Buttock, lower back and leg pain at night.

[Janine1971]

I have been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia so I'm trying out different medicines to see what helps me. I have been getting pain in lower back, buttock and in legs soon after I get in bed. Last night I decided to wear a flight sock to see if it helps and it really did. I had best night sleep I've had 6 months. I had no pain waking me up at all. Most of my pain is down right side of my body. Just wondering what other people have tried?

 

[JayCS]

Hi Janine, and welcome!

For "right-sided fibromyalgia" you might like to watch Eric Berg's video about the gallbladder...
Generally "what other people have tried" is summed up neatly in sunkacola's post for newcomers,
including the warning I agree with to be careful with meds, try to use them only as life-belts for a time.
I do 100+/d self-treatments, so too much to mention, but specifically for these pain types in bed

• I've developed 5 twist-stretched positions (never lying on tailbone longer than 4'), aside from
• the (hard) mattress and (thin) topper, tailbone lambskin, 2 pillows and 1 "hunchback"-cushion I need,
• reduce them by doing lots of back exercises, normal and "Hatha yoga" type, 10-30'/d,
• use massager for specific spots (need to identify and analyze those first) if necessary,
• dead man hangs (20'' ist enough) often relieves a bit, "pops" the spine, and
• if all else fails I have to reset the pain with a short sharp cold shower (or if not possible warm),
• usually NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) / Yoga Nidra substitutes sleep and "ignore" pain with strong images as inner distraction,
• 10 new sleep techniques lately (from Huberman, Selsick, Prall and other experts: 3 new supps added to my 8? continued ones, early daylight (even more important than decreasing blue light in the evenings), "always" getting up again and leaving the bedroom if I can't sleep inside of 10 minutes etc., so sleeping less, but/and more effective, newest one is I've pulled my sleep forward to "10 to 6" in one go (Prall reminded me of this old granny admonition), to get daylight even earlier), for a time I've been using a 2nd gen. antihistamine which brings my sleep breaks down from 6-8 to 4-5,
• worst case just stay up, praps move a bit, re-position, twist-stretch until I'm so tired that it overrides it, but I haven't needed to do that in months due to all the above, in that case I use the time effectively (easy work or research, with dimmed monitor in night shift mode is best for me to distract and get tired too), enjoy it, never fretting, cos that just makes things worse....

 

[JamieMarc]

Hi Janine, and welcome!

For "right-sided fibromyalgia" you might like to watch Eric Berg's video about the gallbladder...
Generally "what other people have tried" is summed up neatly in sunkacola's post for newcomers,
including the warning I agree with to be careful with meds, try to use them only as life-belts for a time.
I do 100+/d self-treatments, so too much to mention, but specifically for these pain types in bed

• I've developed 5 twist-stretched positions (never lying on tailbone longer than 4'), aside from
• the (hard) mattress and (thin) topper, tailbone lambskin, 2 pillows and 1 "hunchback"-cushion I need,
• reduce them by doing lots of back exercises, normal and "Hatha yoga" type, 10-30'/d,
• use massager for specific spots (need to identify and analyze those first) if necessary,
• dead man hangs (20'' ist enough) often relieves a bit, "pops" the spine, and
• if all else fails I have to reset the pain with a short sharp cold shower (or if not possible warm),
• usually NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) / Yoga Nidra substitutes sleep and "ignore" pain with strong images as inner distraction,
• 10 new sleep techniques lately (from Huberman, Selsick, Prall and other experts: 3 new supps added to my 8? continued ones, early daylight (even more important than decreasing blue light in the evenings), "always" getting up again and leaving the bedroom if I can't sleep inside of 10 minutes etc., so sleeping less, but/and more effective, newest one is I've pulled my sleep forward to "10 to 6" in one go (Prall reminded me of this old granny admonition), to get daylight even earlier), for a time I've been using a 2nd gen. antihistamine which brings my sleep breaks down from 6-8 to 4-5,
• worst case just stay up, praps move a bit, re-position, twist-stretch until I'm so tired that it overrides it, but I haven't needed to do that in months due to all the above, in that case I use the time effectively (easy work or research, with dimmed monitor in night shift mode is best for me to distract and get tired too), enjoy it, never fretting, cos that just makes things worse....

the (hard) mattress and (thin) topper, tailbone lambskin, 2 pillows and 1 "hunchback"-cushion I need,

@JayCS , please tell me more about this as well as the "dead man hang." I have been researching/experimenting for many many months regarding my morning back pain upon waking and am desperate for a solution or at least a lessening of the pain. I'm also interested in the dead man hang. Does it require special equipment? What is it? Sounds like something I would benefit from. Thanks for anything you can provide.

 

[JayCS]

the (hard) mattress and (thin) topper, tailbone lambskin, 2 pillows and 1 "hunchback"-cushion I need,

please tell me more about this as well as the "dead man hang." I have been researching/experimenting for many many months regarding my morning back pain upon waking and am desperate for a solution or at least a lessening of the pain. I'm also interested in the dead man hang. Does it require special equipment? What is it? Sounds like something I would benefit from. Thanks for anything you can provide.

