L-Theanine for Fibromyalgia: Could it help to improve your disruptive sleep?

One of the biggest complaints from people with fibromyalgia is that the condition negatively impacts on sleep. Not sleeping is problematic because it exacerbates fibro symptoms. It’s a horrible catch-22 that we find ourselves in and it is a seemingly never-ending cycle.

However, it is completely possible to improve your sleep and I am living proof of that. Apart from the very occasional poor night’s sleep (which let’s face it, even healthy people have from time-to-time), I sleep pretty well.

I know you might be thinking I am very lucky but I haven’t always slept well. I spent years suffering from poor quality sleep and waking up numerous times through the night.

I used to think I was lucky that I got to sleep at all. Truthfully, how I slept wasn’t a whole lot better than not sleeping at all.

Improving My Sleep

It has been through my own efforts that I have managed to get a good night’s sleep. The good news is this means it is totally possible for you too.

I have to give credit to alternative therapies for helping me initially. However, it wasn’t until recently that I realised the quality of my sleep was still pretty rubbish. I thought it had improved a lot more than it actually had.

My Fitbit Flex was recording me being restless all through the night and I never slept for more than 1.5-2 hours at a time. You might think this sounds great if you suffer from insomnia but it’s really not.

These short periods of sleep meant I wasn’t getting much (if any) quality deep sleep. This is not good as your body needs this deep sleep to be able to heal and restore itself.

Gabapentin wORSENED MY sLEEP pROBLEMS

I actually found that when I started taking gabapentin back in October my sleep problems worsened. I had problems falling asleep and struggled with insomnia (on top of poor quality sleep). This frustrated me as it was the exact opposite of what I was told about the drug.

Although this did settle down a bit eventually, it was also true when I decided to come off the drug. My sleep pattern went out the window and I was awake until the small hours of the morning. I needed to do something but I didn’t know what.

Dr. Rawls very kindly offered to speak with me and offer his help. He suggested that I took 200mg of L-Theanine daily.

wHAT IS L-tHEANINE

L-Theanine is an amino acid that has a calming effect on the body and helps to reduce stress. I have been taking 200mg every evening for the past 3 weeks and I immediately noticed a difference.

It has had a very calming effect on me and I fall asleep much more easily now. Even better, I am sleeping for longer periods at a time and I am much less restless through the night.

According to my Fitbit Flex, I have been restless 5 times through the night on average over the past 3 weeks that I have been taking L-Theanine. I may briefly wake up one or two times in the night but I fall back to sleep immediately.

Most nights, however, I don’t remember waking up at all. As a side note, the Fitbit isn’t that great when it comes to recording you being awake (unless you move around a lot once you are) so I have to rely on memory rather than this device to determine if I wake up.

L-tHEANINE iMPROVED MY sLEEP

The best night saw me sleep solidly for 8.5 hours, which was amazing. I literally did not move the entire night. Unfortunately, the downside to this was I was very stiff when I woke up the next morning!

What I have found overall is that I am thankfully getting longer periods of sleep each night and therefore the quality of my sleep has improved. This is helping me to feel better overall.

Given that I averaged being restless 14 times a night in the three weeks prior to starting L-Theanine (and that I never slept for very long periods of time), I think this is a good improvement.

Before taking L-Theanine I had nights where I was restless anywhere up to 28 times!!! I also woke up at least 3-4 times through the night.

I can’t say for definite this is working all on its own because I also take the Vital Plan Restore Program and it could be working in synergy with this. I imagine my diet changes are also helping and I have been working hard to reduce the stress in my life too.

However, I have been impressed with the improvements I have seen since taking L-theanine for Fibromyalgia. You can purchase it from Amazon. You get 60 days worth of tablets (one capsule per day), so it’s not expensive. I would, therefore, recommend trying it.

Have you taken L-Theanine or is it something you would consider taking?

Please always consult your GP before taking any supplements, especially if you are currently on medication.