Fibromyalgia – The Sleep Disorder

I think of fibromyalgia as a sleep disorder in many respects. More than 95 percent of people with fibromyalgia describe their sleep as being poor in quality. Sleep is light and unrefreshing in fibromyalgia, and followed by stiffness, aching, and fatigue in the morning.  My wife has often described waking up feeling as if she were hit by a truck overnight, she could sleep for 15 hours straight and still wake up feeling tired.

What is Unrefreshing Sleep?

Unrefreshing sleep refers to the quality your sleep or lack there of. It is light, and as mentioned above, even sleeping for a full night, you wake up feeling exhausted and as if you’ve hardly slept. However, the impact of unrefreshing sleep can go well beyond feeling tired.

Research has shown links of  poor-quality sleep to multiple symptoms of fibromyalgia, including:

• Increased tenderness
• Poor performance of tasks
• Lack of overnight recovery from pain
• No morning feelings of well-being
• Cognitive impairment (fibro fog)
• Morning achiness
• Stiffness
• Fatigue
• Psychological distress

What Does Healthy Sleep Look Like?

(5) A normal night’s sleep consists of a regular pattern of dreaming and non-dreaming sleep cycles—about 4–6 complete cycles each night. The first two sleep cycles are predominated by non-dreaming deep sleep, and later cycles are mostly dreaming sleep. Dreaming sleep is also called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. It is the time when the brain processes memories. Many people confuse deep sleep with REM sleep, but they are two very different phases. Deep sleep, also called stage three or slow wave, is a non-dreaming sleep in which the brain is quiet but the body is very active. It is the part of sleep that results in you feeling rested the next day. Brain waves are very slow during deep sleep, but the tissues of the body are busily undergoing healing and repair activity.

Why Is Unhealthy Sleep Common In Fibromyalgia?

So far, there isn’t proof to any claims of why this is common in fibromyalgia. The most obvious explanation is that it’s hard to sleep when you’re in pain, and many people with fibromyalgia report significant pain from simply lying down on their tender muscles. Because pain disrupts sleep and poor sleep leads to pain, it can become a self-perpetuating cycle.

Tips To Help Improve Sleep

Of course you need to talk with your doctor before trying anything new. However, below are a few things to consider.

Reduce caffeine: Do not have any food, drugs, or drinks that contain caffeine or other stimulants after noon.

Do not drink alcohol within six hours before bedtime.

Do not have a heavy meal just before bedtime.

Do not do any strenuous exercise within four hours of bedtime (but exercise earlier in the day is helpful).

Keep the same patterns of sleep: Go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day. Don’t sleep in on the weekend, keep the same schedule seven days a week

The bedroom should be a quiet, relaxing place to sleep. Don’t use the bedroom for non-sleep activities such as work or eating.

Treat your pain. If pain is playing a major role in your unhealthy sleep, then do what you can to treat it. I know this is a DUH statement and you probably wouldn’t even be on this site if you already had all the answers to treat pain. I recommend researching herbs and natural ways to help with sleep and pain. Camomile Tea and Valerian Root  are a couple natural ways to help calm you down to consider.

Use relaxation therapies. A gentle massage, deep breathing, and other relaxation techniques are all potentially beneficial to managing fibromyalgia and boosting restful sleep.

Keep the temperature in your room cool. An excessively warm room disturbs sleep.

References:

_{Chervin RD, et al. Journal of rheumatology. 2009 Sep;36(9):2009-16. Objective measures of disordered sleep in fibromyalgia.}

_{Citera G, et al. Clinical rheumatology. 2000;19(1):9-13. The effect of melatonin in patients with fibromyalgia: a pilot study.}

_{webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromayalgia-and-sleep}

_{sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-related-problems/fibromyalgia-and-sleep}

_{Clauw DJ. PM & R: the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation. 2010 May;2(5):414-30. Perspectives on fatigue from the study of chronic fatigue syndrome and related conditions.}

_{Hussain SA, et al. Journal of pineal research. 2011 Apr;50(3):267-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079X.2010.00836.x. Adjuvant use of melatonin for treatment of fibromyalgia.}

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_{Moldofsky H, et al. Journal of rheumatology. 2010 Oct;37(10):2156-66. Effects of sodium oxybate on sleep physiology and sleep/wake-related symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.}

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_{Moldofsky H. Sleep medicine reviews. 2001 Oct;5(5):385-396. Sleep and pain.}

_{Prados G, Miro E. Revista de neurologia. 2012 Feb 16;54(4):227-40. Abstract referenced, article in Spanish. Fibromyalgia and sleep: a review.}