There are many who say they sleep enough at night, but feel fatigued when they wake. The pain from Fibro is probably impacting the sleep cycles, preventing them from staying in the sleep cycles long enough to be productive. Lack of sleep over a long term can affect other parts of your health. So the trick would seem to be how to get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep and the right kind can help your body to handle the pain better.
Sleep can be elusive, but is necessary, so it is important to learn to sleep better. Sufferers from fibro need to be sleep experts. And of course (here come the shameless self promotion), your bed can make a major impact. If the bed conforms to you, it will spread the pressure out over more of your body, lessening it at any given point. Less pressure means you can sleep better. Our store sells beds that, if purchased correctly can mitigate pressure. Whether it is our great Comfortaire air chambered beds, or our amazing Sleep Harmony foam products, good sleep can go a long way to helping you manage this issue.
Of course there are medical treatments to help with the pain, and since pain is the primary culprit, these would be a good thing, especially in more aggressive cases. One thing not to rule out is other more natural ways to help your body sleep better. For instance, low impact and aerobic exercise. Exercise can do two things: Help keep the stiffness in check, and help your body sleep better. Just remember, you do not want to exercise close to bed time because it will bring up your body temperature, and increase your blood flow and tendency to be awake by decreasing certain hormones.
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If exercise is good for people in general, then it is crucial for the sufferers of fibro. Diet can also impact your sleep, and with all health related issues, a good balanced diet is a very good thing. The pain and lethargy of fibro will sometimes cause sufferers to not want to cook or exercise. It is our spirit that can help keep us going. And, if it helps that is even more encouraging. A good body weight would also mean that the muscles have less work when at rest, which may help. Strong muscles may also help over ride some pain, perhaps not all, but is it worth a try?
Most of fibro treatment is managing the disease. We have not heard of a cure. And that can be frustrating. So a positive mental attitude is also important. That may be the hardest part of this regimen, after all, chronic pain never goes completely away. If you live with a person suffering, first understand it is real pain, then help support a healthy lifestyle, and perhaps get a book of jokes to try to keep your partner's attitude up.
The last thing for this post is to control stress. Stress seems to be part of the equation, and many of us do not handle stress well. Stress also increases our propensity to eat bad, and to save energy by not using any unnecessary movements, IE exercise. So study stress management, and exercise to increase endorphins, the body's natural pain killers. Find ways to control stress levels in your life, again different people react differently, but there is a method that will work, don't give up trying!
There is much we are learning on this disease. It is important to keep watching the news on this, especially if you or a loved one suffer from it. We hope that in the near future there will be strides towards eliminating this, and help those inflicted with it. But until then... try to...
Sleep Well!
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