When Fibromyalgia Interrupts Your Sleep: 10 Things to Do

April 19, 2020

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Getting a good night’s sleep is a real struggle for people who have fibromyalgia. Proper rest and sleep are elusive companions for them. Tossing and turning each night are inevitable as they have a hard time sleeping. The difficulty in staying asleep is due to body pain, which increases sleep deprivation and intensifies the pain even more.

People with fibromyalgia regularly experience these sleep disorders:

  • Insomnia
  • Restless leg syndrome
  • Sleep apnea

Unfortunately, these sleep disorders hinder people from achieving restful and deep sleep. Why do these things happen to people with fibromyalgia? A glitch in the regular pattern of brain waves has to do with it. Instead of encouraging sleep, brain waves signal wakefulness that disrupts the deep sleep patterns. As a result, those with fibromyalgia never fall into a regular deep and restful sleep.

A good and restful night’s sleep is one of the foundations of having a better day. Being able to sleep well does not only improve your physical and mental health but also boosts your day’s energy. Meanwhile, falling short of sleep causes low energy, emotional imbalance, and unproductivity. Here’s a list of essential tips that will help every fibromyalgia patient attain a night of sound and restful sleep. 

#1. Get Regular Exercise

Doctors encourage regular moderate exercises as they lessen your pain while improving your other body functions. Ideal practices include low-impact aerobic activities such as swimming, walking, and biking. However, they advise avoidance of working out within three hours before bedtime. Why? Because if you do, it may disrupt your stable heart rate, which is one of the critical reasons that influence restorative sleep.

#2. Get More Morning Sunlight

Natural sunlight during the day assists in keeping your circadian rhythm or natural body clock healthy. Also, it improves your daytime energy and fixes your nighttime sleep duration and quality. Go ahead and take a short walk in your backyard or walk around a nearby park in the morning. Keeping this in mind and doing this morning routine can help you improve your sleep at night.

#3. Avoid Overeating or Drinking Before Bedtime

Stay away from eating a hefty meal or drinking within two to three hours before your usual bedtime. Avoiding liquids will help you skip going to the bathroom later to empty your bladder in the middle of the night. Therefore, you will have a night of uninterrupted sleep. Stay away from alcohol, coffee, and any spicy food before sleeping. 

#4. Take Some Needed Medicine

The right medication can be helpful for individuals with sleeping disorders. Consult with your doctor to seek advice on the right medicine and dosage to help keep your fibromyalgia symptoms under control. Doctors will often prescribe sleep aids or antidepressants.

#5. Skip Any Long Daytime Naps

Afternoon naps can interfere with your normal sleep cycle. If napping is a necessity for you, choose to limit your daytime naps to no more than 1 hour in the early afternoon. Have an alarm clock ready to wake you up and get moving as soon as you wake up. It is imperative to keep your body clock in balance and ready for a good long and restful sleep later in the night.

#6. Treat Your Other Conditions

Like in many cases, sleep disorders build up because of an underlying health problem. Most individuals with fibromyalgia have some other illnesses that are affecting their ability to sleep properly. Find a way to deal with your condition so that you can improve your sleep quality.

#7. Schedule a Regular Sleep Pattern

An inconsistent sleep schedule is something that can impact your mood and worsen your pain. Thus, when you establish a routine, you can re-tune your sleep schedule and develop a stable sleep cycle. As a result, it improves your overall sleep quality. Following a regular sleep routine trains your body to feel ready or tired enough to go to bed on time and according to schedule.

#8. Turn Off Your Electronics 

Putting down your mobile devices and turning off your TV in the hours near your bedtime tells your brain to be ready for sleep. Take note that electronic devices like laptops, tablets, and mobile phones emit a significant amount of blue light that deceives your brain into believing that it is still daytime. The blue light from devices also disrupts your circadian rhythm by reducing melatonin levels. Melatonin is the common sleep hormone generated by the body that helps determine if it is tired or needs to wake up.

#9. Choose a Quality Bed

Use a mattress that gives you ample support during sleep. Enough body support can help reduce pain, which also leads to a better night's sleep. The right bed should be appropriate for your body shape and give you stable support. You can also check out other mattress features like airflow/breathability, thickness, and durability.

#10. Make Your Bedroom Dark

Why is this important? Instead of a bright room, a dark bedroom is the most favorable condition to get a better and healthier sleep environment.  To get rid of excessive light sourced, use some room-darkening shades. Also, cover up or replace your bright alarm clocks or other LED light sources. Choose something less bright or set your lighting to dim. This will help improve the quality of your sleep.

Improved Sleep Despite Fibromyalgia Through Upper Cervical Chiropractic

Don’t deprive yourself from getting a good night of sleep because of fibromyalgia. Upper cervical chiropractic is continuously helping patients get fibromyalgia relief and enjoy many nights of good sleep. This technique uses a gentle, precise, natural, and scientific approach for the healthy function of your central nervous system.

We know for a fact that fibromyalgia patients process pain in a different way than healthy people. The central nervous system manages the processing of pain. For this reason, upper cervical chiropractic care is very promising in terms of finding long-lasting and natural relief from fibromyalgia.

Upper cervical chiropractors use low-force, and precise adjustments to the atlas (C1), the topmost vertebra in the spine. The C1 bone is responsible for making sure the brainstem works correctly, and blood is flowing sufficiently to and from the brain. Any slight misalignment of the atlas can lead to many conditions, including the development of fibromyalgia symptoms. 

Upper cervical doctors correct atlas misalignment, so the body begins to heal and function optimally again. Set an appointment with the nearest upper cervical chiropractor in your place to find out how you can resolve your fibromyalgia symptoms.

http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/bone,-joint,-and-muscle-disorders/muscle,-bursa,-and-tendon-disorders/fibromyalgia

https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromyalgia-and-sleep#1

Find An Upper Cervical Doctor in Your Areato schedule a consultation today.

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