it will get better.

Congratulations!

Take the pred as early as u can in the morning so it has less impact on sleep

I set my alarm and took my prednisolone (whole dose) at 5am every morning, then made sure I was in bed by 9-10pm or so, so I got enough sleep. Taking it so early meant it had worn off enough that I could sleep at bedtime. I believe progesterone can make you sleepy so worth taking that before bed too?

Take it all at once in the morning

Thank you - I think this is what I need to do, but struggling with anxiety and feelings of restlessness. Lack of sleep is driving me mad

Thank you - you could be right. I have been pregnant before, naturally/no meds, but ended in mmc. and did struggle a little with insomnia then, same early wake ups, but not nearly as bad

Prednisone is contributing to my insomnia at the moment. After the first few days, taking it in the morning becomes academic. I really hate it but it's worth it for the benefits and mines not even getting me a baby.

It's a very wired kind of sleeplessness isn't it? Just try to relax as much as possible. Rest is second best to sleep. Audiobooks and lavender oil help me.

I was put on Amitriptyline for sleeping and try make me relax it is working but I feel knackered the next morning too ha x

@Ttcpph @cirillaofcintra
Been on pred 20mg for 8 days so far. Following advice on here taking it early e.g. 6.30am and going to bed early. Sleep solid 3 hours e.g. 9pm til 12 then awake for 4-5 hours before then dozing again for last couple of hours.
So worried if it's effected implantation, had fet 3 days ago.
Have told Consultant he only suggests reducing from 20 to 15mg which I am starting from today.
Any comforting words?

@Prayformiracles so sorry you're struggling on the meds - I found it really incredibly difficult, but it did get easier. They did work tho - I'm 35 weeks pregnant!
hang in there. The lack of sleep won't impact implantation. My advice if you really can't sleep, go downstairs and watch a comfort movie on the sofa, for me that was Disney films.

@Ttcpph thanks so much for your reply.. now i need to stop googling it.. I kept keep seeing headline studies saying that lack of sleep will negatively effect implantation and reduce chances of live birth. Its really scared and upset me. I hope they are wrong. Its a frozen transfer so its not like the sleep was impacting the egg production.

I have also seen others say they didn't start pred til after positive test but I started mine 5 days before transfer so thats also why I worry about the impact of the lack of sleep on implantation.

Yesterday I reduced dose to 15mg from 20mg and its first time I have slept for 6 hours before waking up. I just pray I didn't leave it too late to reduce it. My Consultant told me to reduce two days ago and I stupidly waited as my logic was to make sure I get through the first few critical implantation days before reducing it. Now I'm thinking the opposite that I should have reduced it to aid sleep and therefore aid implantation.

Sorry for the ranting / offloading but helpful to get the anxieties off my chest.

I so hope you are right and that the lack of sleep I have had over the past week won't have effected implantation.
Thank you for reading this ❤️

Hi @Prayformiracles I was also on 20mg pred 5 days from transfer. It didn't affect implantation for me and it's worked for me in two pregnancies 😊

@browneyedgirl626 congrats, so good to hear thank you so much. Did you get the extremely disturbed sleep with pred? It's not the pred itself that worries me, it's that it's stopped my sleep.

I’ve had ivf insomnia in the 2ww with progesterone, but it might have been linked with worry about result (negative) and comedown from max meds. I’m prone to insomnia anyway. But during my only (natural) pregnancy (mmc) at about 4 weeks onwards I was waking at 4am every day. I had to leave for work at 6 so it wasn’t the end of the world (I’ve had a lot of practice with insomnia!) and I think I was just on cloud 9 anyway.

seconding suggestions of just using the time to rest if not sleep. My best way of dealing with it is distraction. I listen to a tv show I know very well but with my phone screen off, and sometimes I find myself waking up after a few extra winks. Audiobooks too, but I find them too engaging. It needs to be pretty much boring.

congratulations on your pregnancy I hope it’s smooth sailing all the way from here :)

@Prayformiracles my sleep was a bit disturbed but nothing compared to being pregnant with a 15 month toddler, sleep disruption is another level, last night I got 3 hours. But my pregnancy is going fine, I'm 33 weeks and had no issues caused by lack of sleep 😊

I'm not sure if I was explaining myself right. I'm just worried only getting a few hours sleep per night (caused by pred) has effected my chances of implantation. Anyway I guess there's nothing I can do about it now, just have to wait and see what happens on OTD. Thanks all for the support though 🙏

When is your OTD @Prayformiracles ? Sending you all the luck!
please don't worry about the lack of sleep, honestly I hardly slept during the tww on pred and it worked. I also found it mentally sooooo hard, I was full of anxiety then becoming more anxious the anxiety would prevent implantation!
it's out of your control. The best thing you can do is distract your brain with comforting things like fave tv shows etc. if you can't sleep, go downstairs and watch something on the sofa. Sending a hug your way xx

@Ttcpph thank you so much for that message. My anxiety has somewhat lessened, perhaps a result of just sleeping a bit more having reduced pred dose from 20mg to 15mg. Just have to be patient for one more week 🙏 I will take all the luck and prayers I can receive 🙏 ❤️ thank you

@Ttcpph it got ever so slightly better for few days and it's been awful again for past few days. Tonight I managed to nod off at 11pm and woke at 1am and still awake, currently making a snack (usually I get off to sleep at 9.30/10pm til 2am). It's pretty awful!

How are you getting on @Prayformiracles