Thankfully, I sleep very well on my Sleep Number 7000. It's getting to sleep to turn the pain off for a brief time that's hard to do as I will sometimes not be able to get to bed before 5am and up by 11am perhaps. Sometimes it's not a restful sleep as I would normally turn from side to side every hour. Sometimes it is a restful sleep, but it depends on how fast I can shut my brain off.
Do what you can honor435, do what you can.

sleep what's that?

I wake up every time I need to move (turn from one side to the other or onto my back) so unless I can stay in one position for an extended period of time (generally at most 2-3 hours), I get 6-8 hours of sleep, but it's very disrupted by complete awakenings to move. But that's just how my disease has affected my body; I have an enormous liver and two big kidneys that get in the way of normal movement at night. In the event of nighttime pain I have breakthrough pain medications and use tylenol for the arthritis in my hips (a contributing factor to needing to move at night; the acetaminophen really helps!).

I used to take forever to fall asleep thanks to severe restless legs since I was a teenager and an inability to turn off my mind. Finally a visit with a neurologist 8 years ago took care of the RLS (Klonopin, 1 mg, the dose has remained the same for 8 years) and faithfully following good sleep hygeine techniques and focusing on my breathing as soon as I lay down helps me turn off my brain.

PainsRus, what helped me most to turn off my brain at night was to focus on my breathing and every time something else popped into my mind, I forced myself to focus back on my breathing. Instead of trying to visualize being in a peaceful location or meditating (neither work for me) what do is silently say inhale when I breathe in, and then chose a word each evening (whatever pops into my mind that night) that I say silently to myself when I exhale (usually the word is peace). I was taught to just inhale and then use the chosen word when exhaling, but my mind churns so much I have to say inhale to remind myself to breath and keep that focus. So I keep focusing on inhale, peace, inhale, peace and wheneer something starts churning I refocus on inhale, peace, inhale, peace.

I honestly didn't believe it would work when my psychologist taught me this, but after working on it for a week, I was amazed at the difference it make in how quickly I was falling asleep because I was able to turn off my churning mind so much faster (I had a dreadfully stressful job at the time). Even now, when my outside stress is so much less (internally it's higher than ever from physical pain and disease), I still have to silenty say inhale, peace, inhale, peace. So don't feel silly if you have to silently say inhale to youself; you do what you have to to help yourself fall asleep faster. It really worked wonders for me, by a factor of hours (it used to take hours for me to fall asleep and I still had to get up at 5 am; after learning this technique and mastering it, it was only taking at most 30 minutes if that long).

Honor435,
Have you tried all of the sleep hygeine techniques? I know they sound like a text book on sleeping, but they really do work. Among the tips (long messsage ahead) includes to sleep in a dark cool room, about 65 degrees, with light bed coverings (sufficient of course to keep you warm, but not restricting). Use your bed for sleep and sex only, nothing else, not for reading or watching TV. Keep your bedroom as dark as possible at night, using blackout curtains or an eyemask if necessary (here's a link to a great eye mask company: http://www.dreamessentials.com/ I have both their Dreamer and Escape masks and find them both to be lifesavers. I use them to block out any ambient light at night (we have a skylight and my husband needs the nightlight for the bathroom, bad night vision), as well as for daytime naps. They're fully adjustable and soft in the back as well around the face and I adjust them for use with a wraparound-the-head ice pack when I have a migraine (which I can sleep with depending on how I adjust my pillows). The company also sells very nice, soft earplugs (the Mack girls, pink ones) that are soft in the ears and block out a lot of noise).

