Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

just want to throw out that taking things like Benadryl and over the counter sleep aids have been proven to actually PREVENT stage 4 sleep, which is what the fibromyalgics need. STAGE 4, people, that's what you want in the sleeptimes!!!!

Recent studies are showing that when a fibro patient is hooked up to all the contraptions in a sleep study, there are distinct spikes of awake-like brain activity when the brain reaches stage 4 (the time when your brain and body focus on repairing you on a cellular level and even smaller...) When these spikes occur, your brain is jolted out of Stage 4. This is the important sleep level! Without stage 4 sleep on a few nights in a row even non-fibro patients show fibro-like symptoms: pain, achiness, confusion, clummsiness, forgetfullness, variable heat responses, exhaustion.... Sound familiar?

Be really careful of drugs that are sold as otc sleep aids. most of the time the ingredients are the same as what's found in Benedryl and NyQuil, both of which prevent stage 4 sleep.

i, personally, am all about the Ambien.

Those babies knock you right into about 4-6 hours of blissful stage 4 sleep. *sigh*

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