Fibromyalgia causes chronic pain that seems to affect the entire body. Obviously, this can include the legs. But people with fibromyalgia may also experience leg pain that seems to be more intense, or maybe simply different, from their fibromyalgia pain. This sort of leg pain can sometimes be an indication of serious medical problems, so it’s always a good idea to take it seriously.
So, how can you tell the difference between the leg pain caused by fibromyalgia and the leg pain caused by other conditions? Let’s look at some of the conditions that can cause leg pain that you should be aware of and how you can distinguish it from the pain of fibromyalgia.
What Causes Leg Pain?
Leg pain is a somewhat vague symptom, and there are many different conditions that can cause it. The most common conditions are usually things like muscle cramping or tendonitis, when the tendons connecting the muscles in the leg become inflamed.
If the pain is located in the knee, there’s also the possibility that you’re suffering from arthritis, where the lining of the joints becomes inflamed and tender. Or it could be bursitis, which is caused by inflammation of the small, fluid-filled sacks that cushion the bones, joints, and muscles. While painful, neither condition is dangerous and can be managed with a doctor’s help.
But there are also a few serious conditions that you should be aware of. Depending on how severe your pain is, it may be a symptom of a condition like thrombophlebitis. Thrombophlebitis occurs when a blood clot forms in one of the veins in your leg. This clot cuts off the circulation into the leg and starves the tissue of blood.
This condition results in tenderness and pain in the affected area. The leg may also begin to swell and feel warm to the touch. Over time, these blood clots can cause serious health problems. If the clot dislodges itself from the vein and travels up into the circulatory system, it can enter the lungs, causing a life-threatening embolism.
And people who suffer from thrombophlebitis can develop a condition called post-phlebitic syndrome, which causes agonizing, chronic pain in the affected area. If you’ve already had a blood clot and are experiencing pain afterward, this may be the cause.
In addition, leg pain can be a symptom of bone cancer. This condition occurs when tumors develop inside the bones and lead to pain, weight loss, swelling of the affected area, and fatigue. Like all cancers, it can be life-threatening. So, if you’re experiencing serious pain, you should see a doctor.
Is It Normal To Have Leg Pain With Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia causes pain in 18 specific tender points around the body. There are two points in the lower back and two in the knees. The pain of fibromyalgia seems to radiate out of these points, so it’s normal when they give you the feeling that your legs are hurting.
The easiest way to distinguish leg pain from other causes from the leg pain of fibromyalgia is to press your thumb on the inside of the knee. These are where the tender points are located, and if your pain seems to spike when you press down, that’s a good indication that the problem is fibromyalgia.
But that’s not always a foolproof way to tell. If you’re suffering from a condition like arthritis, then the knees will be tender as well. If it seems like the pain is worse in the morning, or that your joints feel stiff, then it’s more likely to be arthritis.
If the pain is located in the muscles rather than those tender points, then you are probably suffering from another condition. If the pain is intense, or the legs begin to swell, you should see a doctor right away. These are signs of some of the more serious conditions we discussed.
But Fibromyalgia can also cause some other unpleasant symptoms in the legs. Many patients with fibromyalgia report feeling muscle weakness in the limbs. We don’t yet know why this is, but it could have something to do with the way fibromyalgia affects the nervous system. This muscle weakness can range from moderate to severe. And if you’re experiencing symptoms that are closer to weakness than pain, then it is likely a result of fibromyalgia.
Ultimately, leg pain is an unfortunate part of fibromyalgia for many people. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have your pain checked out by a doctor. It’s always better to be safe when it comes to pain anywhere in the body.
So, have you experienced pain in the legs? Is it related to fibromyalgia or something else? Let us know in the comments.
One of the worst symptoms of lupus has to be the characteristic rash it causes. Commonly called a “butterfly rash” from the distinctive shape it creates across your face, the lupus rash makes life with lupus even more difficult. In spite of all the pain of lupus, you try to live a normal life only to find it impossible when you have such a visible mark on your face.
But what causes this distinctive lupus rash? And what can you do to manage it?
What Causes Lupus Rash?
To understand what causes lupus rash, you first have to understand lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease. That means it’s actually your own body that causes lupus, rather than a virus or bacteria like those that cause many other illnesses.
You see, in a healthy immune system, your white blood cells produce something called antibodies. These antibodies target any bacteria or viruses that enter your body and destroy them. After your body destroys a foreign cell like this, it becomes conditioned to immediately recognize and attack that kind of cell in the future. This is why we are able to acquire immunities to certain diseases after being exposed to them.
But when you develop an autoimmune disease like lupus, your antibodies become conditioned to attack your own cells instead. And so, your antibodies begin to constantly attack your bodies own tissue. As a result, it becomes inflamed and begins to swell. Lupus attacks your body everywhere and can lead to inflammation of the heart and kidneys, which can be deadly if left untreated.
And the most obvious sign of the damage lupus does to your body is the distinctive lupus rash that develops on the face of some people with lupus. This rash typically spreads across both cheeks and across the center of the face, resulting in the distinctive “butterfly” shape.
No one is completely sure why lupus causes this type of rash, but the most compelling theory at the moment has to do with sunlight. It’s well-known that UV light seems to trigger this kind of rash in certain people. And we know that UV interacts with our skin cells, triggering melanin production.
It’s possible that the UV light alters the skin cells, which the immune system then identifies as a foreign cell and attacks, destroying them. The body then reacts to the destruction of these skin cells by producing more. And the runaway production of skin cells produces the kind of scaly rash we associate with lupus.
This theory is compelling because the same over-production of skin cells produces the rash in cases of psoriasis, which closely resembles the lupus rash.
What Can You Do To Treat It?
While we can’t cure lupus, there are a few things you can do to help manage the rash caused by lupus. First, practicing good skin health is often helpful. Avoid damaging UV rays by wearing protective clothing or hats and using a high-SPF sunscreen. It’s recommended that any sunscreen you use have an SPF rating of at least 30 for adequate protection.
You can also make sure that your skin is well-moisturized. Stay hydrated to help prevent your skin cells from drying out and becoming more susceptible to damage.
If you’re interested in medical options, your doctor can prescribe a number of drugs to help manage the inflammation that leads to the lupus rash. First, you can use a steroidal cream to prevent the scaly build-up of skin cells on the face. Your body naturally produces hormones called corticosteroids to heal inflamed tissue and by using a steroidal cream, you can stimulate this natural response and combat the inflammation of lupus.
Your doctor might also prescribe a type of drug called NSAIDs, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These are often basic, over-the-counter drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen. But while you’re no doubt familiar with this kind of drug from its role as a basic painkiller, NSAIDs also help fight inflammation, which makes them useful for treating the symptoms of lupus.
Finally, doctors sometimes prescribe immunosuppressive drugs to fight cases of lupus. These drugs work by reducing the activity of the immune system. As a result, it produces fewer antibodies. Fewer antibodies mean that you’ll have fewer of them attacking your cells, which means less inflammation and less build up on the skin. Make sure to ask your doctor about the risks and advantages of these different kinds of drugs.
And tell us what you think. Do you have lupus? What do you do to manage the rash? What works for you? What doesn’t work? Let us know in the comments.
Lipodermatosclerosis is a fairly rare condition, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less serious. And if you’re suffering from it, you likely want as much information as you can get. And, statistically speaking, if you suffer from fibromyalgia, you have a higher chance of developing the condition. That’s because both symptoms seem to affect the same kind of people at higher proportions: middle-aged women.
So, with that in mind, let’s talk about what the condition is and what you can do to treat it.
What Is Lipodermatosclerosis?
Lipodermatosclerosis is basically a swelling of the legs above the ankles. People have likened the appearance to an upside down wine bottle. That reflects the fact that the upper part can be painfully swollen while the lower legs look perfectly normal. The upper, swollen part is often painful and discolored as well.
There are two types, chronic and acute. In the acute form, the condition develops suddenly and usually painfully. Meanwhile, the chronic form of the condition develops gradually over time.
The root of the condition lies in the veins. Increased blood pressure forces substances like fibrin out into the fatty tissue, causing it to swell. This leads to hardening of the skin and the pain associated with the condition. In some cases, the fatty tissue can die from lack of blood flow, which causes it to turn necrotic. It then rots away, exposing you to sores or ulcers and the risk of infections.
We aren’t sure what causes the conditions, but there are a number of theories. Obviously, high blood pressure is a major factor. But there’s evidence that people who suffer from the condition have a shortage of capillaries in the tissue, which makes the tissue predisposed to swelling.
The people most at risk of the condition tend to have more fat tissue in the legs, such as middle aged women and people who are obese.
How Is It Treated?
There are a few ways to treat lipodermatosclerosis. The main treatment is with compression therapy. Essentially, this involves using specially designed clothing or simple bandages to compress the tissue. This increases blood flow through the tissue and helps to manage the swelling. It also allows the blood to carry away some of the substances that lead to swelling in the first place.
