Sleep Disturbances

Hi there.

It's 4 am and here I am. Awake. Once I wake up I can't go back to sleep. That's not to say that I don't have naps during the day though. Part of Fibromyalgia is fatigue and many people get chronic fatigue syndrome when they have Fibro. I don't know if I have the "syndrome" or not but often times during the day I get a wave of exhaustion that comes over me and I can't keep my eyes opened.

I have always been a light sleeper and not needed that many hours sleep during the night. The problem, my doctor says, with Fibro is that one never reaches a deep enough level of sleep that is required for healing and complete rest. I take meds to help me sleep and they work well to get me to sleep. 6 hours later though they must wear off and I wake up.

It's funny how a person learns to cope with each symptom individually. It would be pretty overwhelming to realize the number of ways that Fibro changes a persons lifestyle.

My sleeping patterns don't really affect anyone around me except maybe my grand daughter. She is very good though and if I get a wave of tiredness come over me, she lets me have a nap and then keeps herself busy on her Barbie web site. Kids are wonderful because they accept people just as they are. I wish I could do more things with her but a lot of things include outdoor activities (which is a topic for another blog post). As far as sleeping goes though, I am very lucky to have her understanding.