Haven't I read somewhere that we don't get past REM sleep and that is why we don't feel rested? I think that is why some sleeping pills help. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?? I obviously don't! LOL

Yeah rem is needed by all. A study done on rats and sleep deprevation. They woke the rats every hour. The rats went insane after a week. No wonder we feel the way we do.There are a lot of different sleep disorders. Look at the Mayo Clinic website. Some very interesting stuff on sleep.

I can tell you what little I learned when I was working in billing Medicare for CPAP and BiPAP machines. There are two things they test for, apneas and hypopneas. I looked them up, and apneas are when you stop breathing completely, and hypopneas are when you "underbreathe"...your breathing is shallower or slower than normal. A sleep study is the only way to get a solid diagnosis of sleep apnea, and most insurance companies (especially Medicare) will NOT pay for any kind of treatment without one. Medicare required that the patient be asleep for at least two or more hours, and you had to have a certain apnea/hypopnea index, or AHI, to qualify for treatment. AHI is the ratio of # of apneas + # of hypopneas divided by the time spent asleep. Treatment for sleep apnea usually starts with recommendations for weight loss or in some cases sleep medicines. If those don't work, then they bring out the machine. I have heard from a LOT of people that the machine freaked them out at first, but after their first night with it they felt so good they didn't care what they had to do, they would do it again.

If they think you're having hypopneas, and that they are preventing you from getting the Stage 4 sleep you need, then they will probably want to put you on a CPAP machine. A CPAP machine helps you to breathe by almost pushing air at you so your airway stays open (it's not as "pushy" as I make it sound, though). A BiPAP machine can be set for two different pressures of air, one for inhaling and one for exhaling. You can Google the words CPAP and BiPAP and find tons of information on them (and plenty of places ready to sell one to you!).

I know it is expensive, but every patient I ever talked to said it was COMPLETELY worth it. Ask about payment plans and financial aid if you don't have insurance to pay for it. Good Luck! *HUGS*

I don't get it. On this site it seems that few are helped by any medication. I take Elavil and man-oh-man, it puts me in a coma at night. I've had instances where family members have woke me and I went back to sleep, only to be informed later that I had a whole discussion with them and no recollection of it. I have REALLY DEEP restorative sleep. Why, only a few nights ago I slept 12 hours and could have slept more! Am I the only person who gets deep sleep on this site? Does that mean I don't have fibro?

Also, further to Reply #3, I used to have sleep apnea and had corrective surgery for it about a year and a half ago. If anyone wants more information about that, feel free to ask me.

I take elavil to go to sleep at night also. It only takes about 15 minutes and then it knocks me out for the night! I never got any sleep at night until I started taking this med.

Liane - Thanks for the info about surgery! I didn't know there was a surgery they could do for sleep apnea, now. What did they do, exactly? Did they somehow widen your airway?

Further to Michelleti's question regarding the sleep apnea surgery, the uvula is removed along with some tissue in the throat and soft palate. The uvula is the tissue that you find at the end of the soft palate in your mouth. This type of surgery also stops snoring which was a huge problem with me. I was regularly invited to stay at friends' cottages, where the walls are thin...

I don't know if the surgery would help me. I have had my C-Pap for 3 years. I can sleep without it, unlike my husband, but my nasal passages and throat get so dry I am waking up at least once an hour for a drink of water or something wet. Obviously, I use the humidifer portion of my C-PAP. If I try to moisten up the air with a regular humidifier I wake up sopping wet. It didn't take too long to adjust having a mask on my head while I sleep. Plus another added benefit that it causes a white noise background so I can sleep sounder. I still don't think I get the right amount of restorative sleep though. Considering to have more testing to so if there is anything more I could do. I also take Ambien CR every night. I can't sleep without it anymore. I'll have to check into Elavil.

i can only sleep deeply with xyrem. nothing else works to turn off my brain and give me restorative sleep. have been using it for 2.5years and swear by it. am doing much better but still have fatigue from 23 yrs. of fibro. i wish i had gotten this medicine sooner. the dr. who prescribes it was practicing only 6 mos. when i was referred to him by my pain dr. now that i sleep well i have much less pain.

I take 6mgs of Melatonin every night. It helps me sleep. it is light sensitive so you have to take it then go to sleep within 40 minutes of taking it and sleep in a darkened room.

The Xyrem works for me too... wish I could still afford it but that's a different story.

I have what some doctors call Alpha Intrusion. Basically my brain just doesn't go all the way asleep, ever. It misses that good restorative stage of sleep. Apparently it's not that uncommon among us fibromites. Hence the big sleepy zombie feeling much of the time.

The alpha wave thingy was the only thing that showed up on my sleep studies. Sleep apnea is something completely different.

Moon that's the most common finding among fibro sufferers if I understand the things I've been reading.

My husband has a CPAP and he is telling me that I need a sleep study, as he believes I have sleep apnea as well. I am in pre-existing condition hell at the moment, but the first second I get past that I am going to have a study.

His CPAP changed his life - I'd love to find something that would do that for me.

I have fibro and was just diagnosed with sleep apnea. I stop breathing at least 5x an hour for 10 sec or more. If insurance covers it, go for the sleep study. I just got my c-pap machine a week ago and already feel better. Most of the aches are gone during the day and I have more energy. It is worth a try. Good luck and keep us posted! -Rhu

I had a sleep study recently. No apnea. I take 1/2 of a Xanax at night and I sleep really well. I still have fatigue though, I think it goes with the territory.