Fibromyalgia and A Good Night's Sleep

Getting the best night's sleep you can is essential when dealing with fibromyalgia. There are various medications and herbal remedies you can try; those that increase the time spent in deep sleep are believed to be the most effective, but if you can find something that will help you fall asleep and stay asleep that is a good place to start. Some prescribed medications can be split into two doses so that if you awaken during the night you can take a second dose. You can also do practical things to increase your chances of a good night's sleep: *Establish a regular sleeping pattern: go to bed at the same time each evening and get up at the same time every morning *Do an activity to relax you before going to bed. This could be listening to music or a novel on cassette, having a warm bath with lavender bath oil, doing some relaxation exercises, or simply reading a book. Watching something scary or thrilling on TV can sometimes be a little too stimulating. *Ensure that your bed and pillow are comfortable and supportive. Try out various mattresses and ergonomic pillows; an Adjustamatic bed or a Tempur mattress and pillow come with good recommendations, though they are quite expensive. Make sure you stay warm during the night and avoid being near any drafts from open windows. When you get a good night's sleep it is much easier to face the day and cope with the nagging pain and fatigue. It is certainly worth persisting with good sleeping habits and various medications to achieve the best night's sleep you can. MY SLEEP HABITS Getting a good nights sleep has been the one big thing that I have constantly struggled with. Some of my other problems come and go from time to time, but I have never been able to consistently get a good nights sleep. For me, Ambian worked wonderfully for awhile, but our insurance company decided they wanted me to pay an arm and a leg for the pleasure of a good night's sleep. My sleeping habits change like the seasons. I am now in my going to bed at 4:00am season. No matter how hard I try, I almost always see the clock roll past 4:00am, 5:00am and sometimes 6:00am. Needless to say my day is always screwed up.

Ten Years With Fibromyalgia

I have had a fibromyalgia diagnosis for about ten years. I sometimes find it hard to write about it or talk about it because I really don't acknowledge that I have it openly. When I first learned that I had fibro it was a huge relief to finally know that it wasn't just me being crazy. A relief mostly that it was real. A real disease, not just me, but something actually that I could read about and get information. It didn't just choose me, there were other people out there experiencing the same thing. I think what is the biggest thing of all, is finding out the symptoms are real, not in your head, or that you are not being lazy, or looking for ways to get out of things. Which I believe a lot of non-fibro people think and in turn makes you wonder that too. I can say that I live with it, but it is a daily chore living around it. I can never make plans too far ahead, because I don't know how I will be that day. What I miss most is being able to go on long walks and trips to Chicago. I live just south of Chicago and at one time I could spend the whole day there just walking and sight seeing. Now when we ride the train, I am lucky to get 2 or 3 blocks from the train station. This really makes me sad, because I miss seeing and doing so many things that I have available to me.

My Fibromyalgia Trigger

We all have read that they don't know how people get fibromyalgia. But a lot of people seem to know when it started and it usually has to do with a very traumatic event. It could be an accident, a death, almost anything that was extremely hard to go through. My event was a nasty fall at work. It had been snowing and freezing rain and the sidewalks weren't cleared yet. I was leaving work and I was being careful, but my feet just slid and went right into the air and I came down hard on my back, neck and shoulders. And then I slid down the sidewalk, through the landscaping stones, over a curb, and almost under a car. I laid there for a few moments wondering if I would be able to get up or not. I slowly got up. I knew I broke my finger, because it hurt something awful. I didn't drop my purse or my lunch bag. I think I fell fairly gracefully as far as falls go. It wasn't the kind of fall that your friends stand there and laugh at you. It was an "oh no" kind of fall. I should have went with my first instinct and gone to the hospital and been checked out. But I did as my manager said and went to see the company doctor. And so the story goes on and on and on for over a year of the most ridiculous ideas and so many doctors that I can't remember them all. If I would have taken care of it myself, I would have been able to have the surgery on my neck right away, and been back to work in probably 6 to 8 weeks. There wouldn't have been all the trauma that went on with workman's comp and my workplace management. They made me work that whole year, which made my problem worse over time until I could no longer feel my shoulder, arm or my hand. I couldn't hold on to anything without dropping it. I may not be in the place I am now if I had went with my first instinct. I did break my finger and I had a discectomy with a fusion on my C5-C6 vertebrae. I never did get back to work. There are times to this day that I still want to put a brace on just to hold my neck up. When my neck flares up really bad, it feels like it takes all of my energy to hold it up. It is very tiring and uncomfortable.