If you are living with arthritis, one of the hardest things to deal with is the insomnia.  The sleeping disorder is going to prevent you from getting the rest that you need to stay healthy and this will in turn make your arthritis worse.  It can be a terrible cycle that you are dealing with.  There are many things that you can do to take on arthritis and it is important to consider all of the options so that you can get a better night’s rest every time you go to bed.

Having insomnia may involve a number of problems.  You may  have difficulty falling asleep.  Many people will experience this at some point in their life.  However if you are frequently finding it hard to drift off to sleep, you may want to talk to your doctor about it.  If you are waking up often through the night for no good reason, this is a symptom also.  If you are finding that you are constantly tossing and turning more than once a week, you are probably dealing with insomnia.  Some with insomnia will sleep throughout the night.  Their problem may be that they wake up too early or they do not feel refreshed after many hours of sleep.  Your situation will depend on how frequently insomnia happens for you and if you can be diagnosed as short-term insomnia, intermittent insomnia or chronic insomnia.                                                              There are many reasons that chronic insomnia is found in people that do have arthritis.  The pain will keep some awake at night and will occur with illness but some of the patients find that their joints are painful and inflamed after they do activity.  A second reason of insomnia due to arthritis is a high level of stress that most patients with arthritis have.  Worrying about an appointment with a doctor can cause a person to stay awake all night long.  There is no difference for any patient that is young and just recently diagnosed or older and has had the problem of arthritis for many years.  Insomnia can be a side of effect of the medicine that is used to treat arthritis.  These medicines may rid the pain but can make you stay up all night.  Without taking the medication, you may also be awake all night with pain.

There are a number of ideas that a person can use to combat insomnia.  You are not alone is the first step. You need to talk to your doctor about any medications that you are taking that keep you up all night.  There are going to be side effects of drugs and they can be addicting as well.  Taking the right steps to take the stress out of your life is going to help you sleep better at night too.  You and your doctor are the only people that can take the right course of action to fix the insomnia in your life.  Talk to these professionals and get a good night’s sleep because it is essential for healthy living.