Fibromyalgia & the Importance of Managing Quality Sleep

Fibromyalgia is a complex health condition that leads to a significant degree of impaired quality of life. While the exact cause and origin of fibromyalgia is not known, many individuals find there is a familial basis on which the complication develops, triggered by environmental factors.

One of the hallmark complications of fibromyalgia is the presence of relatively normal diagnostic studies with a marked description of total body pain in the patient. That is to say, the person who suffers from fibromyalgia often complains of pain bilaterally and above and below the waist with marked pain around the mid-spine area.

If you, or someone you love, is experiencing the pain associated with fibromyalgia, you can expect there will be a significant decline in the quality of life. In addition to the pain complaints, fibromyalgia is also know for the progressive deterioration in sleep patterns, with many individuals development secondary psychological complications in response to lack of quality sleep.

While lack of sleep is an issue, what is far more intriguing is the degree to which the fibromyalgia patient generally feels fatigued. While the individual may be in pain, and feel depressed, this unique sensation of total body fatigue is independent of all other factors. In many cases, this fatigue is so marked that the patient is diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome.

In managing the fatigue that is so common to the fibromyalgia sufferers, healthcare professionals understand the importance of managing other symptoms. Using medications to manage pain, induce cyclical sleep patterns and manage secondary mental health complications, such as depression, are important. Without management of these other fibromyalgia health complications, the fatigue becomes far more exacerbated.