Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain and spinal cord process painful and non painful signals.
Symptoms often begin after an event, such as physical trauma, surgery, infection or significant psychological stress. In other cases, symptoms gradually accumulate over time with no single triggering event.
Women are more likely to develop fibromyalgia than are men. Many people who have fibromyalgia also have tension headaches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression.
While there is no cure for fibromyalgia, a variety of medications, trigger point injections can help control symptoms. Exercise, relaxation and stress-reduction measures have also shown to be helpful.
Symptoms
- Widespread pain. The pain associated with fibromyalgia often is described as a constant dull ache that has lasted for several months, in several parts of the body including the neck, shoulders, back and legs etc.
- Low pain threshold or tender points, muscle knots.
- Muscle pain, burning, twitching or tightness.
- Insomnia or not sleeping well.
- Fatigue. People with fibromyalgia often awaken tired, even though they report sleeping for long periods of time. Sleep is often disrupted by pain, and many patients with fibromyalgia have other sleep disorders, such as restless legs syndrome and sleep apnea.
- Cognitive difficulties. A symptom commonly referred to as "fibro fog" impairs the ability to focus, pay attention and concentrate on mental tasks.
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Migraine and other types of headaches
- Interstitial cystitis or painful bladder syndrome
- Temporomandibular joint disorders
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Postural tachycardia syndrome
Causes
It is believed that in patients with fibromyalgia, repeated nerve stimulation causes the brain and spinal cord to change, causing an abnormal increase in certain chemicals in the brain that signal pain. This causes the brain’s pain receptors to become sensitized, and they overreact to painful and non painful signals.
There are likely many factors that lead to these changes, including:
- Female sex
- Chronic infections or disease like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis etc
- Genetics: Fibromyalgia tends to run in families, there may be certain genetic mutations that may make you more susceptible to developing the disorder.
- Physical or emotional events. Fibromyalgia can sometimes be triggered by a traumatic event.
- Lack of physical activity
Treatment
- Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
- Milnacipran (Savella)
- Pregabalin (Lyrica)
