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Insomnia- It Worsens The Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
Welcome to the podcast Fibromyalgia Real Solutions with Amanda Love. You are listening to episode 5. By the way, you can listen to this podcast wherever you are in the world and at any time that you wish. I always include show notes for those with “ brain fog” so you don’t have to take notes. If you missed my previous episode on Adrenal Gland function/Adrenal Fatigue then you may want to listen to it before this one.
I do believe that there is a lot of information, both good and bad, out there about fibromyalgia. As an educator who specializes in this area, I think it is my job to point out to you that beneficial information can be organized in a fashion that will reduce the symptoms of this malady. At the end of the podcast, I will give you several recommendations to reduce your insomnia.
My name is Amanda Elise Love and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 9 years ago which influenced my decision to enter the field of nutrition and now I am a Registered Holistic Nutritionist who works with those who are suffering from fibromyalgia.
Not too long ago, I found out something that surprised me even though I should have expected it !!!
I live in a city of 43 thousand people where there are 3 physicians practicing their specialty in pulmonary disorders. Or I should say, they were specializing in that area. Come to find out, when a friend of mine wanted to have a consultation for her mild asthma, two of these physicians had restricted their practices to sleep disorders. The third doctor still includes lung problems in his practice but an appointment with him would take three months because his main focus now is sleep disorders. Who knew that getting restorative sleep was such a vast problem with the general public.
So, let's tackle this frustrating issue right now.
First, there are not any rules on how much sleep is enough for each of us as we all require a different amount to function well. There are some that can function well in as little as 5 hours a night. There are others that do better with nine, ten or more hours of sleep. Most of us though need at least 8 hours to feel refreshed and able to function at peak efficiency during the day. While one or two sleepless nights can cause irritability and daytime sleepiness most people can adapt to short -term periods of sleep deprivation.
Here is some information on how sleep begins.
The pineal gland is located at the base of our brain. The pineal glands job is to release melatonin which is very important in regulating the body’s sleep-wake cycle. According to recent studies it also appears to slow down the aging process and who doesn’t want to do that? It does this because it is a powerful antioxidant agent which is able to seek out and destroy free radicals that are floating around in the brain. Melatonin also protects cell nuclei and the DNA which in turn helps protect our cells from the negative effects of cancer. Melatonin also protects our immune system which is under attack from various infections and stress most of the time.
If you have normal melatonin levels in your body, the level begins to rise in the mid to late evening and remains high for most of the night and goes down in the early morning hours. As we age, light affects our production of melatonin. It's important therefore to avoid bright lights several hours before retiring.
To read the rest of the show notes click on this link -http://amandaeliselove.com/episode-6-insomnia-it-worsens-the-symptoms-of-fibromyalg&
