While the types of sleep problems vary from person to person, virtually everyone with fibromyalgia can be linked to the aches and pains, fatigue, and depression that chronic insomnia and sleep disorders can cause. Repeated and continuous nightmares are common complaints. If you’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, you’ll quickly learn that the sleeping difficulties you’ve experienced for years are part of a much larger picture.
For some people with chronic insomnia, even waking up after they finally fall asleep is a test. Pain, depression, and anxiety often accompany waking up. And then there’s the fatigue … it feels like you’ve been up all night. I’ve heard it described as “I feel like I’m running relay races in my sleep, even to the point of experiencing shortness of breath when I try to get up!”
Many chronic insomnia sufferers will tell you that they fight sleep for as long as possible trying to avoid the dream state … or the REM sleep cycle due to unpleasant nightmares. Night terrors are not uncommon in fibromyalgia sufferers. As a child, I experienced flashing and colored lights, strange checkered designs, and kaleidoscopic patterns when I closed my eyes to sleep … but everyone’s experiences are different. I remember trying to explain to my parents and doctors what I would see when I closed my eyes. The colors would blend into nightmare shapes and visions that I couldn’t describe. And no one really understood what I was going through or provided me with a solution. As a result, I developed chronic self-inflicted insomnia … trying not to fall asleep.
As I got older, I gradually overcame most of my vision symptoms or learned to control them … I’m really not sure which one. I still experience vivid colors in some dreams, but now they are not so strange. And because vision and focus problems can be a serious part of fibromyalgia symptoms, you should see your ophthalmologist if they persist. Many doctors would probably say that my control has something to do with my mental state and my recognition of vision problems and the chronic insomnia that accompanies them, as symptoms of my illness. But I’ve also been working on another theory …
Since I was about 5 years old, I have suffered from fibromyalgia symptoms. I had an accident that caused my illness. It has given me a lot of time to develop coping techniques and, through trial and error, the ability to make some critical changes in my life and … my nutrition!
If you believe that fibromyalgia symptoms, such as trigger point pain and fatigue, are caused, at least in part, by chronic insomnia and poor sleep quality, you are not alone. Many of the symptoms of fibromyalgia can be the result of or negatively affected by the inability of the patient to get enough rest. This is why so many people with fibromyalgia take medications to induce sleep and end up dealing with sometimes dangerous side effects, drug interactions, and possible drug addiction. When one pill no longer helps, we take two … and so on.
What I have learned from my own experience is that healing the body with proper nutrition will help reduce and even eliminate fibromyalgia symptoms, such as sleep disorders and chronic insomnia. When you have less pain and fatigue, you feel better. This, in turn, helps you feel less anxious and stressed … and sleep more easily. Chronic insomnia, in particular, can be positively affected by making a few simple dietary changes:
- Maintain a healthy weight and avoid foods that are known allergens.
- Go on a heart smart diet … low sugar, low fat … add fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
- Avoid caffeinated drinks … and don’t forget protein! Effective nutritional supplements for fibromyalgia sufferers should include an adequate supply of lean, digestible protein to repair and strengthen the body, as well as enzymes to help with protein digestion and assimilation.
- It is widely accepted that a diet complete with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids … components of protein that support muscles, nerves, and the brain … can help relieve fibromyalgia symptoms, such as pain and fatigue in trigger points … and chronic insomnia, bad or vivid dreams and nightmares.
For fibromyalgia sufferers with chronic insomnia, nightmares, and sleep disturbances, there is hope. You can manage your symptoms through proper diet and get the restful sleep and healing you need. Click on one of the links now for more information.
Find out how to survive fibromyalgia!