Fibromyalgia affects as many as 3-6 million Americans and usually strikes women, however, it can affect anyone. Fibromyalgia is known, also, as fibro or FMS. Fibromyalgia is not a new disorder; it’s been around nearly a century and has started to gain attention in the 1980s. It’s important to note that Fibromyalgia is not a disease, it’s a syndrome. The difference between a disease and a syndrome is that a syndrome is a collection of signs, symptoms and medical problems that happen together but don’t point to one specific cause as does a disease.
Fibromyalgia is characterized by muscle pain, multiple tender spots and general fatigue. There are other symptoms that one with Fibromyalgia might feel, these include: problems sleeping, dry eyes, anxiety, depression, morning stiffness, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, painful periods, numbness or tingling in the arms and legs, sensitivity to temperature, memory problems and many other symptoms may be present.
One of the main points of Fibromyalgia pain is the multiple tender spots. These spots are one of the ways Fibromyalgia is diagnosed. These spots are located on specific parts of the body: on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, and upper and lower extremities. For people with Fibromyalgia, slight pressure to these spots can cause a great deal of pain.
Symptoms can vary from day to day and according to weather and stress. It can even vary by the time of day. Fibromyalgia is almost unpredictable, but it is manageable with the right tools.
Fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose as people tend to feel very tired and hurt all over, but doctors can usually find nothing wrong. It’s frustrating for both the patient and the doctor. However painful Fibromyalgia is, there is one thing it isn’t: life-threatening. It can last a long time, even a life-time, but it will never get worse and in some cases will even improve. It will never cause damage to your body, it is just painful.
No one really knows what causes Fibromyalgia, but there seems to be a theory that people with Fibromyalgia have a lower threshold for pain because of increased sensitivity in the brain to pain signals. Researchers believe that repeated stimulation of the nerves causes the brains of people with Fibromyalgia to change. They believe this changes involves an abnormal increase in levels of certain chemicals in the brain that signal pain. They also believe that the brain’s pain receptors develop some sort of memory of the pain and become more sensitive and overreact to pain signals. So basically, they believe that pressure on a spot on the body that wouldn’t hurt someone without Fibromyalgia would be very painful to someone who has it. Researchers do not know what initiates this process.
They do believe that there are things that might cause Fibromyalgia, and these include: sleep disturbances, an injury (especially to the upper spinal region), a viral or bacterial infection of some sort, abnormalities of the autonomic nervous system, or possibly changes in muscle metabolism. Physical stress and hormonal changes might also be a contributing factor to Fibromyalgia.
Diagnosing Fibromyalgia can be a difficult process. The most common process is to diagnose based on two criteria: a history of widespread pain lasting more than 3 months and the presence of tender points. Pain is considered widespread when it affects the four quadrants of the body. There are also 18 sites on the body that are considered tender points, and a person with Fibromyalgia will need to have 11 of these. So a person with Fibromyalgia will have at least 11 tender points as well as pain in both the right and left side in the upper and lower part of the body for at least three months.
Treating Fibromyalgia is not an easy task. It requires a team effort and a knowledgeable doctor. The usual treatment consists of meeting with a physical therapist, taking over the counter pain relievers, non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antidepressants and other drugs as fits with the patients symptoms and pain. There are also things a person can do at home and by themselves. They can exercise, get plenty of sleep, eat a heal tier diet and make changes in their lives to reduce stress.
Fibromyalgia is a complicated and frustrating syndrome that can cause a lifetime of pain for people. It’s a complex and still trying to be understood by researchers who so desperately want to find a “cure”. There are many options for people with Fibromyalgia and hopefully they will all find the right one for them. It’s a matter of being patient, taking care of themselves and doing all they can to stay relaxed and stress free. Fibromyalgia will continue to be a mystery.
