Is it the Fibromyalgia that causes the lack of sleep or the lack of sleep which causes the Fibroyalgia?

[RUBY51]

Hiya, looking at the information on the Fibro website and other research I have done into fibro it is the lack of sleep that causes the pain with fibro. However, people who suffer from fibro do not obtain the deep restorative sleep that our bodies require to rest and recuperate and our brains can wake us up but not so that we are conscious of it over a hundred times a night. Hence why you wake up you feel like you have had no sleep, because in reality you haven't! In a study read on the before mentioned website carried out on University students, when they were deprived of sleep they all developed symptoms of fibro pain. When they were allowed to sleep normally the pain vanished. This is why doctors quite often prescribe antidepressants because they allow your brain/body to obtain the deep sleep you require. If you aren't on any antidepressants, google it read it up on Fibro site and talk to your doc about it. Amitriptilyne didn't work well for me but citalopram were great I felt like I had one the lottery every day as I slept well and they lifted my mood. However my ibs didn't like them too much eventually so I am now on escitalopram which are good but I don't feel quite so elated on them, unfortunately for me but fortunately for everybody else! Hope that helps a bit? Good luck x

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Basically your nervous system has gone back to a primitimive state and you aren't sleeping since you are in constant alert..as if you were in the middle of the jungle escaping predators and surviving:-)) The pain is a form of protection that your body is sending out so that you don't fall asleep! So, basically, we need to re-train our nervous system back to a normal state, inducing sleep through medication..once you start sleeping, things start to go back to normal. I actually felt relieved after my doctor told me the jungle story..because, in the end, there is nothing really that bad and wrong about fibro and about me as a human being..it's our bodies doing their job to survive Our nervous system has (unfortunately) the ability to photocopy situations, traumas, unpleasant feelings and sensations, especially if their patterns are repetitive and ongoing, so whenever a situation pops up that upsets you, bang...be sure that you start aching or you have all the symptoms in the world.

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its a bit like whatcame 1st the chicken or the egg isnt it lol love to you diddle

[rosehip]

i slept 9 hours a night before fibro , now i sleep 4 if i am lucky .must be the fibro x

[demelza]

hi its the fibro that causes lack of sleep take care frances x

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I was an insomniac before I was diagnosed with Fibro, but I never felt tired and had bags of energy. I could get by on three hours sleep, sometimes less and I worked 12 hour shifts at work. Now I have Fibro I actually get on average about 6 hours sleep, so that's quite a luxury for me. If I get less than this the irony is that I feel really fatigued and I have no energy at all. I have CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) as well as Fibro, so unlike most people whose sleep has been disrupted by Fibro mine has actually increased. Typical of me to get things back to front lol! ( I take 75mg Amitriptyline early in the afternoon so I am sleepy by midnight each night.)

[lyn-elliott]

hey i have been an insomnic all my life and only slept 2 or 3 hours a night and had so much energy now i have 2 or 3 hrs a night and feel pain and totally fatigued each and every day but as i kept getting told ay my gp there is always an exception to the rule i just wish i wasnt it i would rather have a normal life lol i take zopiclone which at first i would sleep 6 or 7 hours nthen my body got used to them and they just stopped working now im on ucerax at 7 and im still waiting for them to work lol

[Larke]

I have had sleep issues and severe reactions to excessive noise most of my life. I was dx with sleep apnea 5 years before fibromyalgia. i also have a long history of anxiety, social phobia and depression.

The fact is that no one knows what causes fibromyalgia. There are studies saying this or that, but no real proof of what causes it. There is documentation on what makes symptoms worse and studies on what makes symptoms better (medication). Those of us with Fibro for more than a few years also tend to know what makes them feel worse, or better.

But Fibro is *different* for everyone. Some medications work for some people. Many folks with Fibro can't tolerate ANY medication at all. Some people have only a few symptoms, and others have co-morbidities galore (many, many symptoms that could belong to other conditions/diseases).

Whether poor sleep quality caused the Fibro, or just made us more likely to get Fibro, no one knows. I'm of the personal belief that a history of sleep disturbances or lack of quality sleep makes us more likely to get Fibro.

Sunshine and smiles,

Shannon

livingwithfibromyalgia.ca

@LDYLARKE

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Thank you so much everybody for your replies. x