Which brings me to the next sleep hygeine technique which is a quiet room. There's just so much you can control in terms of noise, so as needed, use a white noise machine or a fan to block out outside or irriating house noises or use earplugs. I sleep with earplugs (have for 12 years when I discovered my husband, then fiance, was an incredible snoring machine until he got his CPAP machine). They block out 36 decibels, which includes the sounds from the outdoors, my cats bringing me toys when I'm asleep (my female cat has a very loud, strident meow), the garbage truck, the community lawn service at 7 am, etc.). I now buy them by bulk; one box has lasted for 6 years (at least; it's almost time to reorder; I use Mack Light and would love to find the Mack Girl as they're even smaller, but not sure I can find a box of 100 or 250 pairs). And while my husband uses a CPAP machine that sounds like white noise and I always have a fan blowing on me regarless of the weather, he still makes funny sounds and I'm a light sleeper (we usually sleep in separate bedrooms due to that fact; it works well for us, we just celebrated our 10th anniversary!).

Have a consistent bedtime and time you get out of bed, weekdays and weekends. Give your body a schedule and it will get accustomed to it and know when it's time to go to sleep and respond accordingly.

Have a consistent bedtime routine, which includes turning down all the lights at least an hour before bedtime, turing off the TV and perhaps taking a warm bath (your body gets sleepy as it starts to cool off again after the bath). A steady and consistent routine also tells your body that it's time to go to bed, so do some gentle pampering, then wash your face, brush and floss your teeth, put on some soothing body lotion in a soft scent (if you find that relaxing, just the action of the long soothing strokes down the arms and legs will help), and slide between the cool sheets (whichever type you prefer, either crisp (linen) or soft satin and turn out the lights.

For bedside clocks, get one that does not show the time in the dark; you don't need the light or to be staring at a clock and watching the minutes go by. It's one of the worst things you can do. If you have a clock like that, turn it around and put a towel over the light so you have darkness and aren't focusing on the time.

If you can't sleep and you've tried all of your methods of trying to sleep (focusing on your breathing, visualizations, meditation, whatever works for you), get up and go do something else, something not very active (don't get on the computer; it's too engaging and too bright). Turn on a low light and knit or read a somewhat dull book (something you're not going to get engaged in and suddenly discover it's morning). Do this until you're tired, then go back to bed. If you keep wandering trying to find different locations to sleep (because you can't sleep, not because of pain from the bed) you're teaching your body not to sleep in your bed.

I have the world's most comfortable sofa; it's 96 inches long and when we remove the double set of down/foam filled pillows (a favorite place for cats and humans), the base is wider and longer than a twin bed. Being banished to the sofa is NOT a punishment in this house; visitors fight over who gets to sit and sleep on the sofa! And yes, on those rare nights when I just can't get to sleep or I'm in severe pain and my medication isn't working, I'll go sleep on the sofa, because it fits my every curve and my cats will both join me (one is in it for herself and attention; the other is very empathetic and caring and won't touch me unless I tell him it's okay). But I'm bringing my pillow, eyemask and earplugs with me and I do it maybe once or twice per year at most.

There are a lot of websites that go into more detail on sleep hygeine and while they might seem silly, try them religiously for weeks (not just a few days) and you'll be surprised how well they may work.

Developing good sleep habits are critical to helping with pain management. It's hard work, especially when you're tired and in pain, but it really makes a difference. Do everything you can to adjust your bed to a point where it's comfortable (and that setting might be different each night depending on your pain levels; unlike a standard bed, you can change your bed to meet specific needs whereas I'm stuck with a spring coil mattress that has the same firmess most everywhere (and a divit on the two sides with a bump in the middle between where my husband and I sleep). Figure out what pillow arrangements work best for you based on what your most comforable sleeping positions are and always have extras available as needed (I keep extra down, standard and long queen sized pillows next to the bed and use them interchangeably when I need to prop my head up a bit more, support my legs or need something to keep my one one side versus the other (or block my husband from accidentally elbowing me again; when he's asleep, he's asleep and I'm so jealous!).

