Fibromyalgia syndrome causes symptoms of extreme pain in the muscles throughout the body. Fibromyalgia produces widespread pain, disturbed sleep, and exhaustion from head to toe. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons—the soft fibrous tissues of the body. Although the muscles hurt everywhere, they are not the only cause of the pain. Instead, the diffuse, body-wide symptoms are greatly magnified by malfunctions in the way the nervous system processes pain.

Sufferers with a fibromyalgia sleep disorder do not obtain enough deep sleep, and their body is not adequately refreshed. Sleep lab tests may not be necessary to determine if the sufferer has experienced disturbed SLEEP with FIBROMYALGIA. If the sufferer wakes up feeling as though they have just been run over by a mack truck – what physicians refer to as an unrefreshing sleep – it is reasonable for the physician to predict that the patient has an interrupted fibromyalgia sleep disorder.

Many FMS patients have been found to have other sleep disorders in addition to the alpha-delta EEG, such as sleep apnea, sleep myoclonus night-time jerking of the arms and legs), and restless legs syndrome. Also, a newly discovered sleep disorder, upper-airway resistance syndrome is also being evaluated for its association with disordered sleep in FMS. Disturbed sleep often aggravates the other prevalent FMS symptoms.

Treatments of fibromyalgia syndrome:

Medications

Medications can help reduce the pain of fibromyalgia and improve sleep. Common choices include:

- Analgesics. Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) may ease the pain and stiffness caused by fibromyalgia. However, its effectiveness varies. Tramadol (Ultram) is a prescription pain reliever that may be taken with or without acetaminophen. Your doctor may recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve, others) — in conjunction with other medications. NSAIDs haven’t proved to be as effective in managing the pain in fibromyalgia when taken by themselves.

- Antidepressants. Your doctor may prescribe amitriptyline to help promote sleep. Fluoxetine (Prozac) in combination with amitriptyline is effective in some people. Duloxetine (Cymbalta) may help ease the pain and fatigue associated with fibromyalgia. And milnacipran (Savella) was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms.

- Anti-seizure drugs. Medications designed to treat epilepsy are often useful in reducing certain types of pain. Gabapentin (Neurontin) is sometimes helpful in reducing fibromyalgia symptoms, while pregabalin (Lyrica) is the first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat fibromyalgia.

Therapy

- Physical therapy. Specific exercises can help restore muscle balance and may reduce pain. Stretching techniques and the application of hot or cold also may help.

- Counseling. Cognitive behavioral therapy seeks to strengthen your belief in your abilities and teaches you methods for dealing with stressful situations. Therapy is provided through individual counseling, classes, and with tapes, CDs or DVDs, and may help you manage your fibromyalgia.

Originally posted 2009-09-18 03:19:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

A nightmare is a very stressful dream which usually forces at least partial awakening. Nightmares are often a creation of our fears. You will tend not to have nightmares if you rid yourself of fears. So find out what your fears are, and try to conquer them. Nightmares, however, can also be an early symptom that a disease is developing or that an attack is about to occur.

What Causes Nightmares?

There are many possibilities. Some nightmares can be caused by drugs or medications or by rapid withdrawal from them, or by physical conditions such as illness and fever. The nightmares of early childhood likely reflect the struggle to learn to deal with normal childhood fears and problems. Many people experience nightmares after they have suffered a traumatic event, such as surgery, the loss of a loved one, an assault or a severe accident. The nightmares of combat veterans fall into this category. The content of these nightmares is typically directly related to the traumatic event and the nightmares often occur over and over. Other people experience nightmares when they are undergoing stress in their waking lives, such as difficulty or change on the job or with a loved one, moving, pregnancy, financial concerns, etc. Finally, some people experience frequent nightmares that seem unrelated to their waking lives. These people tend to be more creative, sensitive, trusting and emotional than average. Whenever you have a nightmare you should try to visualize a different ending on the dream. By doing this you may experience that it is a dream and we all know that dreams aren’t dangerous. Read The Full Story…

Originally posted 2008-06-02 00:15:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

My idea of going on holiday is to stay somewhere that is nicer than my own home, and the older I get the more important the bed is. Yes, I am turning into my Mother! Oh well, I don’t mind actually – she is lovely. And I am so over camping, I am proud to say that I no longer own a tent or an insomnia inducing airbed. Phew!

When guests stay in our homes the same principals apply – we want people comfortable on our sofa beds or guest beds, and certainly not feeling like they would give anything to be at home in their own beds. That really would be a hostessing disaster.

The mattresses we choose are really important – we have invested in memory foam so that my Mum is comfortable when she stays with us, yes, her again! Suffering from osteoporosis particularly in her spine she has a hard time sleeping at the best of times and the memory foam really seems to make all the difference. When making a mattress purchase for the guest room give careful thought to the people who are likely to sleep on it the most often and select accordingly.

The temperature of the room can be a huge factor in comfort as well. What suits you may not suit your guests, so check before closing the windows and cranking up the radiator what their preferences are. Blackout blinds are another favourite of mine and they are ideal for any age from babies upwards – you can always add light in using a plug in nightlight or lamp if required.

If when guest stay they feel relaxed and rested you will all benefit and enjoy your time together more. The recipe for a great weekend with family and friends totally relies on the all important good nights sleep.

Originally posted 2011-03-26 13:36:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or to remain asleep long enough to feel rested, especially when this is a problem that continues over time. Most people have a sleepless night once in a while but for some people, sleeplessness is habitual and they walk around half asleep, groggy or just miserable. Without enough sleep, the entire day goes lousy and we function poorly. And if sleepless nights continue for a longer term, we forget to enjoy life.

We all suffer from insomnia at least once in our life time, which just seems to strike you out of no where. Do you know that one out of three people you know in America have insomnia issue? If you have problem to get to sleep, unable to sleep through the night or wake up during your ‘sleep’ in the middle of the night, then you are likely to have insomnia.

There are many different methods to help your insomnia problem and help you get your sleep back on track.

Your doctor is very likely to prescribe you sleeping pills to help your insomnia issue. Sleeping pills like Ambien or Lunesta is meant for short term use, and it only works well when you have serious problem like death of a close relative, losing a job or losing your spouse. Sleeping pills are meant for short term fix of your sleep problem but not design for long term usage. Prescribed sleeping pills just can’t cure your insomnia at all.

You should also avoid stimulants like caffeine (found in cola, tea and chocolate) and excessive sugar as well. You also need to check if you’re consuming certain medications like sinus pills and diet pills as these pills can keep you awake longer than usual.

It is also not advisable to use alcohol as sleep aid. It is another misconception that a drink or more will relax you enough to sleep but it only helps provide broken sleep. Again this is temporary and should not be used at all by those suffering from insomnia. Read The Full Story…

Originally posted 2011-04-07 04:59:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter