What Is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a “musculoskeletal disorder” with extreme sensitization of central nervous system (connecting brain and spinal cord) which sends amplified pain signals to the body. People with Fibromyalgia have over sensitized central nervous system affecting all the senses of the body. Harsh light, loud sounds, eating spicy foods, inhaling heavy perfumes or vapors, or even a light touch of hand can be extremely painful. The pain is at its highest or severe upon waking in morning and gradually reduces as the day progresses.
People with Fibromyalgia not only feel pain for something that will not hurt others, but also feel amplified pain. A knock on the knee, which wouldn’t leave a bruise or scratch, can cause swelling, soreness and stiffness in a Fibromyalgic person. Fibromyalgia is not a localized pain condition such as back pain or joint pain, but is body-wide, with a heightened sense of pain and flu-like aching.
Fibromyalgia is an amplified perception of pain and sensitivity caused due to the imbalance of neurochemicals - messengers of central nervous system. When a body is injured, a neurochemical called “Substance P,” which transmits pain signals throughout the body, is released into the spinal cord. In persons with fibromyalgia, the neurochemical “Substance P” is produced in large quantities, and so the brain thinks that the body is in a greater pain than it actually is.
Fibromyalgia is not a disease, as it does not degenerate the body, but a syndrome - a collection of symptoms, which fail to satisfy the criteria of disease. The central nervous system becomes over sensitized in Fibromyalgic persons due to a phenomenon called “wind up” in which the FM person experiences a longer and greater pai...
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... and when pressed, are more painful than other points. The accompanying diagram shows the 18 tender points on the body.
Diagnosis of FM is extremely difficult as FM has many overlapping and common characteristics with various other diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, Myofacial Pain Syndrome, Arthritis, Lupus (an autoimmune disease in which antibodies attack skin, kidney and joints), Thyroid problems especially hypothyroidism, and Raynaud’s phenomenon (a condition in which fingers and toes are hyper sensitive to cold temperatures).
Diagnosis of FM is an important and vital step in mitigating the problem and wrong diagnosis (as it happens in many cases of FM) leads to wrong treatment, and the patient has to live his entire life with FM. So, the most important step is to find a good doctor who has experience in diagnosing and treating FM.
This chronic autoimmune disease is characterized by varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal muscles. The weakness increases during periods of activity and improves after rest. Normally the muscles that control the eye and eyelid movement, facial expressions, chewing, talking, and, swallowing are affected first.
Because symptoms are wide - ranged and studies for treatment of FMS did not begin until the 1980's, it is one of the most popularly misdiagnosed conditions in the medical world. The main symptoms are widespread pain and fatigue as well as tender points on the body. The muscular pain often may feel like a pulled muscle and may burn or twitch. (Source 3)
Although there is no known cure for this condition despite the advent of science and technology, the good thing is that there are numerous options to offer relief for fibromyalgia patients. You must have heard about being dependent to certain types of medicines or those people who no longer respond to low dose analgesia. In this case, most patients look for natural remedies to avoid complications later on. Even top-notch medical specialists believe that the treatment and management for fibromyalgia should be a balanced and holistic approach that comes with complementary medicine, appropriate exercise and therapy.
... gastrointestinal tract, causing stomach cramps that are consistent. Sleep disturbances or lack of good sleep, usually caused by some form of sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome (RLS) that does not allow the body to completely relax and fall into an uninterrupted deep sleep. Temperature sensitivity, when it’s warm, it feels too hot for them or vise versa for cold or cooler weather. It affects Sensitivity to loud noises or bright lights, limiting their ability to be in a noisy environment like a restaurant or even drive a vehicle at night. Cognitive issues with thinking and memory, such as concentration or disorganized thinking. It also causes the inability to stay focused and cognitive recognition, such as seeing a pen on the counter but not being able to say the word pen. This is very common with fibromyalgia and is often called “fibro fog” (Huffington Post).
Fibromyalgia, also known as fibromyalgia syndrome and fibromyositis, is a chronic pain disorder that affects people physically, socially, and mentally. It can affect any area of the body and affects multiple areas. This disorder is most common in women, but it can also affect men and children of all ethnic groups. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of twenty and fifty. People who have Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, or Spinal Arthritis have an increased risk of developing Fibromyalgia. This disorder cannot be transmitted from person to person.
Everything started off as expected and I felt as though I had finally found my true calling in life. Then it happened. My doctor’s appointment was scheduled the first week of class, and I was anxious to finally get the much anticipated answers to the source or cause of my pain. But the news I received left me dumbfounded. My body went numb, comparable to being thrown into a sea of ice where I had no time to react. Frozen in time, the doctor’s words drifting in mid-air, my mind would not accept these words so instead I was left watching them as if they were solid masses in front of my eyes. Fibromyalgia—a disease that doctors are still studying and many know little about. How could this happen? How did I get this disease? All these questions raced through my mind. When the doctor had no reply, the questions derailed from their thoughtful track and c...
