Widespread pain to the muscles of the body, unusually high levels of fatigue, tender points in multiple areas and great sensitivity to seemingly normal things, are all indicative of someone suffering from the disorder known as Fibromyalgia.
What are the symptoms of Fibromyalgia?
Each individual can experience different symptoms, but the most common are:
- Fatigue that is disproportionate to the level of the individual’s activity and sleep
- Stiffness, tenderness and a high level of pain in the muscles and joints
- Anxiety, depression and possible bowel function problems
- Poor sleep patterns or waking after long bouts of sleep, but still feeling tired all day.
- Poor memory and alertness. A ‘foggy’ feeling in the brain.
The symptoms of Fibromyalgia are cyclical and each symptom can create the onset of another. The typical cycle would be:
An injury or disease leads to limited physical activity – which leads to muscular tension or stiffness – leading to stress/depression/anxiety – which leads to poor sleep – leading to pain – which leads to disease etc …and so the cycle will resume and continue. Breaking this cycle is essential to the recovery of a Fibromyalgia patient.
What are the causes of Fibromyalgia?
Far more prevalent in women than in men, there is really no known cause of this disease. It is extremely difficult to diagnose and treat, as it is neither an inflammatory, degenerative, nor an auto-immune disease.
What is known is that Fibromyalgia appears to manifest itself after:
- A stressful event like a motor accident or the death of a loved one
- A traumatic injury
- Repetitive poor sleeping patterns
- The sudden onset of an unexpected or chronic illness like Lupus or Rheumatoid arthritis
What is my best course of action?
Alleviating any of the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, even temporarily, can enable the sufferer to break the chain of symptoms and experience some relief or potentially break the cycle altogether.
Because it is difficult to diagnose and other conditions like an underactive thyroid, Vitamin D deficiency, or Rheumatoid arthritis can mimic this disease, extensive testing by a doctor or Rheumatologist may be necessary to eventually establish that you have Fibromyalgia.
Through alleviation of the pain, even for a few days, your Physiotherapist can assist you in finding, starting and maintaining comfortable and regular exercises, in addition to providing guidance on sleeping more comfortably. The combination of a reduction in pain, improved sleep and regular exercise provides a massive leap towards snowballing back in the right direction. Contact us for advice, referral to the correct specialist if necessary and positive treatment of this complex, yet but not necessarily incurable, disease.