Has anyone who has fibromyalgia had a sleep study performed? I seem to stay in a REM sleep and I have fibromyalgia. The dream state is killing me. Does a sleep study help determine anything? If you have these dreams, what helps you? Thanks, badgirl

You wouldn't believe the dreaming I do. Especially when the TV is on. I am taking Ambian. It works well. Before I started, I had deadbolts put on my doors and made sure my fire alarm batteries were fresh. My husband can sleep through anything. I feel like my nights are a dead zone now. I worry something will happen and I won't be awake enough for it. Maybe that's why I can't sleep?????

Do the sleep study!!

My fatigue was horrible, and I felt unrested every day when I awoke. My rheumatologist referred me to a sleep clinic, and I went through the sleep study.

Lo and behold, I have Restless Legs Syndrome. My leg jerks were waking me up 28 times an hour, and I had no idea!! My sleep cycles were out of whack, and I was seriously sleep-deprived.

Now that I've gotten my RLS pretty much under control, my fatigue is much better, and I feel rested when I wake up. I still have fibromyalgia, of course, but I feel SO much better, and my pain has significantly decreased!!

It is very common for those with fibromyalgia to have a sleep disorder as well, so I would highly encourage you (all of you!) to have a sleep study done. It can make a world of difference in your fibromyalgia pain! You could have a disorder that's contributing to your fibromyalgia fatigue and pain and not even know it!! Besides, the study doesn't hurt, it (usually) only takes one night, and insurance often covers it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Let me know if either of you decide to do it! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif I'd say you're both good candidates for a study.

P.S. I have weird dreams too, but every doctor I've talked to (and there's been a lot) says it could be so many things. It could be diet, anxiety, exhaustian, medicine, fibromyalgia, etc, etc. I hope you can figure out the cause of yours, though. Maybe you can experiment with your daily routine (what you eat, when you eat, when you sleep, what vitamins you take, etc.) and journal how any changes affect your sleep? Good luck! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/tired.gif Also, are you supposed to take the Ambien long-term? Be careful with that stuff; I'm told it can mess with your sleep cycles, too. If you're not under a physician's guidance regarding the Ambien, I'd suggest that you at least mention it to your family doctor. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Anonymity (edited 01-14-2003).]

I've been on the Ambian a month now. It was prescribed by a pain clinic. I'm not near as exhausted as I was. I get a good deep sleep. Can not take Zanaflex with it because it counters the Ambian and I wake up after 2 hours. Another thing I use is a fan. If it is too quiet, I can't sleep. The steady noise seems to help. Didn't get my prescription called in early enough yesterday and was up most of the night last night. Thank goodness I'm a Harlequin junkie.

I'm not sure of the definition of RLS. I do know my legs jump when I go to bed. At first I thought my husband was wiggling his leg. Then I realized it was just me and strange feelings.

I'm actually part of a different forum but clicked on this one in error. But I can answer this question for you so I thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth. I have had Fibromyaligia since 1982 (when it used to by called Fibrositis). I went to a sleep disorder clinic in 1984 and it was the smartest move I've ever made. The diagnosed it as Fibro. The doctor then prescibed an anti-depressant. I was shocked and said "hey, I'm not depressed. I'm in pain!" He explained that the Fibro is caused by a sleep disorder which is in turn caused by a problem with the central nervous system. He said the Anti-Depressant works on the central nervous system problem which causes the sleep disorder. I went on it and within two weeks the pain was probably 80% better. I still had some muscle pain around my spine but since 1990 I have pain free. If I forget to take my pills, I wake up in the morning feeling like I haven't sleep and have some pain. As long as I take the pills, I'm in great shape. The sleep disorder clinic said that because I would wake up so frequently (90 times in the 6 hours I slept at the clinic), that my muscles never got to relax by taking advantage of the REM sleep. I was surprised I was up 90 times and said I don't remember even waking up once. He said that you don't wake up enough to remember it, just enough to disrupt your sleep. I guess he was right since I has obviously been working for me for many, many years. I hope this help.

hb2002, what anti-depressant are you on?

Sweetpea, call your insurance, see what's covered in the way of a sleep study, and go do it! Jumpy legs are the number one symptom of RLS, although you can have RLS without jumpy legs, and you can have jumpy legs without RLS. Go, go! Think how much better you might feel! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

hello i had a sleep study tests done i have fibro i am am on klonipin for real bad twitching jumping all over body my results were only 9 % stage 4 11 % stage 2 with a lot of arousals one every minute. can anyone explain what this means? i am appling for my 2nd time for ssdi will this help me thank you.

Erky, As you are still applying for SSDI, see my note in the Just had my phone interview. It may help with documentation.

Sweet Pea

BG - you wanted to know the anti-depressant. Several different ones over the years. The first one I was on was Elavil (spelling). I was on that one until about 4 years ago. Worked great. Then I had a panic attack 4 years ago and my doc switched me to another one called Paxil. Caused some other problems and after trying a few different ones I settled on Wellbutrin. Been on that one for a couple of years and it also works great. If I forget to take my pills, I start feeling the fibro symptoms the next day. Hope this helps and that you give it a try. PS. Elavil was very reasonably priced. The Wellbutrin is much more expensive.

