Fibromyalgia
Links to Information on Fibromyalgia:
- The Fibromyalgia Network
- Fibromyalgia.com
- Fibromyalgia (FMS) & Chronic Myofascial Pain (CMP)
- Fibromyalgia on Medline Plus
- National Fibromyalgia Association
- FibroHugs
- Healing Well
Fibromyalgia is a rheumatic disorder characterized by pain in 18 tender
points on the body. It can cause fatigue, wide spread pain, loss of
concentration, and sleep disturbances to name a few symptoms. You
basically feel like you have the flu all the time. It affects the
muscles and muscle tissue. When someone with Fibromyalgia experiences
stress, illness or injury, they can experience a “flare” of symptoms,
meaning an exacerbation of the usual symptoms. It’s thought that people
with Fibromyalgia feel pain very sharply due to too much of a chemical
found in the spinal fluid. The condition can be debilitating or very mild.
There is no one specific test that can tell you if you have Fibromyalgia or not. There is also no cure. There are many treatments that work for some people and don’t work for others. Some people have a progression of symptoms, and some don’t. Fibromyalgia affects everyone who has it differently, but the basic characteristics are always present. An early was that people suffering with Fibro didn’t get enough sleep, and therefore the muscles weren’t being refreshed. It was often thought that some people were predisposed to getting it, and that an illness or trauma triggered it. Another school of thought was that people who complained of these symptoms were lazy, hypochondriacs, depressed, and malingerers. Some doctors still feel this way, even after the Arthritis Foundation accepted Fibromyalgia as a true rheumatic disorder.
I was diagnosed in 1991 with Fibromyalgia. At the time I was working as a Personal Care Attendant, (PCA). I had been doing this type of work for 12 years on and off. In case you don’t know what a PCA is, it’s someone who helps severely physically disabled individuals live independently in their own homes. A PCA takes care of personal hygiene, cooking, cleaning, and whatever else the individual might need. It was a big job and came with tons of responsibility.
After close to 7 years in that particular position, I noticed that it was getting very hard to do my job. I was tired all the time. I was really achy, and when I was touched in certain places, it hurt for a long time after, like when someone pokes a bruise, only there is no bruise. I was getting injured very easily from things that I had normally done for years. I noticed other changes too, like, there suddenly were odors I could no longer tolerate. I was becoming very sensitive to temperature and the level of humidity in the air.
I had also spent about 5 years dealing with some horrendous personal issues. My level of stress was through the roof. When it was over I felt as though I had survived a war. I had been in therapy on and off through it all.
I finally decided I needed to go to a doctor. I was given blood tests to rule out a variety of things including Thyroid problems and Rheumatoid Arthritis. At this time they didn’t find Osteoarthritis, which I probably had back then, and they wouldn’t find it for another 7 years. After the process of elimination was over, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.
Often times low doses of some anti-depressant medication is given to help relieve symptoms. Some of this medication has a sedating affect, which helps some people get the restorative sleep they need to help the muscles become refreshed and less sore. For some it works really well. I found that I was overly sensitive to most of these types of medications, and couldn’t function when taking them. Some people do well with standard physical therapy. For me, it made things worse. A lot of people swear by water-aerobics programs, as the water allows you to move and exercise without straining the joints and muscles. This is something I have not yet tried, but I’m looking into it. The YMCA offers a water-aerobics program in some areas. Call your local Y to see if they do in your area.
Doctors who treat Fibromyalgia are Rheumatologists, Orthopedists, and Doctors of Physical Medicine.
Other symptoms and conditions can coincide with Fibromyalgia such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Arthritis, and Depression.
The hardest thing about Fibromyalgia is that it’s invisible. I look
just fine to most people, except that I walk with a cane now. Others just couldn’t understand what I was
complaining about, or why I was so tired.
