Fibromyalgia: the painful truth
The primary symptoms of fibromyalgia include widespread musculoskeletal pain, severe fatigue and disturbed sleep.
Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons -- the soft fibrous tissues in the body.
Most patients with fibromyalgia say they ache all over. Their muscles may feel like they were pulled or overworked. Sometimes, fibromyalgia symptoms include muscle twitches and burning sensations.
More women than men are afflicted with fibromyalgia, and it shows up in people of all ages. A conservative estimate of its prevalence is 2 percent of the population, but it may be as high as 3-5 percent. Sufferers often seek relief via chiropractic, nutrition and acupuncture.
Dr. George Kosmides' chiropractic center in Sherman Oaks, Calif., provides safe, effective treatments for fibromyalgia sufferers.
To help your family and friends relate to your fibromyalgia symptoms, have them think back to the last time they had a bad flu. Every muscle shouted out in pain. In addition, they felt devoid of energy -- as though someone had unplugged their power supply.
While the severity of symptoms fluctuates from person to person, fibromyalgia may resemble a post-viral state. This similarity is the reason experts believe that fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) may actually be the same condition.
Here are the common symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome:
- Pain: The pain of fibromyalgia has no boundaries. People describe the pain as deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting, and stabbing. Intense burning may also be present. Quite often, the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning and you may hurt more in muscle groups that are used repetitively.
- Fatigue: This symptom can be mild in some fibromyalgia patients and yet incapacitating in others. The fatigue has been described as "brain fatigue," in which patients feel totally drained of energy. Many patients depict this situation by saying that they feel as though their arms and legs are tied to concrete blocks, and they have difficulty concentrating, e.g., brain fog.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas, and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40 to 70 percent of fibromyalgia patients. Acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) also occurs with the same high frequency.
- Chronic headaches: Recurrent migraine or tension-type headaches are seen in about 70% of fibromyalgia patients and can pose a major problem in coping for this patient group.
- Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome: This syndrome, sometimes referred to as TMJ or TMD, causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain in one-quarter of fibromyalgia patients. However, a 1997 published report indicated that close to 75 percent of fibromyalgia patients have a varying degree of jaw discomfort. Typically, the problems are related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the jaw joint and not necessarily the joint itself.
- Other common symptoms: Premenstrual syndrome and painful periods, chest pain, morning stiffness, cognitive or memory impairment, numbness and tingling sensations, muscle twitching, irritable bladder, the feeling of swollen extremities, skin sensitivities, dry eyes and mouth, dizziness, and impaired coordination. Fibromyalgia patients are often sensitive to odors, loud noises, bright lights, and sometimes even medications.
- Aggravating factors: Changes in weather, cold or drafty environments, infections, allergies, hormonal fluctuations (premenstrual and menopausal states), stress, depression, anxiety and over-exertion may all contribute to fibromyalgia symptom flare-ups.
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