If you suffer with Fibromyalgia there are many sleep recommendations that are so helpful. Getting a good night of sound sleep is more valuable than gold! There are several recommendations I am going to discuss today on how you can break your old habits and start catching some zzzz’s soon? I’ll start with the easiest ones first, then progress to include the rest of them.
Going to bed at the same time every night is one of the most important keys in getting a good night of sleep. That’s why many of our parents raised us with the “Lights out at 10:00 p.m.” philosophy. They wanted us to learn how to establish a consistent sleep pattern.
Whenever there’s pain, the nervous system releases a chemical called substance P. The purpose of Substance P is to amplify the pain and cause nerves nearby to become more sensitive to pain. This should result in you paying attention to your body to take care of the pain! Scientists have found that deep sleep is critical to resetting the Substance P mechanism so that it doesn’t get out-of-control, causing you to be more sensitive to pain than you should be.
Napping is discouraged because it interrupts regular sleep patterns. You can have a relaxation session during the middle of the day for 20 minutes though, to restore your energy levels.
You may have noticed that there are some foods and beverages that tend to keep you awake during the night or promote a night of tossing and turning. Taking any type of stimulants up to three hours before bed can result in a night of interrupted sleep. This includes chocolate, coffee and other caffeine products, and even herb teas with caffeine. Drinking water is certainly an excellent habit for any fibromyalgia patient but do it from the moment you wake up in the morning, and stop drinking water four hours before bedtime. That way you won’t have to wake up to use the rest room during the middle of the night.
There are certain things to know if you snack before bed too. If you have low blood sugar, a snack of a protein and carb food is best. That would mean a half slice bread with some turkey or chicken on it, maybe a little mustard, lettuce and tomato with a few ounces of milk if you sleep better with a little food in your stomach. You could also have a few slices or cubes of cheese with a handful of peanuts.
There are other bad sleep habits you need to be concerned about:
Exercising before bed can stimulate the nervous system and keep you wide awake for a long time. Also, some people find it’s difficult to forget about their problems once they get into bed. Again, to eliminate this bad habit, you may want to resort to saying prayers or a form of meditation before bed. This helps many relieve all of their worries and feel peaceful and contented right before you nod off.
If you like a warm room, increase the room temperature. Otherwise, a cool room may make sleeping easier. Check your pillow. Is it too thick, creating an unnatural curvature in your neck? If you have any questions about your pillow, bring it into our chiropractic office and we’ll evaluate it for you.
Do you allow pets to sleep on the bed with you? This may work if the bed is large enough, but a big dog may take up too much room on the bed and interfere with your ability to get a full night’s rest. It’s a natural subconscious reaction to be careful not to kick an animal sleeping on your bed and you may be sleeping in a cramped position to prevent kicking the animal. Consider a separate dog bed for the bed or a cat bed for the cat.
You should set a calming mood before going to bed. While you listen to a few soothing music songs, draw a hot bath. Let all your worries go in the tub, down the drain with the water.
It is best for your bedroom to be dark because the darkness stimulates regeneration in the body. At night, the adrenal glands go to work replenishing the body’s hormones, especially cortisol. This hormone assists us in handling stress and inflammation. Detoxification and repair of the body also occurs during the night.
Recovering from fibromyalgia may be one of the most difficult things you ever accomplish, and you have quite a few strategies here to create your expected results. Go for the highest goals – full recovery. You can find our other Fibromyalgia posts by going to our blog by clicking: Hometown Family Wellness Center
Make a goal for yourself to put fibromyalgia in your past. Follow our blog posts about Fibromyalgia. We covered many recommendations to give you your life back. I provided a path before you that leads you to information and people who can help.
Over the past 13 years I have been helping fibromyalgia patients in Freehold, NJ and the neighboring towns of Marlboro, Manalapan, Howell, Colts neck, Jackson, Morganville and other towns in Monmouth County and Ocean County. By taking an overall health and wellness approach of chiropractic, nutrition, sleep, mental well being, addressing toxicity and weight issues, we have gotten results where most other medical approaches have failed.
If you are ready to be able to gain your life back from the grip of Fibromyalgia and enjoy time with family, friends and a regular normal social life again, find out more about Dr. Russell Brokstein and his 4 pronged approach to natural health and wellness without drugs or surgery by going to his website: www.ChiropractorFreehold.com
May the force of life be with you, energizing each one of your cells!