Many of us with fibromyalgia rely on napping to give us a little extra energy to get through the day. Personally, I’m one of those that can’t nap. It’s a rare day that I manage to fall asleep during the daytime. I won’t say it never happens, but it’s not a common occurrence and most of the time when I try to take a nap I can’t.
The important question is are those naps even beneficial? Do naps help fibromyalgia symptoms? Or does it just make them worse?
Does napping actually replenish the energy we are lacking? or does it leave us feeling even more fatigued?
For me, it varies. There are times when I can lay down and just rest my eyes for 15-20 minutes and that will often leave me refreshed. But, other times when I just can’t seem to keep my eyes open and I crash out for anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more and I wake up feeling like I’m still half asleep. I call this SANS (Sunday Afternoon Nap Syndrome) because it’s how I always felt when I’d take a nap between church services on Sunday.
Does napping help you feel better? Does it improve your energy or just leave you feeling more fatigued? #fibromyalgia #chronicillness Share on X
Past studies have indicated that there are beneficial effects of napping for healthy people. Naps less than 30 minutes help replenish lost sleep and provide renewed energy. However, as we all know what works for healthy people doesn’t always work for those with Fibromyalgia.
This 2015 study by Theadom, Cropley, & Kantermann looked at 1044 Fibromyalgia patients and asked them to complete a questionnaire about their napping habits, sleep quality, and their symptom severity. The purpose was to answer the question does napping help Fibromyalgia symptoms? or make them worse?
Participants were asked questions about how often they nap, how long they nap, whether their naps were planned, reasons for napping, and the time of day they typically napped.
A Sleep Quality questionnaire was used to assess their night time sleep quality. Fatigue was also assessed using a Fatigue Severity Scale. Levels of subjective pain were assessed using the McGill Short Form Pain Questionnaire. Memory was also assessed using the Everyday Memory Questionnaire-Revised. Finally, mood was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
As would be expected about 92% of those surveyed were women. All 1044 were diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Many of those surveyed also had co-morbid conditions including arthritis, IBS, and asthma. Over 50% of those surveyed had at least one co-morbid diagnosis, with 11% suffering from depression.
Younger adults were more likely than older adults (older than 60) to take daily naps. Of those that reported taking daily naps 86.5% reported that they often napped without intending to do so. 75% reported that they nap for longer than 30 minutes (compared to 41% of the general population).
Younger people were more likely to take a nap because they felt bad, where older people were more likely to report that they napped to feel revitalized.
Unfortunately, it would be really difficult to do a scientific study to determine the effects of napping on Fibromyalgia symptoms so the researchers are forced to rely on correlations, and if you’ve ever taken a science class you’ve probably been reminded that correlation is not causation. In other words, there’s no way to know for sure which came first.
The researchers in this study found that there was a significant correlation between daytime napping and the number of co-morbid disorders. Daytime napping was also significantly correlated with the use of antidepressants, gabapentin, Lyrica, and opiods (maybe because fatigue is a side effect?).
Participants that napped regularly were not only more likely to have other co-morbid disorders, they were also more likely to have higher levels of pain, fatigue, memory difficulties, sleep problems, anxiety, & depression (you know all the symptoms that come with Fibromyalgia). Gee, I wonder why they nap more?
Of those that napped regularly, the nappers who slept for more than 30 minutes were typically younger, parents of young children, with higher levels of depression and pain than those who napped for less than 30 minutes. (Maybe because they are more exhausted from taking care of children?) Those who napped unintentionally also had higher levels of pain and depression.
Basically, napping is a coping strategy used by those with Fibromyalgia to deal with increased symptom severity. Those who feel worse tend to nap more in order to feel better.
Does napping work? It’s hard to say. All we really know for sure is that those who feel worse nap more and those who feel better nap less.
So, are you a daily napper? Do you plan your naps or do you just fall into them? Do you believe that naps help your symptoms?
