Painsomnia, like insomnia but worse

We all know what insomnia is, but what is painsomnia? Painsomnia is when your pain(s) keep you from falling asleep or from reaching a restorative sleep level.  With normal insomnia I would just get up and make good use of the time that should have been spent sleeping.  Unfortunately that isn’t an option with painsomnia. With painsomnia I am in too much pain to get out of bed and do anything.

Long ago when this first started I would fill what should have been my sleeping hours with activities that didn’t require physical strength and that would distract my brain from the pain that I was experiencing.  I would binge watch TV series, do crossword and wordsearch puzzles, and spend time on social media.  Over time my sleepless nights increased.  During this time I was medicating with pharmaceutical medications and was lucky to get four hours of sleep on a good night.  Since ditching the pills and switching to MMJ (medical marijuana), I now receive a good eight hours of sleep most every night.  I still suffer from a few painsomnia nights, especially if I hadn’t medicated heavy enough on a severe pain day.  While still annoyed, I am beyond thankful that I no longer spend night after night soaking my pillow with tears.

Weather plays a huge role in my painsomnia.  If our lows are above 65 degrees I am most likely not going to catch some zzzzzz’s.  Warm nights cause an increase of nerve, muscle, and joint pain.  I feel like I am being electrocuted and my muscles spasm terribly. I struggle to sleep on those nights no matter how heavy I medicate.  Thankfully I don’t have to suffer through too many of these types of evenings where I live as I only experience a handful of nights where the temp doesn’t drop below 65.  I don’t know how I survived all the years that I lived in Arizona where summer nights never go under 70 degrees, it’s no wonder I was so miserable while living there.

The most frustrating part of painsomnia is that I while I am totally exhausted, I am also in too much pain to do anything productive.  Forget trying to write or draw during those hours as my hands usually hurt too much and my brain acts like it is shorting out.

How do you get through your pain induced sleepless nights?

Update: December 28, 2018: I haven’t suffered from painsomnia since spring of 2017 after I added PEMF therapy to my daily pain management plan.  Click here to learn more.