Fibromyalgia
GENERAL INFORMATION:
What is fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia (fi-bro-mi-AL-jah) is a condition where you have long-standing body-wide pain together with tender points on your body. The pain may affect the muscles, ligaments, and tendons. The ligaments are hard tissues that connect bones together at a joint. The tendons connect the muscles to the bones. Along with the pain, you may have fatigue (feeling more tired than usual) and sleep problems. These symptoms may often be severe enough to affect your daily activities. Fibromyalgia can start at any age and is more common in women than in men. It does not cause any damage to your body parts.
What causes fibromyalgia? Caregivers do not know exactly what causes fibromyalgia. Problems with chemicals that send pain messages to and from the brain are thought to cause fibromyalgia. It may also be caused or triggered by any of the following:
- Changes in hormones.
- Physical injury, such as in surgery or accidents.
- Intense emotional trauma from sexual, physical, or emotional abuse.
What are the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia? The most common symptom of fibromyalgia is widespread pain for at least three months. Widespread pain is pain in all of the following areas:
- The left and right sides of the body.
- Above and below the waist.
- Nape, chest, and upper or lower back.
- Difficulty sleeping and fatigue.
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with diarrhea, constipation, pain, and bloating.
- Headaches, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and anxiety.
- Numbness, muscle stiffness, or a feeling of swelling of the hands and feet.
- Pounding, racing heartbeats or chest pains.
How is fibromyalgia diagnosed? The diagnosis of fibromyalgia is based on how long and how often you have your symptoms. Your caregiver will also check all of your pain spots using a manual tender point examination. The manual tender point examination is done by pressing on specific sites or points in your body. Increased pain in most of these spots means a positive tender point examination.
There are no specific laboratory tests to diagnose fibromyalgia. Caregivers may check out other possible causes of your pain before making a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Blood and urine tests, a lumbar tap, or sleep studies may be done to rule out other causes.How is fibromyalgia treated? There is no specific treatment for fibromyalgia. Caregivers may recommend any of the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: This is therapy to help you recognize unhelpful patterns of thinking and reacting to stressful situations. You will also learn how to replace these patterns with realistic and helpful ones. Therapists may help you to learn different ways of coping.
- Education: Learning about fibromyalgia, its causes, and symptoms may be enough to help you feel better. Encouragement and reassurance helps you to know that even if symptoms worsen, affected body parts are not damaged. Group discussions and demonstrations, lectures, and written materials are some effective means of education.
- Exercise: Exercise and other strength-training activities may decrease pain and sleep problems. Talk to your caregiver before starting an exercise program. Together, you can plan the best exercise program for you. It is best to start slowly and do more as you get stronger.
- Medicines: Medicines, such as antidepressants, muscle relaxants, and non-narcotic pain medicines, may be given.
What can I do to help my fibromyalgia get better?
- Keep a pain diary: It may be easier to answer your caregiver's questions by making a pain diary or book. A pain diary will help you remember exactly what happened each day because it is all written down. This will help you tell caregivers about your pain and may help them figure out what is causing it. Write down all the words that come to you to describe your pain. A diary also helps track pain cycles. This may make you more aware of when and how the pain may start and end.
- Exercise: Get started on an exercise program. Exercising increases your flexibility (ability to bend and move) and strength. This improves overall fitness, decreases risks of further injuries, and helps control pain. Talk to your caregiver to help you plan an exercise program for you.
- Set good sleep habits:
- Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning.
- Make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet, and the temperature is comfortable. Put the clock in a place where you will not be checking it all night.
- Do not use your bedroom for activities, like eating, reading, or watching television. Do not stay in bed if you are not able to sleep. It is better to get up and do something relaxing until you feel that you are sleepy. Some ways to relax, include reading and taking a bath.
- Avoid foods, drinks, or medicines that may cause sleep problems. Drinking too much liquid before bedtime may wake you up often to urinate. Limit or avoid caffeine in your diet as it may keep you from sleeping. Caffeine may be found in coffee, tea, soda pop, some sports drinks, and foods. Avoid alcoholic drinks, which may keep you from sleeping through the night. Alcohol can also interact with other medicines and cause serious side effects. Medicines like diet pills, water pills, cold medicines, herbs, and supplements can cause sleep problems.
- Try to relax before going to bed. Stress and worry may keep you from sleeping.
- Some people sleep better at night if they do not take naps during the day.
- Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning.
Where can I find support and more information? Fibromyalgia may be a life-changing disease for you and your family. Having fibromyalgia may be hard. You and those close to you may feel sad, helpless, or depressed. These feelings are normal. Talk to your caregivers, family, or friends about your feelings. You may also want to join a support group with other people who have fibromyalgia. Contact any of the following organizations for more information:
- Arthritis Foundation
P.O. Box 7669
Atlanta, GA 30357-0669
Phone: 1-404-872-7100
Phone: 1-800-568-4045
Web Address: http://www.arthritis.org
- National Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Association
PO Box 18426
Kansas City, MO 64133
Phone: 1-816-313-2000
Web Address: http://www.ncfsfa.org
CARE AGREEMENT:
You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.
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