Fibromyalgia Treatment

Over six million Americans suffer from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by intense pain felt all throughout the body. The pain originates in many specific tender points throughout the body, and radiates from there. Fibromyalgia is a syndrome, which means that it is a condition characterized by its symptoms, rather than by its cause.

Doctors are still not sure what causes fibromyalgia. For many years, it was believed that fibromyalgia was an autoimmune disorder. However, now many doctors believe that it is a disorder of the central nervous system. There is also a theory that fibromyalgia may actually be more than one disorder.

A diagnosis of fibromyalgia is reached based on its symptoms. The most common test for fibromyalgia is a test for tenderness in 18 points on the body. These points on the body will be extremely sensitive to pressure. There is also a blood test that can indicate fibromyalgia in some patients; however, will not show indicators for many other people who do suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms.

Pain can range from mild to severe. It can be described as shooting, burning, pinching or gnawing pain. Many sufferers find that pain is more severe during cold or damp weather, and can be exacerbated by exercise.

Because fibromyalgia symptoms vary so widely, it is important to keep track of your symptoms and report them to your doctor. Some common fibromyalgia symptoms include:

• stiffness upon waking in the morning
• intense, wide-spread pain
• irritable bowel syndrome
• depression
• frequent fatigue that is not relieved by sleep
• anxiety
• cognitive problems or memory failures
• in women, painful menstrual periods
• chronic headaches
• unexplained increases in weight
• vision impairment

While both men and women can get fibromyalgia, sufferers are most commonly women between the ages of 20 and 50. Many people who have fibromyalgia also suffer from another chronic illness. Fibromyaglia sufferers, for instance, also often suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, digestive disorders, restless leg syndrome or TMJ. For many sufferers, the symptoms are so severe that they prevent sufferers from working a full-time job and engaging in many other activities.

Fibromyalgia was first described in 1976, and methods for diagnosing it were formalized by the American College of Rheumatology in 1990.

There are three medications approved by the FDA for treatment of fibromyalgia: Lyrica, Cymbalta and Savella. Many other medications are prescribed off label to treat fibromyalgia symptoms. Other treatments involve physical therapy and stress reduction. Patients with fibromyalgiaSymptoms can reduce the severity of symptoms by learning to recognize their triggers and try to avoid them. Many fibromyalgia sufferers report that support groups have helped.

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