8. Insomnia is a side effect of arthritis
“When you don’t sleep well, your cortisol levels go up,” says Dr. Blum. In other words, you’re feeding stress which can maximize the inflammation which is linked to arthritis. A lack of sleep can also boost sensitivity to pain, an issue for arthritis patients, she notes.
An effective solution could be cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps patients change the distorted thinking that can worsen pain levels. This practice has been shown by research to increase the amount of time osteoarthritis sufferers slept—and, as they said, decreased their pain significantly.
