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The lack of a good night’s sleep makes people with fibromyalgia wake up feeling tired and fatigued. Medications can help enhance sleep and relieve pain. But doctors also advocate lifestyle changes to help sleep come naturally.
Do
you toss and turn at night because of fibromyalgia pain or discomfort?
"People with fibromyalgia tend to have very disturbed sleep," says
Doris Cope, MD, director of Pain Management at the University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine. "Even if they sleep 10 hours a night, they still feel
fatigued, don't feel rested."
Research
shows that with fibromyalgia, there is an automatic arousal in the brain
during sleep. Frequent disruptions prevent the important restorative processes
from occurring. Growth hormone is mostly produced during sleep. Without
restorative sleep and the surge of growth hormone, muscles don’t heal and
neurotransmitters (like the mood chemical serotonin) are not replenished. The
lack of a good night’s sleep makes people with fibromyalgia wake up feeling
tired and fatigued.
The
result: The body can't recuperate from the day's stresses -- all of which
overwhelms the system, creating a great sensitivity to pain. Widespread pain,
sleep problems, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and memory difficulties are all
symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Insomnia
takes many forms -- trouble falling asleep, waking up often during the night,
having trouble going back to sleep, and waking up too early in the morning.
Smooth ing out those sleep problems -- and helping people get the deep sleep
their bodies need -- helps fibromyalgia pain improve significantly, research
shows.
Medications
can help enhance sleep and relieve pain. But doctors also advocate lifestyle
changes to help sleep come naturally.
Tips
to Get Better Sleep With Fibromyalgia
Creating
a comfort zone at home is key to better sleep, whether you have fibromyalgia
or not. It's all about easing into bedtime feeling relaxed -- and staying
relaxed so you sleep through the night.
These
10 tips can help people sleep better:
- Enjoy
a soothing (warm) bath in the evening.
- Brush
your body with a loofah or long-handled brush in the bath.
- Ease
painful tender points with a self-massage device (like a tennis ball).
- Do
yoga and stretching exercises to relax.
- Listen
to calming music.
- Meditate
to tame intrusive thoughts and tension.
- Sleep
in a darkened room. Try an eye mask if necessary.
- Keep
the room as quiet as possible (or use a white-noise machine).
- Make
sure the room temperature is comfortable.
- Avoid
foods that contain caffeine, including teas, colas, and chocolate.
Therapies
to Treat Insomnia When You Have Fibromyalgia
If
you're still having sleep problems, several therapies can help, including
biofeedback, relaxation training, stress reduction, and cognitive therapy. A
psychologist who specializes in sleep disorders can discuss these therapies
with you.
The
therapies help people handle stress better, which helps control fibromyalgia
episodes, Cope says. "Fibromyalgia comes and goes," she tells WebMD.
"When you're stressed out, that's when it's worse." That's when
you're most likely to have insomnia, too.
Medications
can also help ease fibromyalgia pain at night, or directly treat insomnia.
Medications to ease fibromyalgia at night include antidepressants,
anticonvulsants, prescription pain relievers, and sleep aids.
No
one therapy will control fibromyalgia pain 100%, Cope adds.
"Medications
help some. Exercise helps some. Stress reduction helps some. Cognitive
behavior therapy helps some... If you can get restful sleep, you're going to
function better when you're awake."
By
Jeanie Lerche Davis
WebMD Feature
Reviewed
by Brunilda Nazario, MD
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