Natalie Dautovich of the National Sleep Foundation says that “making sleep a real priority can help you get more out of it.” She offers four tips to do this: Of course, there are other options that include making sleep a priority in your life. Taking a nap during the day robs you of sleep at night.

Rose adds that she cautions her fibromyalgia patients struggling with good sleep against napping. Mary Rose, explains that sleeping pills are only meant for short-term relief, often to get your sleep cycle back on track.

A clinical psychologist and behavioral sleep specialist at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Medications may be an option, but keep in mind that sleeping pills are not meant for chronic insomnia. These will be treated in a very different way than fibromyalgia and that’s why it is important to officially rule them out. In fact, you may be dealing with something else entirely, like hypothyroidism or other endocrine disorders. Additionally, RLS is so disturbing to sleep that it is actually considered a sleep disorder.Īnother issue to get checked for is verifying whether you have fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. For example, for some reason sleep apnea affects many fibromyalgia patients, causing them to wake constantly because they aren’t breathing. You may be experiencing sleep disturbances without realizing the source. The first thing you need to do it is have your sleep history thoroughly evaluated. What can I do for my fibromyalgia and insomnia? Over the course of three days, their pain tolerance decreased while their pain and fatigue increased, “suggesting that such sleep disruption may play an important role in the development of fibromyalgia symptoms.” Many studies have been conducted to examine the connection between fibromyalgia and insomnia, as well as a myriad of other symptoms and related conditions. They reference a study consisting of deliberately sleep-deprived middle-aged women. This also highlights the importance of healthy sleep and to find a sleep professional in treating this disease.” The good news is that reduction in sleep disturbance is usually followed by improvement in pain symptoms. “For people with fibromyalgia, the combination of pain and sleep disturbance is a double-edged sword: the pain makes sleep more difficult and sleep deprivation exacerbates pain. The National Sleep Foundation attributes the comorbidity of fibromyalgia and insomnia in patients to pain. Furthermore, there are so many symptoms and conditions associated with fibromyalgia, that it’s almost impossible to determine the actual cause. Partly because it’s possible that insomnia can actually lead to fibromyalgia for some people. What causes insomnia when you have fibromyalgia? With that in mind, your insomnia probably looks different than mine, but it nevertheless effects 86% of fibromyalgia patients. And so is the reason they developed it in the first place. That is to say, everyone’s fibro experience is different. But there is so much mystery with fibromyalgia due in large part to the inconsistencies. In fact, for some people, it appears that insomnia came first and then led to fibromyalgia. Maybe it’s because you have restless leg syndrome (RLS), which is very common among fibromyalgia patients. And, of course, when you “wake” in the morning, you’re exhausted. You probably also have problems simply falling asleep or even waking in the middle of the night, but unable to go back to sleep. On other nights it’s due to racing thoughts. Insomnia for fibro patients means sleepless nights, tossing and turning, sometimes due to pain or discomfort. At the very least you probably deal with really crappy sleep.

Got fibromyalgia? Chances are you have fibromyalgia and insomnia.

Fibromyalgia insomnia help