One of the most significant risks of this condition is the way it can cause the tissue in your legs to decay and die. This dead tissue can become riddled with ulcers, which significantly increase your risk of infection. If an infection in one of these ulcers becomes serious enough, it can be life-threatening. Make sure to see a doctor immediately if you develop an ulcer. They’ll be able to administer antibiotics and remove the dead tissue, which can help protect you from infection.
If the condition recurs frequently, your doctor may recommend vein surgery. Basically, this surgery involves stripping away the veins that are causing the problem. This can help prevent the swelling of the fatty tissue. There are a few ways to do this. The first is with simply extracting the veins surgically. But you can also get a number of procedures that destroy the vein while it’s still inside your body. This eliminates the need for surgery.
In addition, there are a few things you can do to manage the condition on a daily basis. Make sure you don’t spend long periods of time sitting. Exercise is not only a good way to treat the condition, but it can help you avoid obesity, which is a serious risk factor. And if you are obese, losing the extra weight is a good way to help reduce the severity of your symptoms.
Finally, elevate your legs regularly. This will allow blood to flow out of the legs, reducing pressure on your veins.
In addition, there are a few medications that might be necessary. The poor blood flow in the legs can lead to dangerous clots. So doctors often prescribe medications designed to increase blood flow and prevent clots from forming. In addition, there are medications that can help to reduce the occurrence of painful swelling.
But the best thing you can do is prevent the condition from forming, if possible. Exercise regularly and eat a balanced diet. These will not only improve your overall health, they can help to reduce your risk of developing lipodermatosclerosis.
So, let us know, do you have lipodermatosclerosis? What did you do about it? What treatments work? Tell us in the comments.
Changing Your Wardrobe Could Help Alleviate Your Fibro Symptoms
Written By: Lauren Petermeyer
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Image: racorn/Shutterstock
Many fibromyalgia sufferers can attest to the fact that clothes can give them a lot of extra painful symptoms. Patients describe the pain they feel from their clothes as sharp, stabbing, or like a bad sunburn on their skin. Waistbands, socks, undergarments and anything that ties can cause this extreme pain. Changing your wardrobe to lessen your symptoms can actually help them a lot. Figure out your most tender spots that hurt the most, and buy clothes that accommodate to that area instead of making it worse. Here are some tips about how to buy fibromyalgia clothing to help ease your symptoms.
Fibromyalgia Clothes
Undergarments
For women, bras can be extremely uncomfortable and restricting to begin with. As a fibromyalgia patient, the pain of a tight bra can be unbearable. Because of that, look for bras without an underwire. As perky as they make your girls look, sometimes the pain isn’t worth it. There are lots of soft padded bras without underwires that work very well. Sports bras can also be very comfortable, as long as they’re not too tight. Consider getting your bra size checked by an associate at a store as well to make sure you’re wearing the right size. If your bra size isn’t right, it will be almost impossible to feel comfortable.
Underwear waistbands can also pinch and pull to cause pain. Choose underwear that rides lower on your hips, rather than up your waist. The lessened pressure on your abdomen will provide lots of relief.
Socks that ride lower will also offer relief. Thinner cotton socks seem to cause the lease pain, especially relieving pain in the calves with the low-rise rather than high-rise.
Pants
Stay away from high-waisted pants! They are usually tighter and they squeeze your abdomen, which is a major cause of pain. As silly as it may sound, try looking in the maternity section. Some of their stretchy materials in pants could really be helpful to your fibro symptoms. While trying any pants on, sit down and move around to test if they truly are comfortable. You won’t be standing in place all day, so sitting down is a good way to find out if they provide the comfort level you desire.
Drawstrings generally offer more comfort than elastic, because they’re adjustable and don’t squeeze as much. Some people even try removing the elastic in pants to relieve it. Get creative and find what makes you the most comfortable.
Dresses
When dresses are necessary (like for work or a wedding), choose one that is flowy and doesn’t have a waist band. Reducing the amount that a dress is fitted will lessen any pain from pressure on your body. Try a few on, and be mindful of your most painful spots. If a dress tugs or pulls near that area, it’s not a winner. Flowy is the way to go.
Fabrics
Different fabrics make fibro sufferers feel differently. Generally, lighter fabrics like cotton or silky materials feel less abrasive and heavy on the skin and muscles. Large sweaters, even though some are cotton, are often times too heavy and add extra pain to the shoulders and other tender areas. Go for the most recommended fabrics – cotton, silk/satin, stretchy knits, fleece and flannel all in lighter weight. Every little bit helps, so find what makes you comfortable and buy it in every color!
Do you have any special fibromyalgia clothes in your wardrobe? What feels good on you?
Fibromyalgia is a complicated disease with many symptoms, and it affects each person differently. Cannabis is also a complicated medicine with different strains and cannabinoid compounds that act on the body in different ways. Saying that weed will help with fibro may or may not be true. If you are trying to treat chronic pain and you get a THC dominant strain, then it may not work at all. If you are trying to treat insomnia, then a THC dominant strain may have the opposite effect of making you sleep. For anyone with fibro that has tried weed one time and decided that it did not work for them, what strain did you use? Was it THC or CBD dominant? It is quite likely that the strain that you had was not optimum for the symptom you were trying to treat. So here is a Look at THC vs CBD for fibro symptoms, and a breakdown of the most common fibro symptoms with the best strains to treat them.
Before we get into the breakdown of symptoms and strains, here is a closer look at marijuana and cannabinoids.
As a side note: With the great increase in strains and hybrids, it may be more difficult to make broad generalizations, but we are somewhat forced to do so. Also, Cannabis has such a complex chemical composition with cannabinoids, terpenes, etc, and each acts differently on the body. Strain effects can vary from one crop or dispensary to the next.
Cannabinoids (THC vs CBD):
Cannabis has two major cannabinoids that are used to regulate what your body will feel. The plant actually has many more cannabinoids that can have benefits for many other purposes. Several whole plant hemp oils can be purchased that can give you access to those compounds without the psychoactive effects of cannabis. However, when you purchase Cannabis, most dispensaries will mark each strain with THC or CBD content. Here is a closer look at THC vs CBD.
THC
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a chemical found in marijuana. This is the compound that attaches to cannabinoid receptors in the body, and it is responsible for the euphoric “head high” feeling. Generally speaking, Higher THC usually means a more euphoric and head-heavy high. THC dominant strains are also responsible for an energetic feeling that can be as effective as caffeine.
CBD
Cannabidiol (CBD) is another cannabinoid and it reduces the “head high” (or psychoactive effects) of TCH by binding to the Cannabinoid receptors and blocking THC from binding with them. CBD is the chemical in weed that is responsible for fighting inflammation, muscle spasms, anxiety, depression, cancer, and oxidation. CBD is one of the most beneficial medicinal compounds in cannabis. Generally speaking, higher CBD means that your high will not be as “heady,” and will likely be more body focused. For fighting pain or insomnia, you want a strain with a higher CBD content.
(while higher CBD strains are great for pain, do not discount the benefit of THC for making pain easier to deal with.)
Varieties
There are two varieties of Marijuana plants, and they are Sativa and Indica. The two are very different and they work on the body different ways.
Indica: Most Indica varieties have a higher CBD content that is much better for pain.
Sativa: Most sativa varieties are higher in THC and tend to be more head high.
Hybrid: These strains are a combination of the two, and they give the benefits of both. If you like a combination of THC and CBD to treat your symptoms, then a hybrid may be a good choice.
Symptoms
Pain
When we are dealing with pain in regard to fibromyalgia, we usually mean neurological pain. Most of the strains that are good for treating pain are Indica in variety, and heavier in CBD in chemical makeup. Indica/CBD dominant strains will give you a stronger body sensation. However, THC can be very helpful for making the effects last longer, and the head high can make it easier to cognitively reframe your pain, making it less intense. Most of the recommendations for pain are an indica and CBD dominant strains, but hybrids work well too.
Strains for pain
Indica: Critical Mass is one of the very best strains of Indica for pain. It is high in CBD, and is also great for relieving stress and anxiety. This is a great strain for totally relaxation without losing your cognitive abilities.
Sativa: Harlequin is a Sativa dominant variety, but a CBD dominant strain. This means that it gives you the uplifting energy of THC, while providing the great pain killing power of CBD. This strain is the best of both worlds without the psychoactive properties of most Sativa dominant strains.
Hybrid: Cannatonic is a hybrid strain that is CBD dominant. It is excellent for pain, and can also be used for stress or muscle spasms. The high CBD content reduces the psychoactive effects of THC very well.
Fatigue
Unlike pain, fighting fatigue requires a THC dominant strains. CBDs block the THC from entering the Cannabinoid receptors, and the THC is what will give you the energetic feeling. Therefore, there are not any indica strain recommendations for fatigue here. However, it is always possible to combine a high energy strain with your favorite CBD dominant pain-fighting strain to see what results you get.
Strains for Fatigue
Sativa: Green Crack is a Sativa/THC dominant cannabis strain, and despite its name there is no other substances involved. Also called Green Cush (with a C), this strain is THE BEST strain you will find for energy, bar none. There is an Indica dominant strain that goes by the same name, but Sativa is the ticket for fighting fatigue.
