Fibromyalgia

[Guest guest]

Fibromyalgia

I hurt all over and I

have no energy!

In

the Spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and lupus after having complained of constant

pain for almost a year. I had been told the pain was just sore muscles,

or the pain was just after effects from several surgeries, and I was referred

by two doctors to talk to a psychiatrist about the problem. I did.

I was

told by my psychiatrist that one of the doctors had written him a letter

suggesting I may be an addict looking for pain medications. I realize

that some people may try that to obtain drugs, but for a medical doctor to

assume I was an addict without properly testing and ruling out any underlying

disorders was not only unethical but criminal as well.

I

felt compelled to include the following information on my site. I hope it

helps someone to understand the difficulties of dealing with fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia

is hard to diagnose, but if you hurt all over and have absolutely no energy,

consult a doctor, preferably a rheumatologist as they deal with this type of

illness and are better able to diagnose the symptoms.

Allow

no one to tell you .. " It's all in your

head " .

Find a doctor that will listen to you and persevere until

the symptoms are under control.

~ Rion

~

Definition of Fibromyalgia

A common rheumatic

syndrome indicating widespread pain in fibrous tissues, muscles, tendons, and

other connective tissues, resulting in painful muscles without weakness. Fatigue may

also be present.

Diagnosis

of fibromyalgia includes a history of

a least three months of widespread pain, and pain in at least 11 of 18

tender-point sites.

These tender-point

sites include fibrous tissue or muscles of the:

shoulders

neck

chest

rib cage

lower back

thighs

knees

arms (elbows)

The overwhelming

characteristic of fibromyalgia is long-standing pain

at defined tender points, which are not the same as trigger points. Tender

points hurt only when pressed. Trigger points can be tender locally and lead to

traveling or spreading pain.

The soft tissue pain is

described as departing, radiating, gnawing, shooting, or burning, and ranges

from mild to severe. Fibromyalgia sufferers tend to

waken with body aches and stiffness. Pain is usually mild in the morning and

often increases again during the evening. Pain can increase with activity; cold,

damp weather; anxiety; and stress.

Causes, incidence, and

risk factors:

The cause of this

disorder is unknown. Possible causes can include physical or emotional trauma.

One hypothesis suggests that the disorder may be associated with changes in

craniofacial and skeletal muscle metabolism, such as decreased blood flow,

which could cause chronic fatigue and weakness.

Another hypothesis is

that an infectious microbe, such as a virus, triggers the illness. At this

point, no virus or microbe has been identified.

Pilot studies have

shown a possible inherited tendency toward the disease.

The disorder has an

increased frequency among women 20 to 50 years old. The incidence is 9 out of

1,000 people.

Prevention:

There is no proven

prevention for this disorder.

Symptoms:

· Multiple tender areas

(muscle and joint pain) on the back of the neck, shoulders, sternum, lower

back, hip, shin, elbows, or knees.

· Fatigue.

· Sleep disturbances.

· Body aches.

· Reduced exercise

tolerance.

· Chronic facial muscle

pain or aching.

Signs and Tests:

A number of tests may

be done to rule out other disorders. An examination reveals multiple tender

areas on the back of the neck, shoulders, sternum, lower back, hip, shin,

elbows, or knees.

A dolorimeter,

an instrument that distributes pressure over a specific area, is sometimes used

to gain data about patients and their individual sites of pain.

Other underlying

ailments, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and

rheumatoid arthritis, can also be present. New patients should be checked for

these underlying conditions as well as fibromyalgia.

Treatment:

In mild cases, symptoms

may go away when stress is decreased. Treatment includes patient education,

physical therapy, and counseling. Many fibromyalgia

sufferers have found support groups helpful.

Low-dose tricyclic antidepressant medications or nonsteroidal

anti-inflammatory drugs are sometimes prescribed. Studies show that

antidepressants, in low doses, can decrease depression, relax craniofacial and

skeletal muscles, improve sleep quality, and release pain-killing endorphins.

No special diets are

recommended at this time, though some reports indicate that fish oil,

magnesium/malic acid combinations, or vitamins may be

effective. Reducing stress and improving coping skills may also help reduce

painful symptoms.

Improved fitness

through exercise is recommended. The best way to begin a fitness program is to

start with low impact exercises like walking and swimming. Starting slowly

helps stretch and mobilize tight, sore muscles.

High-impact aerobics and weight lifting could cause increased discomfort.

Gentle stretching and light massage may help relieve symptoms, as will

electronic acupuncture and relaxation techniques.

Severe cases of fibromyalgia may require a referral to a pain clinic.

Expectations

(prognosis):

Fibromyalgia is generally a

benign condition causing no damage to muscles or connective tissue.

Developing depression, from having to deal with moderate to severe pain on a

daily basis, is a high probability. With a supportive treatment program,

the probable outcome is usually good, but symptoms may persist for a period

ranging from six months to ten years.

This information was gathered

from :

http://health.yahoo.com/health/Diseases_and_Conditions/Disease_Feed_Data/Fibromyalgia

Brain scans document fibromyalgia

pain

By Stenson

Last Updated: 2002-06-17 13:39:09 -0400

(Reuters Health) NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -

Brain scans of people with fibromyalgia offer the first hard evidence of what patients

already know: Their pain is real and their threshold for tolerating it is

substantially lower than that of most individuals.

" When patients with fibromyalgia

tell us that they're tender, that they're experiencing pain at a much lower

level than people without the condition, they are in fact experiencing that

pain, " said Dr. Clauw, a professor of

medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. " This

is the first neurobiological evidence of the veracity of their pain, " he

told Reuters Health.

Fibromyalgia affects an estimated 2% to 4% of

the population, mostly women. Patients commonly report feeling tenderness,

stiffness and sometimes unbearable pain in various areas of the body. They also

may suffer from fatigue, depression and gastrointestinal problems.

Some doctors without expertise in fibromyalgia

have dismissed patients' complaints because there have been no documented

physical signs of the disorder. " I hope this study helps convince

physicians that this is a real condition, " Clauw

said. In the new report, published in a recent issue of Arthritis &

Rheumatism, Clauw and colleagues studied 16 people

who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 16

healthy people who had not (the " control " group). All underwent a

type of detailed brain scan known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while an instrument intermittently applied different

levels of pressure to their left thumbnail.

When all study participants received the same level of

mild pressure, blood flow increased much more in the brains of patients with fibromyalgia than among those in the control group. The

increased blood flow--which is a " surrogate measure " for nerve

activity--occurred in areas of the brain known to be associated with pain, Clauw noted.

In addition, when study participants were subjected to

different levels of pressure, fibromyalgia patients

reported pain at half the level of pressure that caused the same feelings of

pain among the healthy controls, results showed. Clauw

said the findings suggest that something is awry with the way the central

nervous system processes painful stimuli in fibromyalgia

patients. Future research should be aimed at identifying the problem and

working to develop better treatments, he added.

Hugs,

Deanna