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i posted this in the chronic illness group, but i thought i would post it here also, even though my chicken/egg post sank. the thing is- i have told every doc that i saw for this stuff that i did not sleep well. NONE OF THEM, including shrinks, or docs who then prescribed antidepressants, or otherwise saw it as "mental" ever addressed this from a sleep perspective. ALL MY LIFE! if you have not tried to improve your sleep, there are many simple things that you can try. if you have tried these things, and they didn't help, or only helped a little, get a sleep study. docs will shrug their shoulders and say, well it's a chicken and egg thing. well, everythng looks a little better on a full stomach, whether you have an omelet or a chicken dinner! sleep better, feel better.
i was going to title this post- it feels so good when you hurt me there, or- what a difference an accurate dx makes.
thanks to warpy, i think i have finally gotten to the bottom of a lifetime of misery. i went to my rheumy, and relayed warpy's suggestion that what was really causing troubling me was fibromyalgia. she proceeded to poke me in the fibro points, and i screamed. wow. doctors have been shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders at me all my life. this is the first time that one has been able to find the pain, and the first time meds have helped. i am taking trazadone, and sleeping, and feeling like a new person.
so, i have been reading up on fibro, which at it's base is a sleep disorder. i immediately recognized the characteristic sleep pattern- as you are sinking into sleep, you get a jolt of "wake-up", and you have to start over if you can. i vividly recall this cycle from my days of dozing off in school, waking with a jolt, and opening my eyes to see the class staring and laughing.
this is probably the result of a head injury i had at age 6. i got my nose broken playing baseball, and have been subtly screwed up ever since. amazing. the impact of this thing is just crazy to contemplate. ie- i was always one of the weird kids. a big reason is that i was a klutz. i could not jump rope, do a cartwheel, hit a ball, or do anything that required any significant degree of coordination. i was coordinated enough to pass any tests of same. just couldn't do the typical kid stuff. on top of that, it has been a drag on my emotional health that made it hard to cope with that fallout. crazy.
and here is the really crazy part of this story- when my sleep started to get better, and i saw how much of a difference good sleep was making, i looked around at my family. the first thing i saw was that my hubby, with whom i had been having a TERRIBLE time, was depressed and about to have a stroke or something. he has very bad sleep apnea, and was twitching like a fish in a boat all night. i went out an got him one of those foam contour pillows, raised the head of the bed, blacked out the windows, turned up the air, and he is sleeping like a baby. HE IS A NEW MAN!!!
then, i looked at my kids. all 5 of my kids have sleep problems!! all different! my kid who has a dx of bipolar, and has been complaining for years of stomach and headaches, coincidently just found out that she has a deviated septum, like her dad.
another kid has allergy related snoring. he has chronic sore throats, and is cranky and hard to wake.
a third kid has similar pain and snoring.
another kid has chron's disease, and her acid reflux is messing with her sleep.
the last kid is the hardest. an emotionally fragile genius who has a non 24 hour clock. when he was in school, trying to exist in regular time nearly drove him over the edge. he is better now that he dropped out, and can sleep when he needs to. but he is still skating on the edge.
so the first 4 have had their beds and pillows changed, are sleeping better and feeling much better. the last one is looking around, and thinking maybe he might go along with getting a sleep study, something i have been trying to tell HIS doctors forever. this will take a little while to happen.
but man! i have a whole new life, here!
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