Hybrid: White Widow is one of the most popular strains on planet earth. This strain is great for a burst of energy that will get you moving, yet the CBD content helps to limit the psychoactive effects.
Mental Fog
There are different kinds of focus that Marijuana can give you. THC will bring about an energetic focus, while CBD tends to provide a calming focus. In the discussion of THC vs CBD, you must decide what fits your symptoms best.
Strains for Mental Fog
Sativa:Cinex is a strain that will give you a clear headed ability to hyper-focus. This strain also boosts creativity. For those that tend to get paranoid from THC, this might heighten that sensation, so be careful.
Hybrid:Blueberry Headband is a true 50/50 Sativa/Indica hybrid. This strain gives you a burst of clarity and creativity, while the CBDs from the indica mellow out the euphoria and help the body feel good. Great for fibro fog and chronic pain.
Indica:True OG is the CBD dominant strain for those that have thoughts racing through the brain, yet want to calm the noise and focus on a single task. This strain is also great for pain and insomnia, which makes it a great all-around strain for Fibromyalgia.
Insomnia
For certain symptoms, there is a clear winner in the battle of THC vs CBD. When you need energy, you look for a THC dominant strain, but when you are looking to go to sleep, you need a CBD dominant strain. Therefore, the recommendations here are all Indicas and hybrid varieties with a high CBD content. A general rule of THC vs CBD is that THC will bring you up, and CBD will bring you down. Obviously it much more complicated and involved than that, but that is a good rule of thumb.
Strains for Insomnia
Indica: These two Indica recommendations are great for putting you to sleep. Both are CBD dominant. Afghan Kush is for when you want to pass out. It is a heavy CBD dominant strain, and it will definitely do the trick. Big Bud is another CBD dominant strain that will definitely put you to sleep. However, Big Bud is better at fighting pain that Afghan Kush (both are pretty good at it). Big Bud is the perfect strain for when your pain will not let you sleep.
Hybrid:Ogre is a Sativa dominant Hybrid with a fair amount of THC, but its effects are relaxing. It is a good Choice for Insomnia, but the indica strains above are better.
Headaches
Headaches and migraines are common among fibromyalgia sufferers. Here are some strains that are great for treating headache pain. This is another category where THC vs CBD is not necessarily the right way to think about it. You have to decide what symptoms are accompanying your migraine, and how you want to handle them. Do you have stuff to do when the headache dissipates? Then you need a THC dominant strain. Is it the end of the day with an intense light and sound sensitive migraine? Then you would benefit more from a CBD dominant strain.
Strains for Headaches
Sativa: Harlequin makes a second appearance on our list because it is one of the best pain-fighting strains of the Sativa variety. Harlequin is CBD dominant, but its Sativa variety means that there is still THC present. It is also great for stress, anxiety, and depression because of its uplifting effects.
Indica:Blackberry Kush is an indica dominant strain, with a high CBD content, that is excellent at dealing with pain. This is a good strain for when you are having that light and sound sensitive migraine, and you want to just lock yourself in a dark room and relax.
Hybrid: Purple Arrow is one of the all around best pain-treating strains, and it gives you a nice energetic pop because of the THC content. However, there are a fair amount of CBDs in there to fight the pain. It is a good strain for when you are starting to get a migraine and you still have a lot to do that day.
These are our recommendations for the best THC vs CBD strains for Fibromyalgia symptoms. We hope that these recommendations will help you to find relief, and that you will be better informed the next time you are trying to choose a strain.
Back problems are a depressingly common part of getting older. Studies have estimated that around 80% of people in the US will suffer from lower back pain at some point in their lives. And while there are many different conditions that can cause chronic back pain, degenerative disc disease may be one of the worst.
But what exactly is degenerative disc disease? What causes it? And what can you do to treat it?
What Is Degenerative Disc Disease?
Your spine is made up of bones called vertebrae. In between these bones are discs of soft tissue that cushion the vertebrae from rubbing up against each other. Over time, these discs can wear down, and the bones of the vertebrae start to grind against each other.
As the vertebrae start to grind against each other, they form bone spurs, or growths in the bone. These spurs can pinch or irritate the nerves in the spine. This leads to nerve pain or a tingling sensation in the affected area. If the affected disc is between one of the lower vertebrae, it can lead to pain in the lower back or even the legs. If the disc is closer to the neck, you might feel that pain in the arms or the neck.
Because the discs in the spine help you twist and bend, these actions can make the pain worse. And some people with the condition may actually feel no pain at all. Degenerative disc disease is complicated, and many people will have different symptoms.
And there are many things that can cause someone to develop it.
What Causes It?
The most common cause for the condition is simply the process of aging. Gravity puts pressure on the discs, and the discs don’t have a supply of blood, which means that they can’t repair themselves over time. So a lifetime of pressure can gradually wear away the discs in your spine.
That’s why the condition is most common in older people. At least 30% of people aged between 30-50 years experience degeneration in their discs.
Genetics also plays a role. People with a family history of the disease are also more likely to develop the condition. And lifestyle factors like smoking and obesity can also increase your risk.
Many people also develop the condition following an injury like a car accident or a fall. Any injury that damages the discs in the spine can lead to degenerative disc disease.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to treat it.
What Can You Do To Treat It?
The first step in any treatment is a diagnosis. And there are a few ways that doctors can identify a damaged disc. The doctor will start with a physical exam looking for evidence of pain in the back or limbs. Then they may ask you to do some basic movements like twisting or bending over. If the pain spikes with these movements, then it’s a good indication of disc problems. Once the doctor suspects a degenerated disc, they can easily diagnose it with an X-ray.
In most cases, treatment focuses on managing the pain. Puting an ice or heating pack on the affected area can be an effective way to relieve the pain, as can basic over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen. Of course, for severe pain, these methods may not be enough. So, many people with back pain from a degenerated disc end up on opioid pain relievers.
These are often the most effective medications for relieving pain, but they can be dangerous if not used correctly. If you find yourself being prescribed opioids, always use them exactly as recommended. Otherwise, there is the risk of a fatal overdose.
And if you’d prefer not to use these medications, you can also try physical therapy to strengthen the muscles in the back. This helps reduce micro-movements in the spine that can make the condition worse and cause pain as the bones slide over the damaged disc.
Other than managing the pain, the only real treatment option for a degenerated disc is surgery. This surgery usually involves removing the damaged disc. Sometimes, doctors will insert an artificial disc to help cushion the vertebrae and replace the disc they removed. Or they surgically fuse the bones together, protecting the spinal cord from further damage.
In most cases, doctors suggest that patients try to manage their pain without the surgery. And typically, only cases that are extremely severe or threaten to lead to serious complications are treated with surgical methods.
So, if you’re struggling with lower back pain, let us know. When did you get diagnosed? What did you do to treat it? How do you manage long-term pain? Tell us in the comments.
Fibromyalgia flare ups are one of those things that come along to remind you that just when you thought you were getting a handle on managing your fibromyalgia, it can always seem to get worse for no reason.
The sudden intense pain and fatigue can immediately cancel any plans you had for that day, or even week. And they make coping with your fibromyalgia much more difficult.
But what exactly is a fibromyalgia flare up? And what can you do about them?
What Is A Fibromyalgia Flare Up?
Put simply, a fibromyalgia flare up is a sudden increase in the level of your fibromyalgia symptoms. This flare up can take the form of especially severe pain or increased fatigue. So essentially, a fibromyalgia flare up is just a period of time when the basic level of pain, fatigue, and mental fog you normally feel with fibromyalgia is much worse that it usually is.
So if you suddenly feel much more tired than usual, feel intense pain in a certain part of your body, or feel like you can’t focus on anything, you’re likely having a fibromyalgia flare up.
While no one is sure exactly what is happening during a fibromyalgia flare up that makes these symptoms worse, there are definitely a number of things that seem to trigger them.
What Causes A Fibromyalgia Flare Up?
There are a lot of different things that can cause a fibromyalgia flare up. The weather, for instance, is a common trigger. Sudden shifts in the pressure in the air cause fibromyalgia to suddenly get worse for a lot of people.
Diet can also play a major role. Some people with fibromyalgia can’t eat certain foods without triggering a fibromyalgia flare up, which makes identifying and avoiding those foods a constant concern.
Another trigger is a lack of sleep. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have identified that a lack of sleep is a major contributing factor in fibromyalgia symptoms. Of course, we all know that fibromyalgia makes it pretty difficult to get a good night’s rest, but a few nights tossing and turning more than usual can definitely trigger a flare up.
Too much excercise can also trigger flare ups. Now, exercise is great for helping manage your fibromyalgia, but make sure not to push yourself too hard, as too much exertion triggers flare ups.
But the most common trigger by far is probably stress. Doctors have known for a long time that stress is bad for your body in many ways. It can cause weight gain and shorten your life span. And being stressed out is also the surest way to trigger fibromyalgia flare ups in a lot of people.
What Can You Do About It?
There are a few things you can do that may help to make your fibromyalgia flare ups easier to deal with.