I think the starting point for any morning pain is the day before, trying to get all of these local pains down to as close to zero as possible, except those pains that will profit from lying down or about which we already know how to lie down so those improve. So this may mean taking all pains seriously with "zero tolerance", aiming at let's say 6-10x5' of active exercises, and massager treatments or similar, plus about this or even more twist-stretches. Because of course the night pains will build on this.

My main postures are basically rescue position posture, alternating left and right, with varying degrees of backward arching and additional leg twists. If finding a good, comfortable stretched position is making trying to get to sleep difficult, I'd use the stretching periods in the daytime to get the hang of the stretches that I need relieve the spinal and leg pain. Essentially I do the same twist-stretches, backward and sideway arches day and night. All back yoga exercises done in standing I also adapt to lying down and vice versa.

If I weren't awake 4-8x very night anyway, I'd also use dozing periods or seriously consider deliberately waking myself up for further pain alleviation. Not to do activating exercises unless pain is keeping me awake anyway, but to move around a bit, and re-position, alternatiing and correcting the stretch position I'm using. Sometimes I may feel like 3-4' of hunchback cushion so that my shoulders can fall back, but need to be careful that my tailbone doesn't get hurting too much from lying on it.

As to the bed:
I think I need the hard mattress not for my scolioses, but more for my kyphosis.
Any other mattress I get severe kyphosis pain from inside of 2 hours. So I need to sleep on the floor on a mattress to go in hospital and in most holiday apartments (when I used to be able to get away from home...). So it was also important to me to re-consider and try my wife's mattress and others for minutes or hours, but always came back to mine. Which is one for "tough men" - a straw mattress.
But when fibro came up I went softie - it hurt my muscles too much, so I put a topper on it, but the first was too thick (unfortunately I bought it cos I was so sure I'd need it really soft), so I had to take a really thin one.
My tailbone is even more sensitive than my hunchback. And fibro made my thighs hurt. So I put a lambskin under tailbone and upper legs, under the topper. But if I try to lie straight on my back with my "hunchback cushion" (it's actually a small spelt heat pad) under the kyphosis that's wonderful for my hunchback, but pure hell for my tailbone. So either I have to put my hands under my buttocks for a short time, or keep it even shorter.

A "dead man" hang is simply hanging from a bar, any bar you can keep your hands on will do. Today I did it outside on a "square" one 10x10cm, which I could only hold on to cos my grip is pretty good today, normally too big. My indoor one is a thin pull-up bar I put in the doorway to my room semi-permanently, it keeps falling down, cos I don't want to screw it. I wouldn't buy one without testing on a playground or tree first if it really does help my spine. I get the spine "relief" feeling 60% of the times I do it, and the "pop" 20% of the times, and this can be just an extra to what I need, but it doesn't replace all the stretches which relieve the spine much more...

Does that help a bit?

 

[JamieMarc]

Thanks so much @JayCS Yes! It helps a great deal and gives me some ideas to try out. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with such helpful info.

 

[JayCS]

Still forgot something...:

After trying prevention the day and night before, alleviation directly for all the local pains that have come up is the next step. Again with "zero tolerance". So first doing a body scan to find where the pains "are", and where they are coming from, or seem to be. If necessary logging them for further 'work' on them during the rest of the day. Prioritizing the most painful ones and/or those that seem easiest to get down. Remembering all the techniques we have: I tend to concentrate too much on stretches and acupressure / pressing sore points, and forget to use my massager on them as well as combining that with stretching, although these are more effective. Not overdoing this, so accepting what we can't get down and hoping that the treatment will lead to improvement once we start moving and distracting.

The hunchback cushion is for the upper back, not the lower, but changing the curve of the spine influences the whole spine.
Like wearing shoes with neutral or negative heels straightens my spine. (These are the only shoes I can wear. I recently bought some comfy warm slippers in bigger sizes to allow for my 5 pairs of socks. But they have small heels, so I am cutting the heels of the insoles off, and not even that is enough, so on the ones I've managed to do so I make sure while walking around the flat that my heels (esp. left foot) are directly on the floor. Not that comfy, but the best I can do/find at the moment. This decreases the hunchback pain that builds up during the day and can make the night hell.
Similarly to the hunchback cushion the arm position / stretch is mainly for the upper back, but can influence the lower back as well. If I sleep "opened up" for a time, it may not be as "cozy", but my shoulders are back, hunchback is reduced and shoulder blades are unloaded, I'm also twisting the lower back a little bit more, so I can maybe reduce the amount I stretch my upper leg to the back or (out)side.

Preventing and alleviating can be the same.... Yesterday evening i was playing cajon for short times, interspersed with listening to people. I had a little pain, but made sure I spent all the listening time with working on my wrists and my shoulder blades / back (as well as continually changing my posture from standing exercising, sitting and sitting on the floor on my mat leaning my back sore points against something sharp ). The sore points don't hurt unless I press them, but get better by massaging them. So by doing so I'm alleviating "invisible" / "potential" / "future" pain by looking for the sensitive areas.

