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Posted by Ed Poyneer on February 27, 1998 at 13:36:43:In Reply to: possible sleep disorder ?????? posted by maureen on February 26, 1998 at 11:53:00:
Maureen:
My wife has been suffering from what was initially (about 8.5 years ago) diagnosed as CFS. She has been on Medical LOA for about 7 years. A little over one year ago, she was referred to a doctor, here in the Seattle area, by the name of Dr. Andrew Holman. After spending about one and a half hours with him, doing a medical history and some minor tests, he told her that she, in fact, had Fibromyalgia. He explained to her that FM basically starts out as a sleep disorder, usually in women, during the time they are raising children--primarily because of the tendency of mothers to sleep more lightly than dads. Any kind of major "trauma" in one's life, such as: a major illness, which may hang on for a period of time; the death of a loved one; a major emotional disturbance, such as a nasty divorce; and sometimes, a combination of the above, can weaken the auto-immune system in the body, and bring about the FM problems.
Dr. Holman put my wife on a drug by the name of Trazodone, which is to help her get better sleep. His contention is that if he can get her to "sleep like a five year old," or sleep "like a man," then she would be on the road to recovery. (I asked her if sleeping "like a man" meant having the capability to just roll over and go to sleep after a wonderful session of sex, and she just slugged me).
Within TWO WEEKS it was like I had the woman back in my life, whom I had married 11.5 years before! Neither of us could believe the difference. She got to feeling so good, in a period of about three months, she ended up finishing some minor remodelling projects, without my help, so that we could put our house on the market.
Anyone to whom she speaks about Fibromyalgia, she recommends that they obtain (either from a public library, or purchase from one of the major book stores, like Barnes & Noble, Walden Books, etc.) a copy of what she calls "the big blue book" on Fibromyalgia and Miofascial Syndromes. It was written by two women, who have both gone through the agony of FM, and have recovered. One of the women is an M.D., but the book is written in language that the layman can understand. Once my wife started reading it, she immediately grabbed her highliter, and started marking up the pages, where it referred to things that she had gone through.
By the way, I am a "double whammy" sleep disorder kind of guy--Obstructive Sleep Apnea, on CPAP, and Narcolepsy, being treated with Ritalin. I now kid her that HER snoring is keeping me awake, some nights, and may have her get into the sleep doctor for diagnosis.
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