Steroid-Induced Insomnia

For 2 years I have been living with debilitating muscle spasms in my neck and upper back. I’ve tried many different medications, physical therapy, acupuncture, and exercises; but, nothing has ever helped. My rheumatologist decided that it was time to send me to a pain management specialist. I was both happy and scared all at the same time.

Steroids for pain management

At the beginning of January, I attended my first pain management appointment. I got a very painful procedure done that unfortunately did not work. Part of the procedure was steroid injections into my neck. This procedure was to hopefully reduce the muscle spasms in my neck caused by ankylosing spondylitis. Like I said above, unfortunately, this procedure did not work.

Side effects of steroid-induced insomnia

Everyone is different, and everyone has different side effects from different medications. But oh, how I had forgotten about the terrible side effects that come along with steroids. About 2 years ago I was on steroids for 6 months, and what an awful 6 months they were.

I hate steroids. I know that they work for lots of people, but for me, they just give me awful side effects with little to no relief. For the 6 months that I was on steroids, my sleep was all over the place. I was wide awake until the early hours of the morning. I felt so emotional all the time. And, so so hungry!

Losing sleep and emotions after steroid treatments

When I received my steroid injections at the start of January, I had forgotten about the horrible side effects. I was quickly reminded of that night when I was lying there wide awake. For over a week, I would say that I slept for 2 or 3 hours a night. I could not nap during the day.

Steroids make me very emotional. When I do not sleep, I also get quite emotional. So, the mix of these 2 was not a very pleasant experience.

Trying to tire out my frazzled steroid brain

I did things to try and help me sleep. Even though I was feeling miserable and recovering from my procedure, I tried to do things that would tire me out during the day.

Due to my procedure, I could not exercise. But I pushed myself out for a walk every day. I spent a lot of time outside, studying my college work and writing assignments. I invited a few friends to call every day, I tried everything to keep me out of bed.

Adjusting to my bedtime routine

When it was finally my dreaded bedtime, I would cut out screen time a few hours beforehand. I would have a relaxing bath and hop into bed in complete darkness. I felt exhausted, all I wanted was to fall asleep. But, no matter what I did I would lie there for hours upon hours, becoming increasingly frustrated that I could not sleep, and increasingly emotional.

When I was taking steroid tablets, this went on for months, I do not know how I lived like that. Thankfully, the side effects from the injections lasted less than 2 weeks.

Have you experienced steroid-induced insomnia? Have you found anything that helps?