So the biggest, and hardest, thing to learn when you suffer from a chronic pain illness is to get more (better) sleep and to learn to rest when your body says so.
It is so hard to believe that we are becoming a society that is progressing ourselves into illness. It seems the busier we get the more we degrade our health; giving up the two most important things: sleep and good diet before we make ANY other changes. We have never been as sick as we are in this time frame, right now. I truly believe it is because we do not get enough sleep and we do not follow healthy diets. We are too worried about doing it faster, sooner, that we take short cuts with our health.
I have NEVER been a good sleeper. Even as a teenager, I was up and moving by 9am or else I felt like I wasted the day. What I didn't realize is that I was actually sick even back then. Sleep is when our bodies regenerate; where illness is cured and health is restored. So if you don't sleep you can't get healthy.
This has been the hardest and most frustrating lesson I have had to learn to date. I always used to be famous for saying "I will get enough sleep when I die!". Well, that could be truer than I know!! First off, sleep apnea is claiming more and more lives... just open up a newspaper or watch tv and you will hear about another person that died suddenly in their sleep.
So things I have learned:
If you dream a lot, you are not getting enough deep, rejuvenating sleep!
If you sweat when sleeping, you are not getting enough deep, rejuvenating sleep!
If you wake up constantly through the night, you are not getting enough deep, rejuvenating sleep!
If you are more tired when you wake up than when you went to bed... well you get it!!
If you are a person, or know a person, who says they do not need 8 hours of sleep I show you a person who is just not as healthy as they should be!
I know this will sound strange but Dr. Tompkins has studied this for many, many years. And her patients who no longer suffer from chronic pain are living proof that this is a tried and true plan...
1) Your room temperature should stay between 12 - 15 degrees celsius... throughout the year! Obviously in Calgary winters, this is easily accomplished just by closing your heating vent on cold days. But even during the summer with the help of open windows and fans we can accomplish this.
2) Sleep with a heating blanket. I personally have purchased a Dual Control, Sunbeam Heating Blanket with 10 temperature settings. (Purchased for approx. $80 at Wal-Mart.) One hour before bedtime, turn the blanket on high. When getting into bed, turn the bed down to 2-3, depending on how cold you keep your room. This will help you sleep like a baby.
3) Use room darkening blinds.
4) DO NOT use items such as tvs or computers in the bedroom or about an hour before bed... they emit blue light which is the same light that people who suffer from vitamin D deficiency or S.A.D. use and actually encourage wakefulness.
5) Sleep with the windows open, even a small crack, even in the winter. It gives you more oxygen which encourages better sleep habits.
6) Eliminate as much outside noise as you can. I have found the easiest way to do this is just to wear earplugs. When I first started using earplugs I found that they would sometimes cause pain in my ears. This is directly related to the fibromyalgia. Dr. Tompkins recommended Life brand Soft earplugs 32 decibals. I trim off about 1/8 of an inch so they do not go too deep into the ear canal.
7) Have a small carb snack before bed. This keeps your metabolic rate up which encourages better sleep patterns. This can include a piece of fruit, piece of bread, handful of nuts etc.
I know this all sounds like a lot to deal with but take it one step at a time. You can actually put your body into shock if you do things too quickly. Just start little (sleeping with bedroom window open) and move up. I do all the things above but still have some sleep problems. Some of this is due to vitamin deficiencies and some of it may be medication but we are working on it. 10 years ago I suffered from horrible sleep insomnia but now I couldn't tell you the last time I had problems falling asleep!! I do sleep better now than I EVER had!!
The next most important thing to pay attention to is getting enough rest. Pain is our body's way of saying "WOAH!!" Most people that have chronic pain are/were high energy, type A personalities... always on the go, always keeping busy!! Well if we don't pay attention to our bodies we won't get better... PERIOD!! This is not saying we will need to keep at rest for the rest of our lives; only until we start feeling much better.
We went so far as to hire a cleaning service so I could give myself a break. A messy house drove me crazy but doing the housework every weekend was killing me. Then Jay lost his job but he kept the house immaculate. Now he is working again and though we are not quite ready to hire the cleaning service again I still do not "do it all!" I have had to learn that there are other ways besides "my way"! Brittany and Jay are just as capable of doing housework as I am. And you know what? If some of the surfaces have a small layer of dust on them... who cares?!?
You HAVE to get your support team on board. Everyone, no matter what age, can do their share. And if you are by yourself? Take it easy. Give yourself a break. You do not have to do ALL the chores in one day. Work a schedule... Mondays=bathroom, Tuesdays=dusting, Wednesdays=kitchen etc. etc. And if you are feeling really good one day... DO NOT revert from the schedule. Do not use up all your excess energy cleaning house!! Rest, read a book, watch a movie!!
I know, I know!! It sounds impossible but the quality of life that we are missing out on is worth it!!
No one knows like I do the resentment, the anger, the anxiety, the guilt that comes with living a life with chronic pain!! You feel like you are letting your friends and family down. You are letting yourself down. But something important to keep in mind... if you had diabetes or cancer, would you feel this way? Well fibromyalgia is every bit real as those "diagnostically proven" disease and disorders. So if you had diabetes, would you take your insulin? Well then, if you have fibromyalgia, you have to rest. Every disorder has a treatment; some are a little easier to take but all treatments must be maintained in order to get better.
So get some rest, get some sleep and when life gets too heavy, share it with someone you love... hell, share it with me!! We will get better, we will get stronger and we will beat this!!
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