About Lupus

Lupus and Sleep Problems

As we all know, sleep is important to our emotional and physical health. It’s a time to re-boot, refreshing our minds and our bodies to wake up fresh to a new day. But for many people with lupus, a good night’s sleep can be elusive.

A new study published in the Journal of Rheumatology showed that people with lupus have more sleep problems than people in the general population, and anxiety and depression seem related to these sleep disturbances. Fatigue is a major lupus symptom, and not sleeping well only adds to a feeling of fatigue and lethargy. Anxiety and depression are common experiences for people with chronic illness, and it is often difficult to distinguish whether the depression is caused by lupus, if the anxiety is caused by a medication side-effect, or if these emotional experiences are a result of having to cope with having lupus. Regardless, it is a good idea to tell your rheumatologist if you are not getting enough sleep, and also if you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression.

Keeping a sleep diary to track your sleep patterns can be helpful. Perhaps you will notice a relationship with certain factors in your life and the nights that you have sleeping difficulties. For example, maybe every time you had to deal with a challenging person in your life you did not sleep well the night before or after. Or perhaps you notice that since taking a certain medication you have more trouble sleeping.  If you use a smart phone, you can even try a sleep diary app. 