Work on the sleep hygeine for weeks (find the full list so you'll have a complete list) and be consistent about it. Hopefully they'll help make a difference. It's not an overnight cure, but with consistency and persistance, and using other techniques for helping yourself get back to sleep (e.g. figuring out why you wake up in the first place and why you can't/won't go back to bed), you will probably find you'll make a lot of progress towards dramatically improving the quality and quantity of your sleep. It can only help!

for me, its not good! On a good day, i'm lucky if I can get 3 hours solid sleep. Mind you, thats with meds of course. Otherwise i'm up for several days, before I crash and burn........

thanks! wow for the long message. My hubby has rls, so his legs are jerking, snores(wont go to sleep clinic) , so thats why I go to quieter room, I wake up, and have to pee, or in major pain. Iam on shortacting meds, which I think wear off in the middle of the night, and am hurting like crazy, pdoc rec. methadone 1/2 tab at evening, 1/2 in am, so after my vac(may have a cocktail) I have to try it(cant drink with that one) but kinda scared, I dont know why, always get that way with new meds,

I usually take a tylenol PM just before bed and it knocks me out enough that I sleep fairly good. I do however wake up around 2 or 3am for a couple mins then I'll fall back to sleep. Unfortunately I wake up the next morning horribly stiff cuz I slept so hard :(. Do you take anything to help you sleep?

i haven't slept in so long, that i'd be afraid if i DID fall asleep. i'd probably feel like I was dying. lol. i'm sooooo tired.

Wow Ihavepkd - thanks for all the great ideas for sleep hygeine! Super nice of you.
My sleep is very broken up also, due to the pain. Doc and I are working on it, but for now, I sleep a little at night and yup, I too get up and go try sleeping on the couch for awhile, and then a nap in the daytime (thank goodness I'm not working) Between the two I THINK I'm getting enuff sleep although I feel really tired all the time. Sure sux.
Hugzz to all! ~Sandy~

Sleep........... Ha!

My sleep is/was so bad but it has gotten better since I started taking ambien, not the answer but it will do for now. I just really needed to get some sleep any way I could get it, the pain that would follow the day i didnt sleep was just horrible

Sleep, hmmmm!!lol Well, I sleep very erraticaly, as the rest of you, due to the pain, I can only sleep on one side so long from the fibro, so like 2-3 hours and then I trade sides and hope that I get right back to sleep. But I HAVE to change sides every 2-3 hours. Actually, I go to bed really early, because with all my chronic pain and fibro, I am exhausted by noon, so by 3, I am in bed, and I have a sleep number bed. So, I get up at 3 a.m. My fiance', if I am sleeping, comes in to check on me and wakes me every few hours to make sure I roll over, or I won't be able to get up and move around, does anyone else have that problem??? I am only 43 and if I sleep like 6 hours on one side, I can't walk, it hurts from my shoulders down to my feet, it's frickin crazy! I even take 2mg klonopin 4xs a day. Mostly at night. UGH!! I hope that you find something that helps you, actually everyone!! HUGS to all! Pains, I hear ya on the "how fast you can shut your brain off", and I try meditating, everything, relaxing, focusing on my breathing. UGH!!

I anywhere from 2-3 hours at a time to 6 hours at a time. The six hours happens when I have gone 3-4 days with only a couple of hours of sleep. Even though I lay down and am exhausted, sleep doesn't happen due to pain. I have a regular bed. I would like to purchase a memory foam bed now that they have come out with the generic form of tempurpedic beds. The cost is now $400 from what I hear from a good friend on DS. I am only able to sleep on one side and now I have issues with that hip too. My kind dr is sending me to pt to try and help with that. I have dilaudid for the really bad days. The usual heat, massage, and stretching is what I do to try and help relax my broken body so that I can sleep. I hope you all do have some sweet dreams ;)

gosh I can relate, if I stay in one position too long, i wake up and cant hardly move.
wow, where can I get a temput bed for 400???

before i go to bed i take bendrly and sleep with 2 heating pads and sleep for 2 hours and then up for 1/2 hour to 3 hours in till next dose of bendrly so take that 2 times in the night

I'm currently trying to deal with sleep issues attributed to taking MS contin. I seem to fall off to sleep anytime I lean back on my bed or on the sofa during the day.This causes me to need less sleep after retiring.
I can't seem to break this cycle, thank heavens I am not working! I'm 'going with the flow' and wonder how others have handled it before me.