First, and most obvious, you want to avoid the types of things that trigger flare ups in the first place. Make sure you’re sticking to as regular a sleeping schedule as you can. The extra sleep will help prevent flare ups. Second, avoid stress as much as possible. Obviously life is stressful, especially when you have fibromyalgia, but anything you can do to help you be less stressed is going to help enormously with avoiding flare ups. Meditation, yoga, or even just breathing excercises can all help you feel more centered and less stressed.
But if you can’t avoid a flare up, there are also things you can do to help tone down the pain you’re feeling.
Medication
Begin with your medication. If your doctors prescribed something to help you deal with flares, take it regularly. Don’t skip any doses, even if you feel like you’re getting better. A flare can suddenly get worse after it begins to feel better. It’s also helpful to take medication if you feel like a fibromyalgia flare up might be coming on. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Set Boundaries
It’s also a good idea to be proactive about managing your daily life when you’re dealing with fibromyalgia flare ups. Let people around you know that you’re having a tough time. Don’t take on any added responsibility at work or home. And don’t do anything or deal with people that could make you feel stressed out. Stress will only make your symptoms worse.
Set personal boundaries with the people who depend on you. Let them know that you need them to let you rest.
Catch Up On Sleep
And if you can, use the opportunity to catch up on sleep. Getting some rest will really help your fibromyalgia flare ups resolve themselves faster and be less severe. While it’s not easy to sleep through a flare up, you may be able to get medication that will help you sleep from a doctor. But even if you can’t, any rest you can get is the best way to manage a flare up.
Manage Your Diet
Make sure you’re eating a healthy diet. You may be tempted during a bad flare up to crawl in bed and eat easy-to-prepare junk food. While that’s perfectly understandable, it won’t help your symptoms. Maintaining a healhty diet with plenty of balanced nutrients and vitamins will help you resolve your flare ups and prevent them in the future.
These tips can help you deal with flare ups. But if you get flare ups regularly, the best thing to do is talk to your doctor. A doctor who specializes in fibromyalgia will know about the most effective treatments, and can even give you some advice about how to manage your daily life to better avoid flare ups. You can find a list of doctors who specialize in your area at the National Fibromyalgia Research Foundation.
Even if you already have a doctor, finding one who deals with fibromyalgia patients regularly can be helpful. They will be more aware of the best treatments and research.
But let us know, how do you deal with fibromyalgia flare ups? Are there things that trigger flare ups for you to avoid? Let us know in the comments.
Imagine having a disease that was so painful it made it difficult to handle even basic tasks of everyday life. Now imagine that in spite of all your obvious pain and difficulty, no one believes you actually have it. Well, for people with fibromyalgia they don’t have to imagine that because it’s the life they live every day. They endure constant pain, fatigue, and worst of all, a lack of understanding. So let’s settle once-and-for-all the question, “is fibromyalgia real?”
Is Fibromyalgia Real?
No question is more infuriating to someone with fibromyalgia than, “is fibromyalgia real?” That’s because the question implies that they are imagining the symptoms that are so disabling. It implies that the constant pain and fatigue and the inability to even get up out of bed some days are really just something that they are faking. It’s saying that they could get over their disease if they would just recognize that it didn’t actually exist.
And to someone with fibromyalgia, that sounds completely ridiculous. Of course, they aren’t faking it. Who would imagine a disease that alienates you from your friends and family and causes endless pain and misery? How could something that is so difficult to manage and comes with such a huge reduction in their quality of life possibly be something that they are imagining?
They are more active and sensitive to stimulation, implying that there is a physical difference in these peoples’ brains that explains why they feel fibromyalgia pain.
So is fibromyalgia real? Well, the vast majority of doctors and medical science says it is.
Why Do People Think Fibromyalgia Isn’t Real
So why do people seem to think that fibromyalgia isn’t real? The majority of it is our attitude towards medicine. People think that these days we have pretty much learned everything there is to know about medicine. There are few diseases left that we don’t truly understand.
That’s why fibromyalgia is hard for people to believe in. It’s a disease with no known cause. And there isn’t a clear way that the symptoms present themselves. We don’t understand how the pain works in the disease. And for people who think that everything in medicine should have an obvious cause and effect, that makes it hard to think fibromyalgia is real.
And finally, there’s just the issue of fibromyalgia not being visible. Whereas with other diseases you can see the effects on the outside, someone with fibromyalgia doesn’t look sick. And that means that no matter how much pain you are in, it is hard for people to believe it. Seeing is believing, as the saying goes.
What Should You Say To People Asking About Your Disease
But while it makes sense that some people have a hard time understanding fibromyalgia, it doesn’t change the facts. It’s tough to deal with people who don’t believe you have a disease. The constant doubt feels alot like they aren’t supporting you with your painful disease.
And the worst part about those doubts is that when someone asks “is fibromyalgia real,” they’re implying that you, the person who suffers from it, are actually to blame for your own misery. They’re saying that if you would just stop being crazy, you wouldn’t suffer from fibromyalgia.
It’s an absurd thing to say, and intensely hurtful to people who suffer from such a terrible disease. And it’s part of what makes it so terrible because someone who suffers from it not only has the physical pain but is also victimized by the lack of understanding they get from other people.
So when you are speaking to people who don’t believe that fibromyalgia is real, it’s probably best to just be honest about those questions.
First, you can point out how scientific studies have shown time and again that fibromyalgia is a real disease. And you can even explain how fibromyalgia works and what the symptoms it produces are. Finally, you can point out how difficult it is when people don’t believe that your disease is real.
There’s a good chance that if you calmly explain the situation and how it affects you, they will be a lot more understanding. And that’s not to mention it’s a great chance to help spread some awareness of a condition that is tragically misunderstood.
Lupus is a frightening disease to be diagnosed with. That’s partly because the effects of it can be so devastating and partly because lots of people don’t know much about it. Of course, we hear about it from pop culture sources. After all, the average episode of House M.D. has the cast arguing back and forth over whether or not something is lupus so often that it’s become a meme.
But how many of us really know any hard facts about the condition? Like what exactly is lupus? What are some common causes of lupus ? How do you get the disease? And what can you do to treat it?
What Is Lupus?
Lupus is, on a basic level, an autoimmune disease. That means that lupus causes your body’s immune system to basically turn against you. In a healthy immune system, your white blood cells produce something called antibodies. These antibodies identify and destroy foreign cells like bacteria and viruses. It’s an important part of what keeps us healthy.
But in someone with lupus, the immune system begins to confuse your own, healthy cells for foreign invaders and starts attacking them. This results in symptoms like fatigue and muscle pains. In severe cases, lupus can cause your vital organs like the kidneys and the heart or lungs to start breaking down, which can lead to death.
Common Lupus Causes
No one knows for sure why certain people develop lupus but we do know there are a few things that can make your risk for developing lupus higher. And the disease itself seems to hinge on the interaction between genetics and environment.
We know that having a family member with lupus elevates your chances of developing the condition slightly. And we know that women are overwhelmingly more often affected than men. Certain ethnic groups are more likely than others to develop lupus as well. And finally, having an identical twin with the condition makes people much more likely to get lupus.
All these facts imply that your genetic makeup plays some role in determining if you develop lupus.
But there’s also evidence that environment plays a role as well. For instance, viral infections can sometimes trigger lupus symptoms in people who didn’t previously have the disease. In addition, there are a wide range of drugs that can actually trigger lupus. Usually, this form of lupus is less severe than normal lupus. And it typically resolves itself after a few months off of the medication.
Finally, some people have argued that UV light from the sun is actually one of the major causes of lupus. It’s an interesting theory, especially given the fact that many people with lupus are sensitive to light and exposure to UV light can cause your lupus to flare up. But there’s little compelling evidence for UV light to actually be one of the central lupus causes.
But the thing most likely to lead to the development of lupus is actually another autoimmune condition. Autoimmune conditions frequently seem to develop into other autoimmune conditions, and lupus is no exception.
How Is Lupus Treated?
Luckily if you do develop lupus, it is fairly easy to treat. And the vast majority of people with lupus live long, full lives. The average person with lupus lives as long as the average person who doesn’t have it, in fact.
Lupus is treated with drugs that target the inflammation of the tissue it causes. This inflammation is actually the dangerous part of the disease as it is what actually damages your vital organs. One of the simplest ways to treat lupus is with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs are actually simple, over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen. They not only reduce pain but the inflammation lupus causes as well.
In more serious cases of lupus, doctors may prescribe you corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are hormones your body naturally produces to handle inflammation, and by taking extra doses of them, you can manage inflammation from lupus.
Finally, there is the option of immunosuppressant drugs. These drugs work by lowering the activity of the immune system. That reduces the number of antibodies you have attacking your cells and limiting the damage that lupus causes to your vital organs.
The important thing when it comes to lupus is to get treatment early before the symptoms become severe. Lupus can be managed, and doing so effectively might just save your life.
So do you live with lupus? What’s it like? How do you manage your symptoms? Tell us in the comments section below.
Fibromyalgia itching is one of those symptoms of fibromyalgia that you don’t hear much about. But for people who live with it, it can be a nightmare.
