Why Is Neuropathy Worse At Night?

If you suffer from neuropathy, you have likely noticed that the pain, tingling, and other odd sensations are often much worse at night. This can make it very difficult to sleep at night, especially if the pain continues to increase. Fortunately, you can seek out neuropathy treatment that will help reduce these painful sensations while you work on the underlying condition that is causing your neuropathy. It also helps to understand the different factors that contribute to the increase in neuropathy pain at night.

The Change in Temperature

During sleep, your body’s temperature drops. Most people also tend to set the thermostat a little lower at night. This change in temperature is thought to trigger the nerves in your legs, arms, and hands. They would normally send signals to the brain that indicate coldness. However, because of the nerve damage, those signals instead come across as a tingling sensation or even as pain.

Some Medication Affects Neuropathy

There are some medications that can make neuropathy worse or, in the case of some cancer treatments, actually be the cause of your short-term neuropathy. If you take a medication at bedtime and notice a flare-up in your neuropathy pain, you should talk to the prescribing doctor about it. You may need to change the timing of the medication so it affects you less.

You Aren’t Distracted from the Pain

Another reason why neuropathy may seem worse at night is that you’re no longer distracted from the pain. You’re not focused on work, television, reading, playing with your kids, or any other activity. Once you notice that your legs, hands, feet, or arms hurt, you may start to hyper-focus on the pain since you don’t have anything to distract you. You may also notice this increased pain on the weekends or at other times when you don’t have anything else to focus on.

If you have insomnia or another condition that makes it difficult to sleep, it can make the pain even worse. You’re already tired from not sleeping well, so you may be hyper-focused on anything that is contributing to keeping you awake.

Feeling Stressed

Stress and emotion can impact how well you sleep and how you respond to the pain and tingling of neuropathy. If you haven’t been sleeping that well, your emotions may be on edge. This can actually make the pain sensations from neuropathy seem worse. Stress affects the body in many different ways, too. Pain can seem much worse, especially if you combine being stressed with not getting enough sleep.

Dealing with Increased Neuropathy Pain

If your neuropathy seems to get worse during the night, there are a few things you can try. First, you could try falling asleep to a TV show or to music. This may help you keep your mind off the pain since there will be something to distract you. If you sleep in a fairly cool room, you could try using a blanket or turning up the heat a little to see if the change in temperature affects your neuropathy at all.

Unfortunately, if you believe your neuropathy pain becomes worse at night, it can be very difficult to break yourself of that belief. Even if you are doing something that helps, your mind may be convinced that you’re going to be in a lot of pain whenever you lay down to sleep. Overcoming this ingrained belief can be done, but it does take work.

The best way of handling your neuropathy pain is to seek out proven treatment for it. While you will have to address the underlying cause of your neuropathy (diabetes, alcoholism, etc.), these treatments do reduce the pain and help your nerves heal. Here at Fox Integrated Healthcare, we offer a number of these cutting-edge neuropathy treatments. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.