When my alarm rang and woke me up in the middle of a bad dream this morning (saw a car run over a girl and drag her), I could immediately feel a deep soreness/aching over my whole body. Usually, I wake up quite all right (tolerable), though often with a dull soreness in my feet, and occasionally, mild body aches when I sleep too late. I was wondering if dreaming per se can cause the body to react physically in this way... or is it just the work of bad dreams? Any one notice a correlation between the type of dreams and the extent of pain upon waking?? Or do we only ache when we wake up in REM? Thanks. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

iam still waiting for someone to explain my sleep study tests results for me i posted earlier.

BadGirl, There are over 80 known sleep disorders. Yet the most common sleep disorder is Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome. OSAS causes one to stop breathing for 10 seconds to 2 minute periods several times throughout the night. There are many causes of OSAS such as nasal congestion, swollen inferior turbinates, oversized soft palate, the tongue falling back and blocking the airway and narrowing of the airway due to excess fat. When you are in REM sleep you are most likely to have apneic events due to the fact that your brain signals your musles to go limp (that way you don't act out your dreams). Hence you may notice that you feel more refreshed when you take a 20 minute power nap in the afternoon than you do in the morning since you are not entering the REM stage of sleep.
OSAS is generally treated with Continous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP machine) which blows air up your nares and keeps your airway from collapsing. There are numerous surgeries used to treat OSAS, yet I will go into more detail about them if you find out you have OSAS.
Another less common form of sleep apnea is Central Sleep Apnea Syndrome, which is neurological in nature. The brain fails to signal you to breath. CSAS is often treated with antidepressants. Mixed Sleep Apnea Syndrome is when you have both types.
Factors that contribute to OSAS are age (older), sex (men have OSAS more than women), congental abnormalities of the nose/throat structures and the most common factor of all is being overweight. I hope this helps you. Let us know how the sleep study goes if you have one done. BigTex

Erky,
Could you please repost your sleep study results. I looked for your previous post yet I was not able to find it. Thanks BigTex

big tex look right above about 6 posts this one and you will see my sleep study results , but i will tell you it again they were stage 4 only 9% and stage 2 11%they said also had moderate arousals one every minute and plmd syndrome.does this help thank you.will this help on my dis for fibro?

Erky,
Since you were diagnosed with PLMD syndrome you may want to consult with a neurologist. Fortunately there are medications which have been shown to be effective for PLMD such as Carbodopa, Sinemet, and Levodopa to name a few. If you had sleep apnea I'm sure they would of told you right away since it is probably one of the easier sleep disorders to diagnose.
Furthermore, since you have many arousals throughout the night, which is similar to sleep apnea, if you get the PLMD treated you will most likely notice an increase in your energy levels. My guess is that you wake up tired and feeling unrefreshed. I hope this helps, BigTex

thank you big tex they also said i had rls too.are these syndromes usually found in people with fibro?i need some help with ins co they want some sort of evidence that links me to fibro, besides the tender point tests which i have.my ins is unum and if watched they show on 60 minutes you will know what i mean.i am in the reconsideration stage for ssdi. any help will be appreciated thank you .they said no sleep appnea. i am on klonipin for this ,have been for two yrs helps but does not take care of it . i was on this when i took that tests still showed these results.

[This message has been edited by erky (edited 01-26-2003).]

Just a quick comment:

The typical Obstructive Sleep Apnea patient is termed to be: male, overweight, middle aged . . .


I was a teenager when I started snoring and it only got worse, I'm THIN and young and definitely have sleep apnea. Was stopping breathing for up to 90 seconds MANY tims a night. SO, if you have reason to believe you have any sleep disorder, get the test. In fact, if you have trouble sleeping the first night in the sleep clinic (lots of wires and electrodes and just not your home!), and the results come back fine, ask your sleep doc. to arrange another night so you can get more of your "natural" sleep. That is what I did.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sweet Pea:
[B]Erky, As you are still applying for SSDI, see my note in the Just had my phone interview. It may help with documentation.

Sweet Pea

Can you get SSDI? I would love to know, have thought about trying to get it for myself.
CSL

I was extremely, extremely lucky. I don't know how or why but I got it. I just kept alot of documentation to cover everything. As I said, extremely lucky.

hi, there.

i had a sleep study and found i have mild sleep apnea. i have a cpap and though i hate it, it has had a clealy positive impact on some of my symptoms. it's covered by insurance and worth the hassle.

I have been having a horrible time sleeping lately. Without fail, I'd wake up every night between 1 and 3 am and it has always been difficult for me to fall back asleep. After talking to my doctor about that and the pain, he decided it was Fibro and gave me Desyrel. An anti-depressent, he said it should help me get that deep sleep I wasn't getting. The meds have helped my pain...I've been sleeping somewhat better but I still don't think I'm getting the sleep I should. I still wake up too easily. I'm going back in 2 weeks to talk to him again, so maybe we'll try a different med. I may need to look into getting a sleep study done. I've suffered from sleeping issues all my life. Maybe it's been related to Fibro the entire time and I didn't know it!