But what causes fibromyalgia itching? And can the clothing you wear make it worse, or make it easier to manage?
What Causes Fibromyalgia Itching?
People with fibromyalgia sometimes report that their skin sometimes feels itchy. They often have trouble sleeping at night because they feel like there is something crawling on or under their skin. It can sometimes last for hours or even days, which makes it hard to deal with for many people.
This symptom is usually not the result of anything irritating the skin, but rather seems to be caused by their nerves overreacting to an imaginary stimulus. No one knows exactly what causes this to happen in people who suffer from fibromyalgia, and not everyone who has the disease suffers from it.
Some speculate that it is caused by an immune response. And others think it is caused by damaged connections between nerve endings. Dr. Gil Yosopovitch, who heads the Dermatology Department at Temple University, believes that this is what’s behind fibromyalgia itching:
I would say, from my experience, there are a lot of overlaps of people who have some types of chronic pain and they’re in the same spectrum of chronic itch, and they could have chronic itch. This is not well mentioned, but for patients who have, for example, fibromyalgia, if it causes chronic pain, a lot of times they complain also of chronic itch. So it won’t surprise me, people who have irritable bowel syndrome, which is another form of – all these aspects of disease have something in common – they have a hypersensitization of the nerve fibers and it’s very similar to what I described before, with a patient with chronic itch is that the nerves are acting wacky; they’re just firing all over. And that’s why it’s so severe and why it’s so difficult to treat these patients.
So probably the best explanation for what causes that constant itching with fibromyalgia is caused by misfiring nerves that create an itching sensation in your brain. But while there is no definitive answer about what causes this symptom, we do know that there are things you can do to help manage it.
Do The Clothes You Wear Make Fibromyalgia Itching Worse?
Some people who report itching with fibromyalgia have said that certain clothing can make the feeling worse. That makes sense on one level. After all, who hasn’t had an irritating tag on their collar that bothered their skin?
Tight clothing can sometimes increase irritation of the skin. And fabrics like wool are often itchy when worn without a base layer. It’s possible that these kinds of clothing make your fibromyalgia itching worse.
Finally, clothing can sometimes contain microscopic mites or insects that can cause you to feel itchy. And certain people have sensitivities to laundry detergents which might account for itching.
Are There Clothes That Help Reduce Itching?
Cotton or synthetic fabrics are often less irritating. So it might be worth making a switch if you feel these fabrics help reduce your symptoms.
Avoid wearing tight clothing or clothing made from irritating materials. And switch to hypo-allergenic detergent, which should help if harsh detergents are aggravating your symptoms. The clothing you wear can also hold small amounts of detergent after you wash them. So it can be helpful to not only switch to a hypo-allergenic soap, but also wash your clothes a second time in just cold water. That will help eliminate any left over detergent, which helps get rid of any extra irritation.
But while getting rid of irritating clothing might help reduce the amount of itching you experience, it’s unlikely that it will help very much with your fibromyalgia itching. Since the condition is most likely caused by the nervous system or an over-active immune system, the itching is probably not coming from the skin directly, but from the brain.
And the impact that clothing touching the skin causes to people suffering from fibromyalgia itching is probably one of the least significant factors when it comes to their symptoms.
What Are Some Other Options?
With that being said, there is evidence that other methods can help sooth some of the itching symptoms.
Things like oral antihistamines might help reduce the itching. And people who take them before bed report that the drowsiness they cause helps them sleep through the worst of the itching they do experience. And finally, icing the affected area helps to numb it and might be effective for some people.
No matter what you do, try to avoid scratching. Scratching can break the skin and lead to bacterial infections.
There are a number of other things you can use to help treat your fibromyalgia itching. There’s a lot of evidence that the itching is actually caused by the interactions between your nerves. And diseases like fibromyalgia lead to the nerve signals being damaged or over-active. They then transmit signals to your brain that it interprets as itching.
So the best way to treat fibromyalgia itching seems to be drugs that can help calm those over-active nerve signals. Anticonvulsants are great for treating these kinds of conditions because they are designed to slow the interaction between nerves that create seizures.
Drugs like Gabapentin are already used to treat people with chronic itching conditions and are generally effective for a lot of people. Look for doctors who specialize in chronic itching conditions, and they will usually be able to prescribe something that is effective for you.
The clothing can help with your symptoms, as limiting the amount of irritation you have on your skin will make it easier to prevent that itching. But it is probably worth your time to look into some more effective, medical methods of managing your symptoms.
So let us know, do you suffer from fibromyalgia itching? If so, what works for you? What doesn’t work? Let us know in the comments.
It’s estimated that around 100 million Americans deal with some form of chronic pain. As you can imagine, doctors spend a lot of time trying to find ways to treat that pain. That’s why they’ve created a system that allows them to categorize pain.
Basically, there are three major categories of pain: nociceptive, neuropathic, and idiopathic. But there are also many sub-categories, including one that will be especially interesting to people with fibromyalgia, somatic pain.
So, what is somatic pain? Why is it relevant to fibromyalgia? And what can you do to treat it?
What Is Somatic Pain?
Somatic pain is classified under the broader category of nociceptive pain. Nociceptive pain is caused by small receptors in the skin and the tissue underneath called nociceptors. When the nociceptors are injured, like when you cut yourself, they send electrical signals along the nerves to the brain.
The brain then interprets these signals as pain and sends signals back down the nerves to the area where the nociceptors are located. That’s why when you cut your arm it hurts where the skin was injured, even though the pain really starts in the brain.
Somatic pain also triggers these nociceptors, but the term “somatic pain” specifically refers to pain that comes from the soft tissues of the body like the skin, connective tissues, and muscles.
And there are two different types of somatic pain: superficial and deep. Superficial somatic pain is pain that comes from the skin and mucous membranes. Any injury to this tissue like a cut, burn, or infection leads to somatic pain.
Deep somatic pain occurs in the tissue underneath the skin like the joints, bones, or tendons. If you pull a muscle in your leg, you’re experiencing deep somatic pain. The same applies to conditions like arthritis, which leads to swelling of the connective tissue of the joints.
Superficial pain is usually more like a sharp stabbing or burning sensation, whereas deep pain seems to be more like a throbbing or aching pain.
Obviously, it’s a very broad category. And there a number of conditions that can lead to somatic pain.
While the pain of fibromyalgia is classified as idiopathic pain, people who suffer from fibromyalgia are also more likely to develop a number of these conditions.
Somatic Pain And Fibromyalgia
Having fibromyalgia raises your risk of developing a wide number of conditions. Some of the most common ones are autoimmune conditions.
Autoimmune conditions include things like arthritis, lupus, or Sjogren’s syndrome. These conditions are caused when the immune system begins to attack the tissue, leading to inflammation. In arthritis, the connective tissue of the joints, or the synovium, begins to swell.
When you have lupus, the immune system attacks tissue all over the body, including the skin. People with lupus sometimes develop large rashes on the skin. These rashes are very sensitive to light, and exposure to UV rays can cause somatic pain.
And Sjogren’s syndrome attacks the mucous membranes. As a result, they swell and the membranes lose their ability to produce moisture. This can lead to significant pain as the membranes are gradually damaged.
Luckily, there are things you can do to treat the pain.
What Can You Do To Treat It?
What sort of treatment you need obviously depends on what the condition is that’s causing it. The most common forms of pain management are simple, over-the-counter painkillers. These work by blocking the enzymes that produce inflammation, which makes them great for treating autoimmune disorders.
They’re’ also great for minor injuries along with some basic first aid. For deep pain, icing the affected area is often helpful for reducing the amount of pain you feel.
For more serious pain, doctors often prescribe physical therapy or opioid pain relievers. Opioids are one of the most effective tools we have for treating severe pain. But they also carry some serious risks. Opioid overdose deaths are a major concern in many countries. The CDC estimates that around 91 Americans die every day from opioids.
And they carry a serious risk of physical dependency, where your body needs the medication to function. That’s not to say that opioids can’t be useful for managing pain. But it’s extremely important to take them responsibly and always follow a doctors recommendation.
If you’re experiencing pain, it’s always best to see a doctor. They should be able to give you a diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
So, did you know there were different types of pain? What do you do to manage yours? Let us know in the comments.
The Connection Between Fibromyalgia and Endometriosis
Written By: Fibromyalgia Treating
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The bad news is that for many women fibromyalgia and endometriosis seem to go hand in hand, which is very much like getting dealt a double unfair hand in life. While there are some suspected causes and risks, there are no known certain causes and risks which can make treating both difficult. It may be difficult to find treatment that will help relieve your symptoms, but it is not impossible.
What is fibromyalgia?
The real problem between understanding the connection between fibromyalgia and endometriosis is that we still don’t know what fibromyalgia really is. It is understood as a chronic and pervasive inflammatory pain disorder. It affects mostly the joints, neck, shoulders hips and so on, and is characterized by pain as a result of pressure being applied to those points.
There is a cluster of symptoms associated with fibromyalgia that range from sleep problems, brain fog, chronic pain, painful menstruation and stiffness. Doctors aren’t sure if those symptoms are a sign that you have fibromyalgia, or if they are caused by the pain and inflammation of fibromyalgia. A new study has documented that there is a specific area of the brain that changes during a fibromyalgia flare-up, but again, it is not known now whether the brain change is the cause or result of the disease.
