Definitions and symptoms:
The term “fibromyalgia” (FM or FMS) is a chronic syndrome characterized by specific chronic pain in the muscles, ligaments, bones, joints, tendons, may cause fatigue, depression, difficulty concentrating, numbness or tingling sensations, mood changes, chest pain, dry eyes, painful menstrual periods, dizziness, anxiety and many more symptoms. Fibromyalgia is referred to as a syndrome because it is a set of signs and symptoms that occur together.
If you have widespread musculoskeletal pain in your muscles, ligaments, tendons as well as fatigue but your doctor can’t find anything wrong with you, you might be suffering from Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is often referred as the “invisible” illness or disability due to the fact generally there are no outward indications of the illness. Individuals suffering from this invisible illness in general often face disbelief from others that are unfamiliar with the syndrome. Most people who suffer from Fibromyalgia symptoms say they ache all over and their muscles feel like they have been pulled or overworked. Your muscles sometimes can twitch or burn. Fibromyalgia is more common in women than in men and shows up in people of all ages. Fibromyalgia is an often misunderstood condition because symptoms are common and tests usually come back normal. Medical studies have proven that fibromyalgia does exist and currently is estimated to affect over 4 million people. The intensity of your symptoms may very and probably never totally disappear completely. However, fibromyalgia isn’t life threating or progressive. With treatment and self-care you can improve fibromyalgia symptoms and your health.
Why do people suffer from fibromyalgia?
There are many different studies on why people suffer from fibromyalgia but no one really knows for sure. Researchers speculate many different reasons why you may suffer from fibromyalgia. Some of these include abnormal levels of several different chemicals that transmit pain to the brain, an infectious illness, emotional and physical trauma, hormonal changes, muscle abnormalities, infection, automobile accident, lupus, hypothyroidism, age and many more. Researchers do know that when you grow older your bones, joints and muscles metabolism or slows down naturally which can cause fibromyalgia. Most bone, joint and muscle problems are accompanied with pain. Some people try to ignore the pain until it grows out of control and then seek treatment. People in this situation can experience some level of stress or depression which could further elevate the feeling of pain throughout the body. Sleep then becomes a problem because no one can sleep while in such pain. This causes metabolism to keep declining as a result of inadequate sleep, which causes more depression, stress, pain, and repeats itself over and over again.
What are some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia?
All people are different and no two people with fibromyalgia experience the same symptoms the same way, but people with fibromyalgia do experience similar symptoms. Signs and symptoms can vary depending on the weather, stress, physical activity or even the time of the day. Common signs and symptoms include:
Pain is the most prominent symptom of fibromyalgia. The pain of fibromyalgia has no boundaries. This pain is usually in the muscles and ligaments. This deep pain is commonly located in the head, neck, chest, shoulders, upper and lower back, hips, arms, elbows, legs, knees and feet. Usually the pain is worse in the mornings and can be described as burning, throbbing, shooting, aching or stabbing. This pain can last for months at a time and is often accompanied by stiffness.
Fatigue and sleep disturbances occur in about 90% of people who have fibromyalgia. Fatigue occurs so commonly that some doctors think fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are the same disease. The severity of fatigue can range from mild to incapacitating. People who suffer from fatigue often wake up tired and unrefreshed even though they had plenty of sleep. Some studies say that fibromyalgia disrupts alpha waves of sleep patterns. This condition causes people to miss the deep restorative stage of sleep making them feel fatigued during the day. This alpha wave interrupted sleep pattern has been described as “brain fatigue” in which the person feels totally drained of energy. Many patients have also been found to have other sleep disorders in addition to the alpha-EEG, such as sleep apnea, bruxism (teeth grinding), periodic limb movement during sleep (jerking of arms and legs), and restless legs syndrome (difficulty sitting still in the evenings). Another common symptom is called fibrofog which refers to the inability to concentrate, memory loss, and depression. Many experts suspect that fibrofog is directly related to sleep disturbances experienced by suffers of fibromyalgia.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas, nausea, bloating associated with IBS are frequently found in rougly 40% to 70% of patients who suffer from fibromyalgia. This can also include acid reflux or gastroesophogeal reflux disease (GRED).
Chronic headaches and facial pain - Migraine or tension headaches are seen in many patients who suffer from fibromyalgia. Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome causes tremendous jaw-related facial pain. The problems are related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the jaw joint. Sore jaw joints and surrounding muscles are also common with people who suffer from fibromyalgia.
Heightened sensitivity - It's common for people with fibromyalgia to report being sensitive to odors, noises, bright lights and touch.
Other common symptoms include painful periods, impaired coordination can occur, dizziness, dry eyes and mouth, skin sensitivities, swollen extremities, irritable bladder, muscle twitching, numbness and tingling sensations, memory impairment, morning stiffness, chest pain, and much more.
The following factors are said to temporarily increase the suffering of fibromyalgia patients – increase in stress, physical activity, atmospheric pressure, lack of deep sleep, hunger, starvation, malnutrition, cold weather, infections, allergies, hormonal fluctuations, over exertion and more. There are many support groups on the Internet that cater to fibromyalgia sufferers.
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