Related Posts:
- Pain and Fatigue Associated with Function and Performance in Fibromyalgia (a study)
- Symptoms and Signs of Fibromyalgia
- Are these seven habits increasing your pain and fatigue?
- The 3 Ms of Coping with Chronic Pain and Fatigue
Kathy says
I nap most days, after lunch. I have a minimum list of things to do each day to keep my house from falling in, and if I can get those finished, I’m READY for a nap. However, I don’t always sleep. A regular schedule is extremely important to me, so even if I. Not sleepy, I lay down and rest for the same amount of time I normally would sleep…about an hour. Whether I actually sleep or not, I’m resting my body after trying to do my work, plus I keep my schedule consistent.
Chuck H. says
Since Fibro, I’m a napper. My naps tend to follow after being active. The more active I am (physically or mentally), the more frequent and longer naps I take. Luckily, my naps don’t often affect my normal 9 to 12 hours of night sleep. Currently I’m off daily meds, so it’s not the drugs that are making me want to sleep like this.
While sleeping so much is debilitating, it has helped with my overall pain, fatigue, and depression symptoms to the point I don’t currently rely on regular medication. On the occasional night I don’t sleep well, I’m defiantly more likely to get a migraine, and/or feel increased muscle/joint pain, and IBS. So for now, I sleep whenever I can and make the best of it.
About me; I’m a 53 year old male with Fibro following neck fusion surgery a year ago.
Thanks Julie for sharing so much. It’s helped me tremendously!
Julie says
Hi Chuck,
Making the best of it as all we can do. Sleep when you can. Thanks for stopping in and sharing your experience. Would love to know more.
Chuck H. says
This is a good time to write. I’ve been almost two weeks without a severe flare, yay! Still aches and pains, IBS, fibro fog, poor vision, and that 150 pound backpack of fatigue, but no hitting the wall so hard that I feel like I gotta lie down when I’m already lying down.
One of the two things that have helped me the most has been joining a Fibromyalgia Lifestyle Study group. The meetings were sponsored by two wonderful USC Occupational therapists. There I learned about pacing, stress management, prioritizing, relaxation, and got to meet and talk with other spoonies. I learned a lot quickly and started being much more proactive in dealing with my fibro. My lovely naturopathic wife has been my other champion for better health. She has read a stack of books on FMS, ME/CFS, SEID, Lyme, and anything else related. She says they all have slightly different ways of getting there, but the general rule is; better general health = better fibro symptoms. And the basics for good general health are; eat only healthy foods, get enough rest, do balanced exercise, and find pease of mind. So that’s what’s helped me. Eating well (no junk or processed stuf), lots of rest, mild stretching and movement, and maybe most importantly, dealing with stress and finding that happy place mentally. Now that may sound easy, but it falls into that category of “doing whatever it takes”. For me it’s a full time job. And I’m very prone to push/crash when I’m feeling better. So that’s why I like reading your blog, trying different healthy foods, finding things like essential oils for pain, and being reminded that I need to take care of myself. Now I’m far from perfect. When things get real bad I reach for the meds pronto. And I’ve met others who have greatly benefited form the right drugs for them. But I’ve had so many severe side effects that I seem to do better overall if I can eat well, rest, do some breathing exercises and not take regular pain killers or anti-depressants. I admit I’m very new to all of this having had fibro for only a year, and a diagnosis for only a few months. I’m far from an expert. But I have learned a lot, and have gotten much better at planing my own life around the symptoms. Not quite to the point of returning to my fulltime/overtime construction work. But to making life meaningful, and appreciating what’s important. Thanks again Julie for getting it out there!
Julie says
So much truth. Learning to pace and just generally manage stress and life is a huge boost to helping with Fibro. But, I do think that improving our overall health through better nutritional habits, exercise, and supplements goes even further. The two together for me have equated to over 3 years with only 1 major flare (and that was tied to extenuating circumstances – I hurt my shoulder and the pain from that brought me down).