Fibromyalgia, or FMS, is medical condition often referred to as a chronic, painful, musculoskeletal disorder of unknown etiology. "The word fibromyalgia is derived from three latin words: "fibro" {meaning fibrous tissue such as ligaments, tendons, or fascia), "my" (meaning muscle tissue), and "algia" (meaning pain). Combined, "fibromyalgia" means pain that eminates from tendons, ligaments, bursae, and muscle tissue. Pain coming from normally functioning joints is called arthralgia. When there is swelling or damage to the joints, the condition is known as arthritis. People with some forms of arthritis may also have fibromyalgia, although that is not a universal association."
The above is an excerpt from "The Fibromyalgia Help Book" by Jenny Fransen, R.N. & I.Jon Russel,M.D.,Ph.D.
Sufferers of Fibromyalgia (aka FMS) have a plethera of symptoms, some are even an entire syndromes in themselves. The main symptom is debilitating pain; pain in the soft tissuses and connective tissues. Other symptoms include (but are not limited to): fatigue, skin sensitivity, photosensitivity, bruxism (teeth grinding during sleep), loss of concentration, depression, tender points*, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bladder syndrome, headaches, sleep disorders**, abnormal temperatures, flu-like symptoms, dysequilibrium, and hypersensitivity.
"Your thermal regulatory system may be out of whack. You may notice this thermal fluctuation when you get out of bed (perhaps often, due to TrP bladder irritability) during the night. You may have to wait for your temperature to cool down after getting back in bed, before you can pull the bed covers up again. Your hormones become unbalanced. Fingernails can break off, often in crescent-shaped pieces. If nails do grow, they sometimes start to curve under. Your cuticles may overgrow, and yet they develop hangnails which take a long time to heal. You get bruises, but you can't remember where you got them, and they take forever to heal.
FMS is a sensitivity-amplification syndrome. This means that you can be are hypersensitive to smells, sounds, lights, and vibrations. The noise emitted by fluorescent lights can drive you crazy. You may be unable to tolerate crowds, or cities. Your body might interpret touch, light, or sound as pain. Your brain knows pain is a danger signal--an indication that something is wrong and needs attention--so it mobilizes its defenses. Then, when those defenses aren't used, it become anxious.
**Sleep, or the lack of it, plays a crucial role in FMS. Perhaps you aren't getting enough sleep, or the right kind of sleep. You may have insomnia of several types, or a host of other sleep-related problems. People with FMS often have the alpha-delta sleep anomaly. As soon as we reach deep delta level sleep, alpha waves (awake) intrude and either jolt us to an awakening or to a lighter stage of sleep. We wake up feeling like we've been hit by a truck. That's the sign of unrestorative sleep. Our body heals and many of our neurotransmitters and other informational substances are restored and regulated during delta sleep. One might say that neurotransmitters are the "information superhighway" between the body and mind. People with FMS have sleep deprivation."
-Excerpted from http://www.sover.net/~devstar/define.htm
Since it is an "invisible" disease, the diagnoses for FMS tends to be quite restrictive. There are no concrete tests that show FMS. Actually, the definition of FMS currently excludes mild cases.
Patients must be tender in 11 of 18 tender points on the body (shown above*),have the new onset of pain and fatigue that lasts longer than six months and reduces one's level of activity by 50 percent and the exclusion of other medical or psychiatric conditions that could cause the symptoms(i.e., thyroid disease, lupus, lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.).
FMS patients often suffer from depression. The two disorders tend to go hand in hand, but clinical depression must be separated from FMS plus Clinical Depression. FMS is also closely associated with Migraines, and CFS.
Although doctors do not know what causes FMS, there are many theories, and contributing factors to the disease.
There is evidence that FMS is triggered in pre-disposed individuals by such precipitants as illness, physical trauma to the body, an infection (viral or bacterial), an automobile accident or the development of another disorder, (such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or hypothyroidism)or acute emotional stress. FMS also seems to run in some families, although no genetic component has yet been identified. Encouraging research is now occurring in the fields of neuroendocrinology, immunology, cardiology, and exercise physiology, among others.
There are many ways of making the pains and annoyances of FMS seem less --painful and annoying--. But there is no cure. And one is probably not foing to happen soon, until researchers can find a cause, and some physical components to this debilitating disease.
Traditional treatments for FMS are usually aimed at seperate components of the syndrome. Quality of sleep, and the reduction of pain are the things that doctors usually focus on when prescribing anything. Because deep sleep is so important to our body functions, (tissue repair, antibody production, regulation of various neurotransmitters, hormones and immune system chemicals,) medicines that boost your body's level of serotonin and norepinephrine--neurotransmitters that modulate sleep, pain, and immune system function--are commonly prescribed. (i.e. Elavil, Flexeril, Sinequan, Paxil, Serzone, Xanax and Klonopin) Nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS, Ibuprofen) for pain are also prescribed. Most patients also recieve various other therapies for treatment. Trigger point injections with lidocaine, physical therapy, acupuncture, acupressure, relaxation techniques, osteopathic manipulation, chiropractic care, therapeutic massage, or a gentle exercise program, are the usual, and most helpful therapies.
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