Who is at risk?
There are a lot of theories of causes of fibromyalgia, but the exact cause is not known. What is known is that of the 80 to 90 million people with the disease, over 80 percent are women. Men can also get the disease, as can children. Onset can occur at any time in life, but generally not until 18 years of age or higher. A suspected gene link may exist, as one of the risk factors for fibromyalgia is the presence of another person within the nuclear or extended family with the disorder.
Those with arthritis and other inflammatory diseases are also considered to be at high risk, as are people who have suffered major impact trauma such as a car accident. While traditionally viewed as a woman’s disease, more men are being diagnosed with fibromyalgia as their gender specific cluster of symptoms is being more clearly identified.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis occurs when the endometrium, or tissue that lines the uterus, begins to grow on the outside of the uterus. This in itself is not painful, but during menstruation, the tissue swells and the resulting pressure on organs and stretching of ligaments in the area can be very painful. That swollen tissue can also lead to other issues in the pelvic region. Many women who suffer from endometriosis eventually stop having their periods, which causes an additional hormonal imbalance and does not lessen the periodic swelling of the endometrium growing outside of the uterus.
Who is at risk?
Women who have immune disorders, or who have had hysterectomies or cesarean births are considered to have a higher risk of developing endometriosis than other women. The disorder can develop in those without any of those conditions as well. The exact cause of endometriosis is not known, however it is understood that the migration of the endometrium cells outside of the uterus is how it begins. For most women, endometriosis will occur soon after the beginning of menarche, or within a few months of returning to menarche following surgery or cesarean birth.
What is the connection between fibromyalgia and endometriosis?
Both fibromyalgia and endometriosis share a common connection between being related to the menstrual cycle, and to immune disorders. It is not understood whether having one will predispose you to developing the other, but many women will suffer from both.
One of the complications of trying to find a good solution is that it isn’t as simple as having a hysterectomy, which is the most aggressive choice of treatment for endometriosis. You do have to do something as fibromyalgia can be debilitating and endometriosis can affect your ability to carry a child to term, as well as raise your risk for ovarian cancer significantly.
What can you do?
There is a surprising amount of things that you can do to begin to relieve the symptoms of both fibromyalgia and endometriosis. The first thing you have to do is talk to your doctor and get your pain under control. You can try different pain medications, and learn about what foods to avoid so you are then able to adopt other lifestyle changes such as increasing the amount of exercise that you do. Exercise is essential as it is the only way to power the lymph system which will then strengthen your immune system too.
Understanding the role of pain medication
While no medication works the same for every person, there are many medications that are recommended to relieve the symptoms of endometriosis and fibromyalgia. They work best when you have an understanding of their purpose. The purpose of pain and anti-inflammatory medication is not to completely rid you of the pain – but to lower the pain enough so that you can function well. The level of medication it would take to completely rid you of pain would most likely completely incapacitate you as well. The goal is to improve your quality of life by using pain medication to manage the pain so you can pursue other changes and treatments to make life better.
Surgery and alternative treatments
Surgery is most often recommended for endometriosis. It can be conservative or aggressive. If you are younger than 50, your doctor may suggest a partial hysterectomy that will leave your ovaries so that your hormone balance will be retained. That may not be advisable in all cases and a full hysterectomy with hormone replacement therapies may be suggested. You should also speak with an alternative medicine practitioner. Many women have found a great deal of relief from their symptoms through acupuncture, yoga and other alternative treatments too.
Making sure you get support
Always make sure you have support. If you have fibromyalgia and endometriosis you need people around you who understand what you are going through. One great idea is to get involved with a support group, become an awareness educator about the diseases, and to always make the effort to connect with a social life. Both of these disorders can be treated, and many women do return to enjoying life – you just have to be patient and willing to find what works for you.
Living with chronic pain can seem impossible. After all, who can stand a life full of constant agony? But if you’re living with chronic pain, you aren’t alone. It’s something that affects a huge number of Americans. The National Institute of Health estimates that 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. So finding an effective system of chronic pain management is an issue that a lot of people have on their minds.
The problem is that chronic pain is such a difficult thing to manage effectively. There are many different conditions and diseases that lead to chronic pain. And there are few methods that have been proven to effectively treat it. So that makes it difficult to find a way to manage it well. Luckily, there are a few things you can do. But first, let’s look at what chronic pain is, how it’s usually treated, and what you can do to manage it more effectively.
What Is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is a hard thing to define as a medical condition because it seems to be different for everyone who suffers from it. With that being said, doctors typically define chronic pain as any severe pain that lasts longer than 3 to 6 months.
But within that wider umbrella term of “chronic pain,” there are dozens or even hundreds of different conditions that range from rheumatoid arthritis to herniated spinal discs. And that means that there is no single answer of how to manage chronic pain effectively. Obviously, chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia needs to be treated differently than the chronic pain caused by an injury.
But, regardless of which type of chronic pain we’re talking about, many modern healthcare systems struggle when trying to treat it. And in fact, sometimes the best methods we have for treating chronic pain produce their own sets of problems.
How Is Chronic Pain Treated?
There are a few different ways that chronic pain is typically treated, but none of them are known to be especially effective. Things like antidepressants are usually prescribed for diseases like fibromyalgia but oftentimes patients report that they don’t do much to control the pain. Other conditions like RA are treated with anti-inflammatory drugs.
But often doctors prescribe opioid pain relievers for chronic pain, which produces a number of problems. For instance, in America, it’s estimated that 1,000 people a day are treated after overdosing on prescription opioids. And the number of people who die every year from those overdoses continues to grow. In addition, as many as 2,000,000 Americans may be dependent on painkillers.
Part of the reason that doctors continue to prescribe opioids so extensively is that there simply isn’t much of an alternative. There are no drugs that relieve chronic pain as effectively and reliably. And in addition, only a relatively small minority of patients ever develop an opioid dependency from the drugs they are prescribed.
So doctors are faced with a serious dilemma when it comes to chronic pain management. Do they prescribe opioids, which are often the only way to relieve their patients suffering, knowing that it may contribute to the opioid abuse epidemic? It’s a decision every pain management doctor has to make on their own.
And it’s one that patients need to grapple with too. When it comes to chronic pain, sufferers are left with the choice to take powerful and possibly addictive opioids or to turn to other methods of chronic pain management that may not be as effective.
Chronic Pain Management
While opioids are the most effective way to relieve chronic pain, they aren’t necessarily the best method for chronic pain management. When it comes to managing pain for a long period, there are a number of things you can do that can help with chronic pain without powerful painkillers.
For starters, there is meditation. You’re probably already thinking that the idea that just “meditating” can actually reduce the horrible pain you feel on a daily basis is ridiculous, right? But while it might sound crazy, it’s actually backed up by science. In a recent study, researchers found that subjects could reduce their pain by 57 percent just by practicing mindfulness techniques.
Meditation is known to reduce stress, and stress is a significant factor in chronic pain. So it may be that managing your stress can actually be a pretty good method of chronic pain management.
And in the same way, living a healthy lifestyle will help you manage your pain. Smoking and alcohol both contribute to pain and regular exercise is one of the most effective ways to reduce the amount of pain you feel on a daily basis. Finally, maintaining a healthy diet is vital to keeping your body in the best shape you can and limiting your chronic pain.
Obviously, there isn’t much you can do to really “fix” your chronic pain, which means that for as long as your condition exists, your focus will have to be on chronic pain management. It’s a tough lot in life, which is why finding someone to talk to and a supportive network of friends is so important.
So tell us in the comments, what is living with chronic pain like for you? How do you manage it? Let us know.
Have you ever tried resting in bed, but the sheets are somehow painful enough to keep you awake? Have you ever been outside on a warm day only to have a cool breeze or gust of wind hurt your body all over? Or how about this one: has the elastic on your sleeves, pants, or socks bothered you so badly that you just had change clothes or go naked for a bit? If you’re reading this and don’t have fibromyalgia, these scenarios may sound absurd. But the struggle is real, folks, and it’s called allodynia. Allodynia and fibromyalgia often go together. For example, I’ve literally had to get up in the middle of the night a few times in life just to shave my legs because the irritation and pain from my pajamas or sheets touching the hair was keeping me awake. So I’ve been shaving every day of my life for years now just to avoid that sensation.
The best way I have found to help people understand what I’m dealing with is to say, “Think about the most sensitive places on your body. It could be your lips, fingertips, tongue, or whatever. Now imagine that your whole body and even your muscles are made from the same nerves that are found in those places. Then think about how it would feel if it was overly stimulated all the time. That’s a lot like what I experience when the wind blows and even sometimes when I’m gently touched by my partner or pet.”
Just What is Allodynia?
