It's the fibro Catch-22: You need sleep to feel better, but your symptoms can get in the way. Practice good sleep habits, like going to bed and getting up at the same time. Regular exercise will also help you sleep. You might try a simple nightly soak in the tub to help you relax and temporarily ease pain.
Sleep and fibromyalgia share a bidirectional relationship. Just as painful symptoms can prevent patients from getting enough rest, sleep deprivation can exacerbate the widespread feelings of pain and tenderness brought on by fibromyalgia. Sleep loss can also lower a person's pain threshold.
A major risk of leaving fibromyalgia untreated is that symptoms such as chronic pain, fatigue, headaches, and depression can become excruciatingly worse over time. Fibromyalgia also has a huge impact on mental health and anxiety and mood disorders can also worsen if you don't treat fibromyalgia.
Try stress management techniques, such as deep-breathing exercises or meditation. Sleep hygiene. Because fatigue is one of the main components of fibromyalgia, getting good quality sleep is essential.
Relaxation. If you have fibromyalgia, it's important to regularly take time to relax or practise relaxation techniques. Stress can make your symptoms worse or cause them to flare up more often. It could also increase your chances of developing depression.
The symptoms of fibromyalgia are associated with physical inactivity such as excessive sitting. Physical inactivity itself produces increased oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, factors present in fibromyalgia. Therefore, increasing physical activity should benefit patients with fibromyalgia.
Physical and emotional stress are the most common triggers of fibromyalgia flares. Other triggers include lack of sleep, weather changes, and hormone imbalances.
4. Don't overdo it on good days. But don't “make up” for lost time on days that you're pain- and fatigue-free. “Trying to do too much when you feel great can trigger a flare,” says David Edelberg, M.D., a Chicago integrative-medicine specialist and author of The Triple Whammy Cure (Atria).
Poor sleep quality
Fibromyalgia can affect your sleep. You may often wake up tired, even when you have had plenty of sleep. This is because the condition can sometimes prevent you sleeping deeply enough to refresh you properly. You may hear this described as non-restorative sleep.
The central nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) transmits information all over your body through a network of specialised cells. Changes in the way this system works may explain why fibromyalgia results in constant feelings of, and extreme sensitivity to, pain.
Many people with fibromyalgia continue to work full or part time. But the chronic pain and fatigue associated with fibromyalgia often make working very difficult. If you are employed, it's important to learn about managing fibromyalgia symptoms and coping with pain and fatigue.
The primary symptoms of fibromyalgia include: Widespread pain. The pain associated with fibromyalgia often is described as a constant dull ache that has lasted for at least three months. To be considered widespread, the pain must occur on both sides of your body and above and below your waist.
The pain, extreme tiredness, and lack of sleep that fibromyalgia causes can affect your ability to work or do daily activities. Treatment can help relieve pain and help prevent flare-ups of symptoms.
Results: There were four parent stages of FM identified and labeled: 1) regional FM with classic symptoms; 2) generalized FM with increasing widespread pain and some additional symptoms; 3) FM with advanced and associated conditions, increasing widespread pain, increased sleep disturbances, and chemical sensitivity; ...
The most helpful treatment approach for fibromyalgia is a combination of self-care, physical activity and cognitive-behavioral therapy. But medication may also be needed. Many drugs prescribed for fibromyalgia work to turn down “pain volume” in the central nervous system (CNS).
The drugs amitriptyline, duloxetine, milnacipran and pregabalin can relieve fibromyalgia pain in some people. They may cause side effects such as a dry mouth or nausea. Normal painkillers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen (paracetamol) aren't recommended for the treatment of fibromyalgia.
A flare can be over in 1 to 2 days or last as long as a few weeks. Here are some of the most common symptoms of fibromyalgia: Muscle achiness: often in the neck, back, arms, and legs. Joint pain: in your knees, hips, hands, etc.
A fibromyalgia attack is also known as a flare-up. An attack can come on suddenly and cause mild to severe pain. These attacks may cause aching, burning, throbbing, or stabbing.
Is Fibromyalgia a disability? Fibromyalgia is considered a disability by the SSA and it could qualify you for Social Security disability if it's preventing you from working. However, not all forms of fibromyalgia qualify for benefits, so it's important to understand the SSA requirements for eligibility.
Exercise Regularly
Regular, low-intensity exercise, such as walking or warm-water exercise, is one of the best treatments for fibromyalgia. It helps decrease pain and stiffness, reduce stress, and may increase your sense of control over fibromyalgia. You may also sleep better.
Walking can help control pain and fatigue. Start by walking as little as five minutes a day and add 30 seconds or a minute each day if you can. Work up to 30 minutes to an hour of walking, three to four times a week.
Previous studies have observed that fibromyalgia women display a reduced walking speed, which could be a consequence of decreases in stride length and cycle frequency, as well as bradykinesia (Auvinet et al., 2006; Heredia Jiménez et al., 2009).