Fibromyalgia: Sleep, quality of life, and Vitamin D

Vitamin D and Sleep

Research suggests for certain types of pain a good nights rest and Vitamin D are beneficial. We see a lot about Vit D and chronic pain in fact. For a lot of chronic pain conditions. I will get into FM below in fact. But first sleep and D.

Journal of Endocrinologysays that “vitamin D supplements combined with good sleeping habits may help manage many pain-related issues including arthritis, menstrual cramps and chronic back pain.”   National Pain Report

Yet pain causes painsomnia so if good sleep is going to help us with pain combined with D… that seems a difficult venture right there.

However, “several clinical studies have reported that vitamin D levels are associated with sleep disorders.  They say a link between sleep disturbances and pain has long been established, but a role of vitamin D has not been fully established.  Previously published studies have shown that vitamin D can affect the body’s inflammatory response, which also alters pain sensation.” National Pain Report

Their findings suggest, for a wide range of pain conditions, Vitamin D with sleep can improve pain management. Dr. Monica Levy Anderson and colleagues looked at pertinent studies and found Vit D correlated to sleep and pain.

“We can hypothesize that suitable vitamin D supplementation combined with sleep hygiene may optimize the therapeutic management of pain-related diseases, such as fibromyalgia,” Dr. Andersen said.
“It is necessary to understand the possible mechanisms involved in this relationship, including immunological and neurobiological pathways related to inter-relationship among sleep, vitamin D and pain,” she explained. National Pain Report

Vitamin D in Fibromyalgia

This particular study looked at the quality of life and Vitamin D in fibromyalgia.

There were 70 patients in the study along with 65 sex and age matched controls. Patients were classified based on D levels: Deficient (<20ng/mL), inadequate (20-30 ng/mL) and sufficient (>30ng/mL). Vitamin replacement was performed for the deficient and inadequate categories. Before and after the Vit D therapy they filled out assessment tools:fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), Arizona sexual experience scale (ASEX), Beck depression inventory (BDI), visual analog scale (VAS), and short form-36 (SF-36).

They found deficiencies and inadequacies were seen in 60% of the patients (42). Those with low or normal levels had no difference in their values. Those after the vitamin D therapy had statistically differecnes in their assessments compared to the pre-treatment: FIQ, BDI, VAS, and SF-36.

Conclusion: “Vitamin D deficiency seems to be linked to the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia. Vitamin D supplementation may improve the quality of life in the patient with fibromyalgia.” Study

On a personal note, I was put on 5000 iu for chronic pain by the pain clinic.