I don’t get many comments on this blog, and by many, I mean any, but if I did, I’m sure at least some of them would say “fibromyalgia isn’t funny”. I know, I live with it, but I still like to laugh and make other people laugh. So I’m attempting to provide useful information along with my own insights. For a more complete list of 63 symptoms click here. Now on with the article.

“The primary symptom of fibromyalgia is widespread, diffused pain, often including heightened sensitivity of the skin (Allodynia), achiness around joints, and nerve pain. Chronic sleep disturbances are also characteristic of fibromyalgia, and some studies suggest that these sleep disturbances are the result of a sleep disorder called alpha wave interrupted sleep pattern, a condition in which deep sleep is frequently interrupted by bursts of brain activity similar to wakefulness. Many patients experience “brain fog”, also known as “fibrofog”, which is objectively proven abnormally slow brain waves and objectively proven cognitive deficits. Many experts suspect that “brain fog” is directly related to the sleep disturbances experienced by sufferers of fibromyalgia.
Interpretation: Apparently going years without deep sleep makes it difficult to think clearly sometimes. Imagine that.
Other symptoms often attributed to fibromyalgia (possibly due to another comorbid disorder) are physical fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, genitourinary symptoms such as those associated with the chronic bladder condition interstitial cystitis, dermatological disorders, headaches, myoclonic twitches, and symptomatic hypoglycemia. Although it is common in people with fibromyalgia for pain to be widespread, it may also be localized in areas such as the shoulders, neck, back, hips, or other areas. Not all patients have all symptoms.

Interpretation: Fibromyalgia messes up your body, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, depending on the person.

Fibromyalgia can start as a result of some trauma (such as a traffic accident) or illness, but there is currently no known strong correlation between any specific type of trigger and the subsequent initiation of fibromyalgia. Symptoms can have a slow onset, and many patients have mild symptoms beginning in childhood, such as growing pains. Symptoms are often aggravated by unrelated illness or changes in the weather. They can become more tolerable or less tolerable throughout daily or yearly cycles; however, many people with fibromyalgia find that, at least some of the time, the condition prevents them from performing normal activities such as driving a car or walking up stairs. The syndrome does not cause inflammation as is presented in arthritis, but anti-inflammatory treatments, such as Ibuprofen and Iontophoresis, are known to temporarily reduce pain symptoms.

Interpretation: We have no idea where the crap it comes from.

The following factors are said to temporarily increase the suffering of patients:

Cold weather, especially when damp
Malnutrition, hunger, or starvation
Physical activity of any kind, including minor tasks such as writing.
Some patients have reported a near-complete remission of their symptoms within several weeks of traveling to a warm, or tropical climate, and the complete renewal of symptoms upon returning.”.

Interpretation: Physical activity of any kind? I’m the queen of sarcasm and pessimism (I really am, I have a crown), but why do the dr.’s always tell us to exercise. You can move, try to move as much as possible, you should move. Although that excuse will come in handy next time I’m supposed to vacuum “Is that physical activity? I’m allergic to that. “Starvation is bad for fibro, because it is just so healthy for everyone else.

This article is licensed under the “GNU Free Documentation Licenserel=”nofollow”“. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Fibromyalgia .”

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 29th, 2006 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Fibromyalgia Information, Fibromyalgia Support. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.