Insomnia = Pain

For five nights in a row I didn't sleep more than four hours a night.  I started to feel anxious, hopeless, and mentally unhinged.  Add to that my usual pain went from a six to a nine.  My arms swelled, pain shot up my leg from my heel to my hip, and a searing discomfort radiated out of all joints at all times.  Finally after calling a fellow autoimmune illness friend, I decided to go to urgent care.  The doctor told me I was in a acute fibro flare due to insomnia.  She said I needed more sleep (duh) and to increase my dose of sleep medicine.  Thanks to the Gabapentin and Flexeril I'm on, I had avoided self-increasing my sleep meds because all those pills cause respiratory depression, which is no good with asthma.  The doctor said it was okay to take all three for a few days so I can get back into a sleep pattern.

Apparently a lack of vitamin D can cause insomnia & yesterday I was notified by my new rheumatologists office (after I went to urgent care) that I was quite low on D and had a prescription waiting for me at my pharmacy.  So last night I took a higher dose of sleep meds and 50,000 IU of vitamin D.  I slept 11 hours last night and can actually move my arms today.  My RA and RA meds can cause low vitamin D levels but I had no idea I could be that affected.  Interestingly my other rheumatologist didn't catch my low D even though her office tested my blood two weeks ago.  Maybe if she had, this most recent fibro attack could have been avoided.

So chronically ill friends, please have your medical providers check your vitamin D levels.  It may help with pain, lack of sleep, and feelings of despair.  Now you know.

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