Symptoms and Treatments

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a body ailment that prompts chronic pain in ligaments and muscles. It afflicts nearly 4 million Americans, the vast majority of whom are women in their mid-30s to late-50s.

The ailment afflicts the muscles and ligaments that can cause discomforting pain and stiffening of the muscles similar to cramps. It also causes sleeping problems, fatigue, depression, memory lapses and a general inability to think things through with any level of clarity, hence, confusion.

Causes and Risk Factors

There is no known cause. Fibromyalgia is among the many medical conditions that have no consistent causal link to any known pathological origins while some pundits suspect genetic roots. Recent clinical findings, however, show that people who suffer from it experience pain more intensely. Their level of a chemical substance in the CSF or cerebrospinal fluid that is part of the neurotransmitters is shown to be three times higher in people with Fibromyalgia than those who don’t, suggesting some biological predisposition to it.

Other researches have found a causative link between lack of deep sleep and susceptibility to Fibromyalgia. It is a fact that stage 4 sleep allows muscles to recover from the day’s activities allowing the body to refresh itself. It has been observed that Fibromyalgia sufferers never enter stage 4 and remain in light slumber even if they sleep for a longer period.

Symptoms

Muscular pain is the most defining symptom of Fibromyalgia. Unlike arthritis, the discomfort doesn’t center on the joints but in the muscles and ligaments. The most commonly afflicted areas are the back, the hips, shoulders and the neck. Characterize as burning, stabbing and throbbing, the pain gets worse when waking up, similar to body aches experienced with influenza,

Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia

There’s no specific standard process to diagnose Fibromyalgia. The standard medical history check and a physical exam are done with some X-rays and blood tests to rule out any disease that mimic the symptoms. A procedure recommended by the American College of Rheumatology requires patients to submit to a diagnosis at the moment when the muscle pain is present, preferably within 3 moths of its onset.

There are generally 18 points on the body identified to be where Fibromyalgia strikes and a doctor making the diagnosis can apply mild pressure to the report painful area. If there are at least 11 confirmed spots experiencing pain, then the patient is positive for Fibromyalgia.

Treatment of Fibromyalgia

There is no known cure for Fibromyalgia and home treatment is an option to relieve its symptoms wit the most effective therapy involving regular low-intensity exercises to condition the muscles.

• Walking, swimming and biking are not muscle-straining exercise and are recommended to relieve muscle pains.
• Other home therapies included heat applied to the sore muscles. A soothing massage therapy is also recommended.
• There are over-the-counter drugs such as acetaminophen based Tylenol as well as aspirin and ibuprofen based drugs that can relieve muscular pain.

Acupuncture have been shown to alleviate muscle pains

• Low dosage antidepressant drugs can improve sleep to induce deep stage 4 sleep that is known to refresh the muscles.
• The US FDA has approved only three drugs for treating Fibromyalgia. These are Lyrica, an antiseizure drug as well as Cymbalta and Savella which are antidepressants. They don’t cure the condition but have proven to reduce the pain in Fibromyalgia.