Musings on Pain and Unrefreshing Sleep

Things I've Been Noticing

Two symptoms I've been thinking about recently are: muscle pain and unrefreshing sleep. Over the past week or two, my muscle pain, especially upon waking, has been more severe than normal. I have an extensive, research-based bedtime routine to try to promote restful sleep. It helps some. But unrefreshing sleep is a common and discouraging symptom of myalgic encephalomyelitis. If you scroll down to the second photo, you’ll see a screenshot of information from my Garmin watch. This is from my sleep last night. The higher the orange line, the more stress my body is under. The blue line represents restfulness (or in my case, lack thereof). That white line that gradually trends downward shows my "body battery". For me, during an average night of sleep, my body battery increases by up to five points or decreases by up to five points. Last night it decreased by about 15 points.

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

Speaking of ME, the myalgic part of that literally means muscle pain, which is a hallmark symptom of the illness. I've been waking up in extra pain recently--especially in my neck, shoulders, and back. I sleep with four pillows, two of which help support my back and arms. But I wonder if discomfort and pain are contributing to my unrefreshing sleep. I'm looking into maybe getting a new pillow system?

Anyway, these are just some things I've been thinking about and wanted to share with you all. Thank you for reading and listening and caring. If anyone who has a similar diagnosis has any resources or insights relating to getting better sleep, pain management, or more supportive pillows---I might be open to hearing your thoughts!

One last thing! I’ve been dealing with severe diarrhea for over a year. I’ve tried many treatments, with little effect. Last month, I FINALLY got a comprehensive stool test done! I’ll find out the results next week. Prayers appreciated!

Thank you for reading!

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