Fibromyalgia is an extremely disabling condition associated with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain and reduced pain thresholds (Wolfe et al., 2010)(Kelley et al., 2011). Observational studies have shown that over a 12 month period 25% of men and women surveyed over the age of 65 will consult a primary care physician for musculoskeletal pain (Jordan et al., 2010). Overall, between 46% and 80% of people over the age of 65 report experiencing pain on a daily basis and 15% of women and 10% of men over 50 report widespread musculoskeletal pain (Soldato et al., 2007; Thomas et al., 2004). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in xxxx that fibromyalgia patients generated $6000 per patient per year in healthcare costs where as another recent study of administrative claims found that fibromyalgia healthcare costs may exceed $18,000 per patient annually (Wolfe et al., 1997). In a population study of ten chronic diseases, fibromyalgia was highest ranked for healthcare not received in the previous year and in long-term disability, pain, and poor self-rated health by survey participants (Kasman and Badley, 2004).
So what is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or CFS? I would like to be able to explain exactly what CFS is, but true to the nature of what is known about this illness, there is no precise way to describe CFS. Rather, the disease is identified through a number of symptoms (both physical and psychological), including unexplained and persistent fatigue of new or definite onset, concurrent with short-term memory loss, sore throat, tender axillary lymph nodes, muscle pain and unrefreshing sleep, among a number of others, for a duration of at least six months. As is probably evident, the above symptoms, in addition to being signs of CFS, are also the same (or very similar) symptoms experienced in such diseases as Lymes disease and "the flu." There are symptoms that involve the Gastrointestinal Tract (GI), immunological-related symptoms, symptoms of psychiatric disease like depression, sexual malfunction, endocrine dysfunction-basically every system in the body. This is part of the reason why CFS is hard to detect, and is usually chosen as a diagnosis only at the exclusion of all other possible ailments. The other difficulty that lies with diagnosing CFS is that there is no way of measuring the level of a person's fatigue-there is no way for a physician to tell whether a patient complaining of fatigue is experiencing the type of fatigue associated with CFS or he/she is just extremely tired and overworked.
Fibromylagia is a chronic disorder that causes wide-spread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and tenderness in localized area. So far the disorder can't be cured, but can be managed through treatment. The client will need to be diagnosed by a medical doctor and unhappily may live with fibromayaigia for years if not for the rest of their life. However, clients should remember that they aren't alone,today over 5.6 million Americans suffer from this disorder
Fibromyalgia is a medical condition characterized by chronic widespread pain and a heightened pain response to pressure. Most people believe that Fibromyalgia is rare; however, it is estimated to impact more than 5 million citizens of the United States alone. It is dominantly found in women more than men with 80% of reported cases being those of women. It usually onsets in middle age even though it is a long-term disorder. Diagnosing a patient with Fibromyalgia may take time but it is very possible considering there are more than 4,000 published studies.
... to fibromyalgia condition. Acupuncture generally stimulates the nervous system, causing the release of neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters initiate biochemical reactions that influence the homeostatic mechanism of the body. Consequently, anxiety, pain, stiffness, fatigue and depression associated with fibromyalgia are improved (Fitzcharles, Ste-Marie and Pereira, 2013). Specifically, acupuncture relieves pain in fibromyalgia patients by increasing endorphins and reducing the blood levels of serotonin. In addition, it evokes short-term increase in mu-opioid receptors in the brain. It also initiates nervous stimulation of muscles and tissues, thereby changing the process of pain processing in the spinal cord and in the brain. Consequently, acupuncture improves muscle stiffness by increasing local microcirculation in fibromyalgia patients (Terhorst et al, 2011).
Fibromyalgia is a common disorder which causes widespread chronic pain and fatigue. People who have this condition typically have pain and tenderness in all four quadrants of the body, along with eighteen specific tender points in the neck, arms, shoulders, back, hips, and legs. Along with the pain and fatigue, people will also experience trouble sleeping, migraine and cluster headaches, nerve pain, allodynia, and cognitive difficulties that affect
The best treatment for Fibromyalgia is exercise. Exercise is hard to do when you are in constant pain, but eventually, exercise will help you control the pain. It’s important to start out slow and then increase your work-outs a little at a time. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself right away. The five best exercises for Fibromyalgia are walking, Yoga, swimming, Pilates and biking. WALKING Walking is a great beginner exercise for someone who has Fibromyalgia. Start walking just ten minutes a day for at least five days a week. Every week increase your time by five minutes. You’re going to be extremely sore, but don’t stop. The more you walk, the better you will feel.
Considering the Beverly’s complaints, she has been undergoing through a season of stressful moments. She kept wondering why she couldn’t do the things she used to before. The doubt presented by her family members and her husband made her discouraged. This kept her depressed. She also engaged in hard activities that triggered other physical challenges that harbor the existence of Fibromyalgia and depression at the same time. Her daily activities forces her to take bed rest in order to fight the fatigue developed from the previous day’s hard labor. These are the major contributing factors to the condition affecting the
brain telling us we are in pain. Neurotransmitters help with emotion and pain they send