While I Wasn't Sleeping

Before fibromyalgia struck, I was an extremely sound sleeper.  I have slept through tornados, blaring car alarms, and a bomb exploding in a house down the street.  So it came as quite a shock to my system when one of my fibromyalgia symptoms was insomnia.  I had difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.  When I managed to catch a few fitful hours at night, I never felt rested in the morning.

I believe sleep disturbances are related to the larger problem of the cellular damage that results from exposure to chemicals in our food and environment. I got rid of chemicals in my life through changing the products I used for cleaning and personal grooming.  I stopped eating processed food and started eating whole foods rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. 

When I was so sick, I had severe fibromyalgia pain in multiple joints and muscles, debilitating chronic fatigue, and many other symptoms.  I was barely able to function and often was unable to leave my house.  After making the lifestyle changes necessary to limit my exposure to chemicals, it took about six weeks for my body to detoxify.  I woke up one morning and the pain, fatigue, and other symptoms were gone. I was elated!  I felt like I suddenly had my life back.  I was beyond thankful for my restored health.

However, my sleep pattern had been disrupted by this horrible disease for such a long time that I had to do some things to reset my natural sleep cycle clock.  Be sure to check with your doctor before trying any plan that involves medications or supplements.  Here is what I did.


I stopped taking prescription sleep medication.  This type of drug is intended for only short-term use.  It is not designed to be used for longer than a few weeks. Sleep induced by medication does not follow a natural sleep cycle pattern. Besides all that, I knew that drugs for sleep were adding another chemical substance to my body on a daily basis. So I stopped this cold turkey.

I took the over-the-counter supplement Melatonin for eight weeks. Melatonin has been shown to be effective in restoring the natural sleep cycle. It should not be taken for more than six to eight weeks.  That is sufficient for resetting your natural biorhythms. 

During the eight weeks I was on Melatonin, I created a bedtime ritual I could follow every night.  After dinner, I did not do any work related activities.  I watched television, checked my Facebook page, and did other just-for-fun things until 11:00 p.m. I took a hot bath or shower before getting into bed.  This helps with relaxation.  I grabbed a book and read until I felt a little sleepy and then turned off the lights.  In the beginning, I often read until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.  After a couple of weeks, I was turning out the lights by 12:00 and sleeping until 7:00 or 8:00 the next day.

After eight weeks, I stopped the Melatonin, and continued the bedtime ritual I had established. I was worried the first night about how I would react without taking the Melatonin. But, I started reading at 11:00, turned out the lights at 11:30 and slept all night.  I have been sleeping soundly ever since.

Before you attempt to reset your sleep pattern, it is important to detoxify your body first by eliminating chemicals from your environment and diet.  You need to build up your body’s immune system and ability to take care of itself by eating natural whole healthy foods.  If you are just beginning this process, hold on to hope.  You can recover from fibromyalgia and a multitude of other autoimmune diseases by making lifestyle changes to get rid of chemicals.  You can sleep and dream again.