Yes, there is a link between poor sleep and susceptibility to pain. People with Fibromyalgia frequently have abnormalities during sleep related to increased pain sensitivity. It is undoubtedly clear that by treating abnormalities of sleep in patients with Fibromyalgia there is almost always improvement in pain. However, sleep abnormalities are not always easily identified. Most sleep testing centers only focus on diagnosing Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and are not sophisticated enough to detect subtle abnormalities, and probably as in your case mistakenly conclude the sleep study as being normal. Some sleep centers provide a higher quality of assessment. In my centers for example, we use state-of-theart methods to detect subtle abnormalities. This allows us to properly identify and treat disrupted sleep in patients with Fibromyalgia and other difficult conditions associated with abnormal sleep. When properly diagnosed and treated, patients with Fibromyalgia can frequently become pain free without the use of narcotics or other medications that cause drowsiness during the day.