Researchers at the UK-based Cardiff University explain that “neuropathic pain is caused by damage to- or dysfunction of- the peripheral and central nervous system, rather than stimulation of pain receptors.” If you’ve done any reading at all about fibromyalgia, then these are ideas you should definitely be familiar with. In fact, they add that “neuropathic pain commonly results in ‘spontaneous’ pains. Some of these sensations appear to have a ‘life of their own’ and are bizarre.” Bizarre and spontaneous sensations and pains? Sounds like an average day when you’re dealing with fibromyalgia, doesn’t it? Well, allodynia is one of those spontaneous pains.
You see, allodynia falls into a category of “evoked pains” which are “usually exaggerated responses to innocuous events that do not cause pain in people with ‘normal’ pain pathways.” Ok, now we’re getting somewhere, aren’t we? This explains why those without fibro usually have no concept of what this is like. Allodynia is specifically pain that comes from simple contact which isn’t usually painful. Like blowing wind, unshaven legs, and sheets touching your skin.
Kinds of Allodynia
There are three forms of allodynia. First is touch or tactile, meaning the pain that comes from the touch of, for example, clothing against the skin. Second is mechanical allodynia which is caused by movement across the skin from things like towels used for drying off, the brushing of bed sheets, and yes, even the wind. Lastly is thermal or temperature-related allodynia. That’s referring to hot or cold temperatures that are not extreme enough to damage your tissues. Indeed, the temperature may be rather. But with allodynia, it feels extreme so we might refer to it as temperature sensitivity.
You can actually have just one form or any combination of allodynia, and even all three. As you can see from the personal examples I shared, I obviously have the first two kinds. The third is hit or miss for me, but it’s definitely a problem. And your fibro experience may be similar to mine or very different. Nevertheless, allodynia and fibromyalgia go hand-in-hand as should be evident by now.
Treating Allodynia and Fibromyalgia
Allodynia is a type of pain commonly associated with fibromyalgia. It can be really difficult for non-fibro people to understand. And unfortunately, like fibromyalgia, allodynia cannot be cured. Rather, they must be managed. One treatment often recommended to help the muscular pain associated with fibro is massage. However, I have to use this method sparingly and in short bursts. My allodynia keeps me from enjoying a massage for longer than 45 minutes, if I’m lucky. So be mindful that massage therapy can make it worse, but it also helps to simply know your limitations and tell the therapist when you’ve had enough.
Some fibro patients get allodynia pain relief from topical creams like Tiger Balm, Aspercreme, Lidocaine, or BioFreeze. Certain drugs used for moderate treatment of pain have helped some fibro patients deal with their allodynia as well. Medications such as Tramadol, Lyrica, and Gabapentin are effective for treating a number of symptoms, including the pain from allodynia and fibromyalgia.
Have you found a particular treatment, method, or remedy for allodynia and fibromyalgia that works for you? Please share it with us because every little bit helps in this community!
One of the worst things about living with fibromyalgia is that there doesn’t seem to be much that you can do to treat it. Of course, there are a number of medications that doctors prescribe. But many people with fibromyalgia find that the antidepressants that are approved for treating fibromyalgia don’t seem to be very effective.
So with the only medicine approved for fibromyalgia being ineffective for a lot of people, it makes sense that sufferers would turn to some alternative methods of treating their fibromyalgia. That’s why so many people with fibromyalgia will hear someone suggest they try homeopathic medicine. And one of the most commonly suggested treatments is essential oils.
But what are essential oils, and do essential oils for fibromyalgia really work?
What Are Essential Oils?
You see, many naturally occurring plants have chemicals in them that can be beneficial for your health. And essential oils are preparations of plant material that are meant to concentrate these natural compounds so that they can be used for medicinal purposes. Most commonly, people who use essential oils do so through aromatherapy.
Aromatherapy works by vaporizing those essential oils in the belief that someone will then be able to breathe beneficial compounds into the lungs. They then can cross the barrier into the blood stream. And regardless of how well it works as medicine, it certainly does make your house smell nice.
But if inhaling vaporized oils isn’t your thing, you can also rub essential oil directly onto your skin. Again, the idea is that the compounds in the oil will be absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream where they can do their work.
Which Essential Oils For Fibromayglia Do People Use?
There isn’t much in the way of rigourous scientific study about using essential oils for fibromyalgia, so it’s tought to say which oils specifically would be best for treating fibromyalgia. But there are a few things that people who focus on this kind of homeopathic treatment reccommend:
Lemongrass. Lemongrass is an aromatic grass that is supposed to be revitalizing and help give you more energy.
Orange. Orange is described by aromatherapy practitioners as being a natural antidepressant, which is useful for fibromyalgia.
Frankencense. Frankencense is a naturally occuring tree sap that is supposed to be calming.
Rosemary. Rosemary is a common kitchen spice, but may also help you manage fibromyalgia pain according to aromotherapy proponents.
Do Essential Oils For Fibromyalgia Work?
So do essential oils for fibromyalgia actually work? Well, this is where things get a bit tricky. Again, the research for whether or not essential oils are effective in treating fibromyalgia is pertty sparse. But studies have been done on the claims of essential oil proponents for many other conditions, from cancer to IBS. And the results are not good. Most studies found no difference whatsoever for people using essential oils for these conditions.
And while the guy selling you essential oils might swear by them for treating these conditions, most controlled studies would disagree. Again, it doesn’t mean that using essential oils for fibromyalgia is useless, since they didn’t test for fibro specifically, but it suggest that the medical value of essential oils for treating serious conditions is very limited.
With that being said, essential oils for fibromyalgia do have their place. It has been demonstrated that using aromatherapy for people with multiple sclerosis (a painful autoimmune disorder) helped the patients feel more relaxed and at ease, as well as helping with sleep.
And being more at ease is a very valuable thing when it comes to fibromyalgia. Not to mention that anything which can help you get to sleep is great.
Finally, there are many people who will swear by the use of essential oils for fibromyalgia. And if you are one of those people, that’s great. Anything that helps you deal with your condition is something you should keep using. If essential oils work for you, then they work for you and you should feel free to keep using them.
Meanwhile, if you are curious about using essential oils for fibromyalgia, why not give it a try? You might find they help you feel more at ease and there is no real risk in using them. And a sense of taking charge of your condition, trying new things, and maintaining a positive attitude is the best thing you can develop when it comes to managing life with fibromyalgia. Just don’t count on essential oils specifically to significantly change the way you cope with fibromyalgia.
With that being said, let us know. Do essential oils for fibromyalgia work for you? Which ones should people try? Tell us in the comments.
Excessive Sweating: When the Hypothalamus Doesn’t Cooperate
Written By: Sara Snoddy
admin
Image: Image Point Fr/Shutterstock
If you have fibromyalgia, an “invisible illness”, you often experience severe symptoms that no one can see, sometimes leading to misunderstandings and causing more stressful situations. You’re most likely used to taking a more cautious approach to outdoor activities or an kind of exertion for fear of aggravating your symptoms, but if you don’t have an understanding support system of family and friends, you might find yourself surrounded by people who can’t sympathize with what’s going through inside your body. Pain and migraines are the most common invisible symptoms of fibro, but overheating is one that often gets overlooked. However, staying indoors and in the shade is not nearly enough to combat sweating and hot flashes, reactions of a faulty limbic and endocrine system.
At least 5 million adults are affected by fibromyalgia, and 3.4 percent of the sample population of the 2015 Center for Disease control study was female. Men who have fibromyalgia tend to have fewer and milder symptoms that don’t typically last as long. Scientists and medical professionals are still unsure about this phenomenon, but the link may be due to hormones and fluctuations. Like pain and tenderness, symptoms of sweating and hot flashes are usually more prevalent and severe among women, competing with menopause for the spot of most annoying non-treatable condition. The one thing we do know is that whatever mystery surrounds fibro, the symptoms of fever and sweating and other hormone-related issues originate from a deficiency in the hypothalamus.
Hypothalamus: Why is it important?
The hypothalamus is one of the most important and underrated parts of the brain currently known to man, and that’s no stretch of the imagination. This almond-shaped nucleus performs a variety of functions, including it’s most important function of linking the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, or hypophysis. The hypothalamus is a part of the limbic system—the limbic system supports a variety of functions including emotion, behavior, motivation and long-term memory. The limbic system being affected would explain some symptoms such as depression, “fibro fog” and moodiness of people with fibro, because emotional control and memory-making is largely based in the limbic system.
Metabolism is linked to the hypothalamus. Most people associate metabolism with simply an ability to convert food into energy more than fat, making it easier to eat more and stay thin. But it’s more complicated than that. The metabolic process is mainly the conversion of food/fuel to energy and building blocks for biomolecules such as protein, so any abnormality in the metabolic system can explain a wide range of biological changes, not limited to fatigue and weight loss. The hypothalamus is responsible for some metabolic processes and activities of the autonomic nervous system.
