Sleep Needed for Chronic Fatigue & Fibromyalgia Patients to Get Well

The most effective way to eliminate pain in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia patients is to get at least nine hours of deep sleep every night without waking up. Disordered sleeping patterns fuel Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia and is probably the underlying process that drives these illnesses. Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia are illnesses with many complex, disabling symptoms and causes. Studies have proven that CFS and Fibromyalgia patients suffer from hypothalamic dysfunction.

Several problems that appear in many CFS and Fibromyalgia patients all derive from the hypothalamic dysfunction: Poor sleep, hormonal deficiencies, immune dysfunction, low body temperature and autonomic nervous system dysfunction (this is a problem with blood pressure regulation). The hypothalamus is considered the master gland and it controls the activity of other glands in the body.

Canadian researchers have noted that the quality of deep sleep seen in Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia patients is poor. There are four stages of sleep a person needs to go through daily in order to get a good night's sleep: Stages 1 & 2 are light stages of sleep; stages 3 & 4 are the deep stages of sleep. Research has shown that stages 3 & 4 are poorly reached in Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia patients. The human growth hormone is released during stages 3 & 4 of sleep. Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia patients show a marked deficiency in the human growth hormone.

For those of us with CFS and Fibromyalgia, sleeping problems are a catch-22 situation. Good, restful sleep is needed in order for the body to recover and to not suppress the hypothalamus further. But due to the hypothalamic dysfunction, sleeping well is almost impossible.

Here are some tips that can help improve sleeping patterns:

- Do not drink alcohol at bedtime or soon before.

- Do not drink or eat anything with caffeine after 4:00 p.m.

- Take a hot bath before bedtime.

- Keep your bedroom cool.