Top Ten Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Hello, 

Hope you are all doing well and the pain and fatigue of this illness is not affecting you to bad.  I thought I would write about the "Top Ten Fibromyalgia Symptoms" today since I am experiencing several of them these last few days.

1. Pain all over 
2. Fatigue
3. Sleep difficulties
4. Brain fog
5. Morning stiffness 
6. Muscle knots
7. cramping 
8. weakness 
9. Digestive disorders 
10. Headaches/migraines
11. Balance problems 
12. Itchy/burning skin

Tonight it is what I like to call Painsomnia!   I have been to the sleep clinic at our university hospital and they have ruled out sleep apnea, so it is either caused by menopause, MS or the fibromyalgia...

A lot of people with fibromyalgia also have this sleep disorder. It is sometimes called a symptom and other times referred to as an overlapping condition, insomnia is prevalent enough that the American College of Rheumatology included the disorder in its 2010 revised diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. 

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is defined as the inability to get enough sleep to feel restored/rested. 

You may lay awake in bed, unable to get to sleep, or you may wake up frequently. For a diagnosis of insomnia, this has to happen even when you have the opportunity for sleep, and it must impair your functionality. 

From what I have been reading it can be hard to distinguish insomnia symptoms from fibromyalgia symptoms. 

Insomnia Symptoms vs. Fibromyalgia Symptoms

They can both cause:

• Fatigue,
• Headache,
• Attention/concentration problems,
• Low energy,
• Lack of motivation,
• Anxiety or other mood problems.

The major distinguishing factor, therefore, is the regular inability to sleep through the night. If Fibromyalgia & Insomnia Join Forces you feel "Painsomnia"  fibromyalgia pain can be enough to keep you from getting to sleep or staying asleep as you wake up during the night, so you might not know what's really behind your inability to sleep. Sleep problems, in general, are common in all pain conditions.

Here is to wishing you a restful and restorative sleep!

Hugs,