Right now I have to sleep on the couch with a heating pad on my feet. I also have to use the muscle rub icy hot on my back, and the muscle rub stop pain on my neck. It is such a process just to get some sleep. Other people on here find it easier to sleep in a recliner. I use a natural sleep aide called calm forte to help me. Some nights I breakdown and use a sleep aid prescription called Sonata. My stomach really doesn't like prescription meds, so I tend to stay natural when possible. Have you asked your doctor about a sleep aid? If not you might even try a natural sleep aid, there are a lot on the market now. I hope you find a way to get some sleep.

My special foam cushion on my bed is all that saves me.... sometimes. For natural sleep, I recommend L-theanine. You can take quite a lot of it, and it's good against anxiety, so for me, that's half the battle. If I'm not anxious about my pain, it helps. But there's a lot of options. Chamomile or lemon balm tea. Some people shower right before bed so they've got that hot water relaxation thing. I do half my assigned physiotherapy stretches so I'm "loose" where I'm worst. And I play iPad games meant to kncok anyone out. (Jigsaw puzzles of 400 pieces with pieces rotated, takes hours to finish one and I get engrossed and sometimes fall asleep right on the iPad.)

Sleep luck to you.

You could try soaking in the tub with some Epsom Salts to relax your muscles. If the tub is not an option, you can buy Epsom Salts lotion (Amazon).

A supplement called Malic Acid may help too. Malic acid is naturally found in the skin of fruit. It will help relax your muscles. I purchase it from Amazon but any decent health food store will have it.

I use a muscle rub called Arnica gel which really helps with that bruised feeling we sometimes get. Most drugstores carry it now.

Try a stick on heat pad or a Salon Pas pain patch on your back. Salon Pas come in different sizes. Icy Hot patches work well too.

FYI - OTC pain killers won't work because Fibromyalgia is a neuromuscular disorder as opposed to inflammatory.

As TwinMom said you should be on a sleep medication as well. Fibromyalgia interrupts the deep sleep cycle with short bursts of high intensity brain activity. Your muscles require deep sleep to recover from the days activities. No deep sleep means higher levels of pain. There are several OTC sleep aids that you could try. CalmsForte is good and I also like Alteril. You can find them at the drug store too.

There is medication available for RLS. Is your doctor not offering any of these options (pain management, sleep medication etc.) to you? You deserve a better quality of life.

And finally, we recommend the book "Fibromyalgia for Dummies." It is will give you a comprehensive overview of this complex illness and a lot of ways to try and manage it. You can find it on Amazon. Take care.

I use a tens unit and a 4 inch memory foam mattress topper when my back acts up or my legs are painful. I also would encourage you to have a test for sleep apnea. If you have it you probably aren't getting enough oxygen at night which can make your pain much worse.

I am in the same boat and i think its because during the day we are more occupied doing other things even if not moving and i think it makes us not always feel it as much as at night laying in bed. I am like twin right now sleeping on the couch the firmness is helping me, i have a pillow top mattress on my bed which normally is a good thing but not right now. I take lunesta its a prescription and still struggle to sleep on the highest dose.

Hey all, thank you so much for the replies!
I just moved before I was diagnosed and I've only seen my new primary once so at my next appointment I'm going to ask about getting on something for pain, sleep, and RLS. When I saw him for the first time we focused more on my abdominal pain since I may need my gallbladder removed.
I've been on ambien in the past but it made me feel weird and would leave me even more exhausted during the day.
Right now I'm taking Olly Sleep gummies as well as using Essential Oils to help me relax. I have Oils for pain but it's a bit hard to cover my entire body. I finally got around to deep cleaning my bathtub so I'm
Gonna try to take warm baths on my bad days.
I'm gonna order Fibromyalgia for Dummies on my next payday, so Friday, I'm really looking forward to reading it!

I'm so happy to have a community that helps each other out like this, it really means a lot to me to have people there who understand what I'm going through, so again, thank you all so much.

Most bedtime nights are like your nights. I get the RLS or I have severe left hip pain. By the end of the day I'm bloated and my tummy looks like I'm 5 mths pregnant. Most mornings suck for me too, I feel like my legs are weights as I stomp out of bed to the restroom. You're not alone in this misery....I'm standing next to you.
I'm on cymbalta too. OTC nsaids don't do a thing for me either.

I would try the epsom salt tub soaks before bed. I dont have RLS , but once in a while my legs will get wonky when I am trying to sleep and then I put biofreeze on them and it helps. I have not had any luck with Arnica , but that doesnt mean you wont. We are all different on what helps us as individuals with fibro.

I take a med off label to help sleep deeper and an anxiety med to help sleep ( to calm the hamsters in my head) both prescription. I tried Ambien years ago and it eventually did the opposite and kept me awake. Also, when I am in pain and trying to sleep my anxiety kicks in . I cant comment re OTC sleep meds because I have not tried them. When I first started having chronic pain and sleep issues the Dr put me on Elavil , it helped but the next Dr took me off of it because of weight gain. Again , we are all different on what helps us and how we react to meds and side effects caused by them.