It is no secret that people with Fibromyalgia can have problems sleeping and this has most certainly been one of the features of my week. Hence the title and why my bed can turn into my Frienamy! For the last few days I have been spending about twelve hours a night in bed and this has been a totally mixed blessing.
Let me explain.
The very best intentions
Each evening I have been going to bed at a sensible time. I have a wind-down routine where I watch a couple of Youtube videos and then read my Kindle until I am ready to sleep. Well, in theory anyway, in reality, I scarcely ever get onto reading the Kindle as I end up falling after about 20 minutes of watching videos. So far so good.
Changing Temperatures
This week has been further complicated as here in the UK we have been experiencing some very complicated weather patterns. Basically, within one week that should be more of less the height of summer the temperature has ranged from being so hot I couldn’t bare to have a cover over me to drop into a positively autumnal feel. I even needed a fan heater on for a while.
This change of temperature itself has not been helpful for the Fibro as my body struggles to maintain it’s temperature when the external ambience is level so throw in some haywire weather and I’m having hot and cold sweats that could compete with the worst case of a menopausal woman denied HRT. Heaven only knows what will happen when that delight kicks in alongside the Fibro I am hoping to be vacationing in a cyber reality by then.
Nightlife
I digress, so back to the night time shenanigans. After falling asleep at a rate of knots Michael is nothing bar envious of I just can’t seem to stay there. At some point in the early hours, I simply wake up. I am not awake enough to actually get up out of bed but awake enough that I can’t get back to sleep. I usually end up either reading the Kindle or more of then than not turning to Readly on my tablet because magazines have fewer words and more pictures which are somewhat easier to manage in the zombie’d shattered but stubbornly awake state.

The Two Periods of sleep
At some point later, this point seems to range anywhere between two and four hours, I finally crash back to sleep. This sleep is very different from the earlier one. The sleep at the beginning of the night is what I refer to as my mental anaesthetic sleep. I am sparked out, I don’t even know I am asleep it is just like an anaesthetic you simply drift off and come round later. However, although in my brain it is like an anaesthetic my body continues to gently toss and turn and do it’s very best to keep me as comfortable as possible. Phase two of sleep though is the total opposite I often dream during this time, usually very vivid and totally bizarre dreams. Not the type where you combine a few different areas of your life or your mind is subconsciously fixing a problem or finding a solution but more where the mind is thinking if I am going to be stuck in a Fibro’d body during the day I am going to have some epic adventures by night. Whilst my brain is having a whale of a time it is now my bodies time to be under the influence of the anaesthetic effect so when I finally wake from this sleep it feels like I have not been sleeping on a fantastic investment mattress (you can read about that here) but more like a plank of wood.
The morning after my night with my Frienamy Bed
As you can imagine it is really not the best of fun waking up in this totally seized-up state. To add insult to injury the amazing dreams seem to dissolve from my memory within moments of waking if only I could capture them I’m sure there would be a novel in there somewhere. But alas no, instead the reality is that Michael has to help me out of bed and to put some of my clothes on because it can take up to an hour before I am able to start bending again. If you have been newly diagnosed with Fibromyalgia or are on the road towards diagnosis you may find my article about learning to live with Fibromyalgia useful.

I would love to hear from others with Fibromyalgia to see how their sleep is affected. Please drop a comment in the section at the very bottom of the page.
Until next time,
Gentle Hugs,
Susan