Sleeping is essential to everyone but even more so for people in pain as pain is extremely draining. Whether it’s from a sore lower back or throbbing tooth, pain is hard enough to deal with in the light of day.
When I've had a really bad night with pain it leaves me feeling exhausted.I simply cannot get comfortable to fall asleep due to the discomfort of pain and the knock on effect is more pain the following day.
Its a bit of a viscious circle as its the pain which results in difficulty in staying asleep and can wake you up night after night after night.
Certain types of pain, such as back pain, arthritis and orthopedic pain, can prevent you from getting comfortable at night.
In fact a study in the April 2009 issue of Sleep Journal showed that normal, healthy individuals are more sensitive to pain when they are low on rest. The reasons why aren’t known for sure. “Some research studies show that sleep deprivation causes increased production of inflammatory chemicals in the body".
They suggest that people with pain and sleep problems should try and undergo a diagnostic sleep study. Also as some medications can cause the same type of problem, they say you should discuss your sleeping problems with your GP. When I spoke to my GP about it she prescribed me seven sleeping pills to take over one week to try and get my brain to get back into a more normal sleep pattern, but she would not let me have anymore than that.
Of course, there are many different types of techniques and even drugs to help you get to sleep which is not usually the problem with people in pain, but not many that can help you when you keep waking up with it.
For me personally I find that I need to have a daily afternoon sleep for a couple of hours otherwise my body cannot get through the day. I have tried every trick in the book but for me this is the only way I can manage my pain.
Of course, due to the amount of medication that I am taking, it does mean that by early afternoon I am feeling slightly drug induced anyway so I have no problem nodding off for a couple of hours.
My body is at this stage crying out for me to rest for a while. Not everyone would need it like me as many can benefit from other more holistic types of treatments to help them sleep. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it.
Sleeping is essential to everyone but even more so for people in pain as pain is extremely draining. Whether it’s from a sore lower back or throbbing tooth, pain is hard enough to deal with in the light of day.
When I've had a really bad night with pain it leaves me feeling exhausted.I simply cannot get comfortable to fall asleep due to the discomfort of pain and the knock on effect is more pain the following day.
Its a bit of a viscious circle as its the pain which results in difficulty in staying asleep and can wake you up night after night after night.
Certain types of pain, such as back pain, arthritis and orthopedic pain, can prevent you from getting comfortable at night.
In fact a study in the April 2009 issue of Sleep Journal showed that normal, healthy individuals are more sensitive to pain when they are low on rest. The reasons why aren’t known for sure. “Some research studies show that sleep deprivation causes increased production of inflammatory chemicals in the body".
They suggest that people with pain and sleep problems should try and undergo a diagnostic sleep study. Also as some medications can cause the same type of problem, they say you should discuss your sleeping problems with your GP. When I spoke to my GP about it she prescribed me seven sleeping pills to take over one week to try and get my brain to get back into a more normal sleep pattern, but she would not let me have anymore than that.
Of course, there are many different types of techniques and even drugs to help you get to sleep which is not usually the problem with people in pain, but not many that can help you when you keep waking up with it.
For me personally I find that I need to have a daily afternoon sleep for a couple of hours otherwise my body cannot get through the day. I have tried every trick in the book but for me this is the only way I can manage my pain.
Of course, due to the amount of medication that I am taking, it does mean that by early afternoon I am feeling slightly drug induced anyway so I have no problem nodding off for a couple of hours.
My body is at this stage crying out for me to rest for a while. Not everyone would need it like me as many can benefit from other more holistic types of treatments to help them sleep. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it.