An October Night's Painsomnia

When you have chronic pain often times you find yourself not being able to sleep due to said pain. This is referred to by the chronic illness community as "painsomnia". Painsomnia is terrible, I suffered a bout of it last night. No matter how tired you may be sometimes pain doesn't allow you to fall asleep. It is like a ghost that haunts your every waking moment, never allowing you to have a moment of relief. You toss and turn all night trying to get comfortable but to little use. My right shoulder was the culprit this time. I had surgery on it a few months back and it is still healing, some days it hurts more than others. I tried heat, I tried ice, but to no avail, I just could not fall asleep. Then finally at 2:00am I was able to drift off for awhile, but I woke up at 6:30am and couldn't fall back asleep so I finally got up. Sleep is vital and even though I never feel like I have much energy, I obviously feel worse off when I don't have a decent nights sleep. This is a very common occurrence in chronic pain sufferers and it is not fun. I just felt the need to share my little story about my horrid sleep last night to give you a glimpse into what is commonplace for people with chronic pain and illness.

#painsomnia #pain