Every alleviation, every posture even if it improves the main problem can and usually will increase another issue, so it's a case of prioritizing and alternating / switching. My hunchback cushion improves my upper back, pains my lower back, so after I have to twist to treat the lower back. But this will not worsen the hunchback, so then I'm thru with it, luckily. In some cases this will go on seemingly "forever", as long as we aren't working on it enough of have some issues that don't at the moment seem possible to get to zero. These are the ones to tackle (praps having another look for a good youtube physio video) when we've got the easier ones down.
Same as using a massager (on bad nights I do have this lying next to me, at the moment not usually necessary): It hurts my wrists and biceps in the daytime, at night I can let it rest on my body, so it's not that bad, but in the daytime I massager and finger massage my wrists for a short time after, sometimes alleviating first, but also making sure there is no "rest".

 

[JayCS]

"zero tolerance"

You may have to rephrase that for your present status. It's the idea, the aim. And I use it to encourage me not to be passive and distract too early. So I mean it in the sense of "zero passivity": either I work actively on a local pain to get it down, which will always take a while, or I accept it actively that I can't get it down at the moment, but that my body might be able to resolve it itself. This resolving "by itself" is what some people understate as "goes away" - it doesn't and can't just "go away", that's our body at work all the time without us realizing and appreciating, whilst we believe we are weaker and more helpless than we actually are. It's a mind game to appreciate that body game. And believing in that will help improve.

 

[Nan]

Hi Janine that’s a great idea to try. That’s part of my pain pattern but unfortunately mine stems from my spine and I need surgery to sort my spine so get yours checked out just incase it’s not fibromyalgia pain. Is it ok to use surgical stockings while sleeping? Take care Janine. Nan

 

[JamieMarc]

@JayCS jay, do you find that battery operated massagers work well? I love my massage stick and have been thinking about adding in a personal electric massager but was curious as to your feedback and any others who might wish to comment.

 

[JayCS]

@JayCS jay, do you find that battery operated massagers work well? I love my massage stick and have been thinking about adding in a personal electric massager but was curious as to your feedback and any others who might wish to comment.

Mine is great for me! (Wouldn't've thought before, my wife pushed me to get it a year or so ago, and I use it for all kinds of stuff.)

 

[JamieMarc]

@JayCS can you share with me what brand and model you got? I can so relate to everything you and I have been discussing in this thread. After I sell my condo and buy a new home I am planning on buying an adjustable bed for my back. I arranged my bed pillows the other night to prop myself up and I woke up with much less back pain, but then tried it again the second night and my back pain was the same as if I were not reclined. I'm certain it's because it is much more difficult to arrange pillows just so to make sure everything is perfect. I'm really excited about getting an adjustable bed and very hopeful for some great results. Right now my morning back pain is my biggest complaint with regard to my fibromyalgia. It takes several hours of activity before it goes away and of course like you I do stretches every morning of several different types and I use my stick massager etc. So I think the electric massager and the adjustable bed will be two great additions to my pain management tool kit. Again Jay if you don't mind let me know what brand and model you purchased and I'll start with that. Thanks so much for all of your great and so helpful information!

 

[JayCS]

can you share with me what brand and model you got?

Well mine was from the German Aldi North, our most reputable discounter by far (as opposed to non-German Aldis I've heard),
but that's not gonna help you much.... Very simple, only cost 40€. My wife said: go buy it & I didn't feel like comparing for once.
However when I checked on physio reviews on youtube they all said it doesn't matter which brand/model you take.
I only use the big spherical head and only have 3 speeds, fast is sometimes "easier" on me than slow, I usually vary...
I don't miss anything, can't even be bothered to change the heads, and there's hardly a spot I haven't used it on.
Just I always start a spot I don't know well yet gently with little pressure and short time.

 

[JamieMarc]

@JayCS awesome! Thank you so much Jay. I can't wait to get one.

 

[JayCS]

can't wait to get one

Hope your hopes aren't too high now... Just as important it'd appear to me is how you can get your pillows in a sustainably good position and learn to stretch your body while dozing / sleeping - any chance of that?

 

[JamieMarc]

Oh no I hopes aren't too high. But I always have hope. I'm not messing around with my pillows. As I said I'm going to get an adjustable bed. It is probably I think not a good idea to be using a whole bunch of pillows because it's very very easy to do more harm than good using that method. But I have experimented as I said actually a few times now and I do find that elevation definitely helps. But that will be a little ways down the road because I have to buy my new house first. When I said I can't wait to get one I was referring to the electric massager, which I will get as soon as I get a free moment. Sunday is typically unintentionally break day for me so to speak from my pain so I think I will get online and order a massager tomorrow. Too bad you can't send pics or can we? Anyway I'll just start by looking up the model you gave me and getting an idea of what you have been using. Again @JayCS thank you so much!