Do you wish you slept better each night?

If you wish you slept better each night, you’re hardly alone. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that more than one-third of adults are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis — and that’s just quantity, or the number of hours of sleep you get each night. (The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that most adults sleep at least 7 hours each night to promote optimal health and well-being.)

 

When you have arthritis or chronic pain from other conditions, you know firsthand that it’s not just about the number of hours of sleep you get but also the quality (or lack thereof).

 

People living with chronic pain frequently have trouble falling asleep, wake up in the middle of the night in pain, struggle to find comfortable sleep positions, and wake up feeling not rested.

 

According to data from our ArthritisPower research registry, people with arthritis or related health conditions experience significant sleep disturbance. In fact, most ArthritisPower members report sleep disturbance symptoms that are more severe than about 80 percent of the general population. Among those, patients with fibromyalgia report the highest sleep disturbance scores.

 

It makes sense that if you’re experiencing pain, you will have a harder time falling or staying asleep. But in an unfortunate vicious cycle, research also indicates that not getting enough sleep can also exacerbate pain and inflammation. Getting too little sleep is associated with a laundry list of health problems, including many that arthritis patients are already prone to, such as depression and heart disease.

 

So, what can you do about getting more sleep and/or better quality sleep in spite of all the roadblocks your disease presents? It’s not easy, but these tips may help.

 

1. Treat sleep like a key part of your treatment plan. It’s tempting to delay bedtime to get more done around the house, especially if daytime fatigue makes it hard to be productive. Giving yourself a nightly bedtime can help create a routine that allows your body to prepare for sleep more readily.
2. Track your sleep symptoms in ArthritisPower. Using ArthritisPower to track your sleep symptoms can allow you to look for patterns that might be negatively affecting your sleep.
3. Talk to your doctor about your sleep challenges. You may be able to adjust the timing of your medications to help alleviate pain that prevents you from sleeping well, for example.
4. Take a look at your ‘sleep hygiene.’ This article about sleep and insomnia is packed with information and tips from fellow patients about how people with chronic pain can try to improve their sleep.

Track Arthritis Symptoms Like Sleep with ArthritisPower

Consider joining ArthritisPower, the first ever patient-led, patient-generated research registry for people with autoimmune arthritis and related conditions. You can make a difference in the fight against autoimmune arthritis and related conditions. Here’s how: 

• Track your symptoms and treatments: Keep tabs on your health with tracking tools on your PC or smartphone.
• View your data over time: Empower yourself with personal data to better understand your symptoms.
• Share your information with your doctor: Get customized reports that summarize all the information you have logged.
• Make a difference: Speed the arrival of personalized medicine by helping researchers better understand how different treatments work for different people.