Hi, Jeannie....I usually get 7-8 hours of sleep. That includes waking up once to go to the b'room.

I feel like I do need that much sleep. I don't feel as well with less.

Fatigue is a huge part of Fibro.
And sleep problems are another.
If you are lucky enough to not have to drag yourself to work than sleep when you can and as much as you need.
Lack of good rest will only make your symptoms that much worse.

AuntieM 1

I find that when I sleep restfully and soundly for 8 hours, I feel better fatigue wise but my body gets more stiff. I've also learned that when I walk for 20 minutes when i wake up no matter how crappy i feel, it makes me feel better for the rest of the day. Good luck sweetie!

Thank you all so much for your replies! I only got 6 hours last night and I felt good today but I may pay for it tomorrow! I don't work so I do have the luxury of sleeping when I need to...I just feel so guilty when I do! I think my daughters sometimes think I'm lazy but they just don't understand. I live alone so what they don't know won't hurt them I guess! Thanks again! :)

i for themost part sleep eight hours a night now. If during theday I get fatiqued bad, I will take a short nap. It took me along time toget my sleep straightened out.

Yeah, I did ok until my husband died. I have no real structure anymore...

reneeann,

what did you do to get your sleep figured out? Mine is a mess, can't get to sleep and can't stay asleep for over 2 hours.

hi usually I only get about 6 hours of sleep but since I started IV antibiotics to treat my Lyme I have often been asleep for 10-12 hours if I don't get woken up by pain or my alarm clock telling me it is time to crawl out of bed and get to class. i seem to do better the days after I don't get as much sleep until about 9 hours after I wake up and then it is as if all of my energy has been sucked away and I am just exhausted.

When I work I try to get at least 8 hours a night but it never feels like enough. When I'm off, I sleep 12 to 14 hours. And I sleep off and on all day on days off. Getting up out of bed is almost impossible.

Since my doctor will not give me anything to help me sleep, I take Unisom PM for pain. It says "for pain" on the bottle. I don't know what the difference is, but Tylenol PM, and all the other PM meds give me restless leg syndrome, but this Unisom is great. I sleep the whole night thru. And I have less pain when I wake up. But, I get up at 4:30am, If i was to lay in bed past that, then I would be stiff and hurting. I am in bed by 10pm. So, that is 6 1/2 hours and it works for me.

I can sleep anywhere from 4 to 5 hours a night to maybe on a good day 8 or 8 and a half, that may be a couple nights a week. I am on Ambien, but thinking of changing. If i get 7 hours i feel ok. any less and feel like crap.

My sleep journey is a long and ongoing one, but now I get between 4 and 6 hours a night and do quite well. At times in the afternoon, the fatigue hits and I must nap. I had been on ambien for sleep for several years and this spring it quit working. My sleep specialist tried me on 4 alternatives and none of them would assist me to sleep. I spent most of the summer in withdrawal from ambien usage. Imagine that! It doesnt work, but you still have to go through withdrawals! As I dont work, I was not greatly affected by my crazy sleep patterns. Sometimes I would get absolutely no sleep for 36 hours or better. I learned not to do anything important on the days after no sleep at night. Worrying about not sleeping is a surefire way to not sleep. When I became less anxious about whether or not I slept, my sleep cycle started straightening out. My sleep specialist told me one interesting fact; he said you can NOT will yourself to sleep.

jeannie iam- You are NOT lazy! And dont let guilt or the thought that someone may think you are lazy affect you. You must rest when your body will allow you to rest. If anyone gives you any guff, just tell them the truth. I am not feeling well.

hurteveryday My sleep specialist told me that diphenhydramine HCl, the active ingredient in Benedryl and Tylenol PM, will exacerbate restless leg syndrome. The active ingredient in each Unisom SleepTab is 25 mg of doxylamine succinate. However, the active ingredient in each Unisom SleepGel is 50 mg of diphenhydramine HCl. So take care to select medications for sleep without the diphenhydramine HCI, even in the same OTC medications.

Stressing over not enough or too much sleep is certainly a catch 22. I wish you all a healing rest when you can rest. I suppose what I am not saying may be important for some of you who do not know me. When my sleep is impeded by pain and/or restless legs, I do not hesitate to take a pain pill. I dont consider it a sleep aid, but some may. Oh well

Perhaps my journey can help one of you with yours :) -daizy8

Benadryl dosen't affect me that way with my R.L.S., but caffeine and bad pain and overdoing it does. Last Friday my new Doc didn't refill my pain meds and all walk-in Clinics have signs saying," they won't prescribe narcotics' and some Emergency Docs are the same, so very bad when this happens. Also, the new Doc said Monday a.m. he would do it only if you have an appt. to renew narcotic pain meds. I had a heated discussion with him on the phone that he failed to tell me this!!!!! IDIOT DOC! Then he agreed to do it this one time!

Sorry, I rambled on, bad day and normally I get 8 or more hours of sleep on my 75mg. Amitryptiline, Flexeril, Voltaren S.R., 2 Percocets /day which I take by spliting it into, 1/2 pills 4x day to stretch it out more evenly, and my non-prescription Melatonin. Amongst other things, like, a good pain rub cream, & good herbal meds prescribed over the counter by my trusted Herbal stores who know me and my Rx meds list and a purring cat to purr me to sleep.

Since I have been on Ambien I am careful to allow myself a full eight hours for sleep, as the drug is going to affect me for that long no matter what.

Now that I'm getting good qualify sleep I wake up (most of the time) feeling refreshed and rested.

For some reason I had a nasty attack of restless legs one night last week and didn't get but four hours or less (you know how sometimes you're not sure how long you slept?) and I felt like crap all day both physically and mentally.

Sleep makes a huge difference for me - and I think for most of us!