But as it affects people’s health, the hypothalamus’ role in the limbic system is of paramount importance. The hypothalamus produces releasing hormones, which control the release of other hormones, and they stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones. Between the endocrine system’s pituitary gland and the limbic system’s hypothalamus, the following processes are controlled and effected:
Stiffness, cold and numbing feelings in your hands and feet are common symptoms of fibro, and if you have concurring symptoms of hot flashes and sweating, the results can be miserable. Women must deal with the consequences of having makeup melt off of their face, especially during hot months. There are a few known causes of excessive sweating that can be pinpointed, such as anxiety, that are all related to the nervous, limbic and endocrine system. One “treatable” cause is the possible side-effects from antidepressants—high levels of norepinephrine. But the only way to cure that cause is to cease taking the medication, a compromise that might not be worth it if the benefits outweigh the consequences.
Unfortunately, excessive sweating and hot flashes is a symptom that can negatively affect your daily living, and it’s one you either have to live with or find a way to manage. Wearing layered clothing is one simple way to make a difference in your life with fibro. Because you tend to switch between hot and cold, having the ability to remove clothing to suit your body temperature gives you some control back. Another important thing to remember is the need to stay hydrated. Water replaces the electrolytes you lose when you sweat, and without them we can become dehydrated. Loose powders and antiperspirants can keep you feeling fresh, but dress shields, absorbent sweat pads and even menstrual pads might be a better defense.
Is Fibromyalgia a Form of Neuropathic Pain or not?
Written By: Wyatt Redd
admin
Image: Geralt/ Pixabay
The pain of fibromyalgia can be agonizing, life-changing, and above all, confusing. After all, there’s so much we don’t know about pain, particularly the pain of fibromyalgia. And what we do know can be so complicated that’s it’s difficult to keep it straight.
For instance, did you know that there are actually different kinds of pain?
And finding a place to put fibromyalgia in those categories is difficult. Until 2011, it was classified as neuropathic pain. That year, doctors decided that this wasn’t a good fit and reclassified it as idiopathic, or the “we don’t have any idea what causes this pain” category. However, there was a reason that fibromyalgia was once considered neuropathic. And there are many reasons to think that fibromyalgia still belongs in the neuropathic category.
More importantly, understanding how neuropathic pain works can still teach us a lot about fibromyalgia itself and possibly how it might be cured.
So, what is neuropathic pain? And what can it tell us about fibromyalgia?
What Is Neuropathic Pain?
Pain is grouped into three larger categories: nociceptive, neuropathic, and idiopathic. Nociceptive pain is caused by things that trigger receptors in the skin called nociceptors. Anything like a cut, burn, or even something like arthritis can send a stimulus to these receptors. They then send an electrical signal along the nerves to the brain, which the brain then interprets as pain.
Neuropathic pain is a little bit different. Rather than being caused by a physical condition like an injury, neuropathic pain comes from the nerves themselves. Usually, it occurs after damage to the nervous system. And there are many conditions that can cause neuropathic pain like chronic alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, or chemotherapy. Really, any condition that can lead to nerve damage results in neuropathic pain.
The sensation is usually described as “electrical,” like you’re being shocked. But the pain can also be sharper and stabbing or produce a tingling sensation. And it can sometimes be hard to tell neuropathic pain from physical pain in the muscles, especially with a condition like fibromyalgia.
Because fibromyalgia seems to involve activity in the nerves and doesn’t arise from a physical source, it used to be considered neuropathic pain. But in 2005, it was moved into the idiopathic category. Idiopathic pain is a confusing category. And really, it’s just a way for doctors to classify pain when they have no idea what causes it.
The primary reason that fibromyalgia was moved out of the neuropathic category is because people with fibromyalgia usually don’t show signs of nerve damage. But as with all things regarding fibromyalgia, that’s complicated. And it turns out that many people with fibromyalgia do experience nerve damage.
Neuropathic Pain And Fibromyalgia
In fact, in around half of the patients with fibromyalgia, doctors can find evidence of some damage to the nerves. But that also means that half of all people who suffer from the condition don’t have nerve damage. So, why do they still experience pain in their nerves?
Unfortunately, we don’t really know the answer to that question. Some have suggested that over time, the nervous system can become hyper-sensitized to pain. It then sends pain signals to the brain without any actual damage to the nerves themselves.
This may be what is happening with fibromyalgia. We know that people often develop fibromyalgia after trauma, both mental and physical. There’s evidence that both cases can lead to nervous system over-sensitivity.
Another possibility is that fibromyalgia is caused by immune cells that affect the nervous system called “microglia“. These cells play an important role in neuropathic pain. They can pass through the barrier between the blood and the brain and help heal damaged nerve endings.
But sometimes, these cells become hyper-sensitive. They begin to pick up on signals of nerve damage that isn’t there and release something called cytokines. These cytokines cause inflammation in the nerves, which sends back more pain signals, which triggers the microglia to release more cytokines.
As you can imagine, that process forms an endless loop of pain and can even damage the nerves over time, which could potentially lead to hypersensitivity.
One of the most compelling pieces of evidence for this theory is that people with fibromyalgia have elevated levels of something called leptin in the blood. In fact, researchers have even found that they can predict how severe a patients pain will be by measuring the levels of leptin.
And leptin also passes through the barrier between the blood and the brain and triggers the release of microglia. That cycle of leptin, microglia, and nerve pain may actually be the cause of fibromyalgia.
Researchers hope that by one day understanding why people with fibromyalgia release more leptin, and how the cycle works, they may be able to find a cure for the condition.
So, what do you think? Does fibromyalgia belong in the neuropathic category? Does the microglia theory seem like it has potential? Let us know in the comments?
“Can you die if you have fibromyalgia?” It’s the kind of question that consumes your thoughts in the first few hours after a fibromyalgia diagnosis. After all, it’s a scary disease that not many people know well. And no doubt all the things you’ve heard about the chronic pain and disability that comes with it have you thinking that fibromyalgia must be a very serious disease.
And it is. But here’s why the question “can you die if you have fibromyalgia?” shouldn’t worry you so much.
Can You Die If You Have Fibromyalgia?
Can you die if you have fibromyalgia? The short answer is: no. You see, while fibromyalgia is a painful and serious condition, it isn’t a terminal disease in the same way that say, cancer, is.
Diseases kill you by gradual limiting the ability of your organs to perform vital functions that keep oxygen moving to your brain. In cancer, specifically, cancerous cells spread around the body filling your organs with tumors that eventually shut them down.
Fibromyalgia doesn’t affect your organs that way. While it is extremely painful, the condition doesn’t attack vital organs the way that other diseases do. So fibromyalgia won’t eventually kill you.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that while fibromyalgia itself isn’t dangerous, one of the conditions that arise from fibromyalgia can: suicide.
A study conducted in Denmark looked at the rate of death among people with fibromyalgia and found an alarming trend. After following a group of people with fibromyalgia for several years, they found that the rate of death was not significantly different. However, in the group they studied of 1300 people, eight had committed suicide by the time the study was complete.
Compare that to the rate of suicide among the general Danish population, which is a mere 6 out of every 100,000. That’s 8 in around 1,000 versus 6 in 100,000.
So, obviously, fibromyalgia makes you significantly more likely to kill yourself. And it isn’t hard to imagine why that is.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that can take everything from you. People with fibromyalgia find that they over time they often lose the ability to care for themselves. The severe pain makes it impossible for them to perform daily tasks to the point that many qualify as being disabled.
At the same time, people with fibromyalgia become extremely isolated as the people they care about drift away over time. Often friends and loved ones decide that it is too much of a burden to deal with someone who is constantly in pain. And of course, it’s hard to make time for those people when you’re pain makes basic things close to impossible.
Finally, there is a certain sense of hopelessness that comes with fibromyalgia. The treatments that are currently available in many places are limited to anti-depressants, which many fibromyalgia patients find completely ineffective, or narcotic pain medications that often lead to cycles of dependency and abuse.
At the same time, the research being done to find a cure is not nearly adequate to the task at hand. And other more visible conditions often take up the limited funds for medical research. That gives sufferers the impression that a cure will likely not become available in their lifetime.
There’s also the fact that fibromyalgia itself often causes depression and anxiety. And on top of all of that comes the constant, miserable pain.
So many people with fibromyalgia end up in a depression situation with a disease that alters their brains to make them more depressed. It’s easy to imagine why the suicide rate among people with fibromyalgia is so high.
So can you die if you have fibromyalgia? Yes. Fibromyalgia can eventually drive you to commit suicide, and in fact, often does.
That’s why it’s so important to manage your fibromyalgia depression. Find every way to cope that you possibly can. Reach out to support networks on the internet or in your daily life. Find new friends who understand fibromyalgia. Don’t let your loved ones drift away.
And above all, don’t give in to suicidal thoughts. Suicide leaves lasting pain for everyone involved and is not the solution that it might seem on your worst days. It will not solve any problems, only make more for those who care about you.
Just remember that life is worth living and you are not alone. Can you die if you have fibromyaliga? Yes, but only if you choose to.
You’re going about your business in peak physical condition and life is good. Suddenly you wake up one day to tingling and numbness in your leg. You head to the ER and they send you home with no news. Your primary care physician is stumped. He sends you to physical therapy, but they boot you out the door because it might be a pinched nerve. You get an MRI, EMG, and a brain scan. They all turn up clean. You try a chiropractor and any holistic practitioner you can find. Then one day you find yourself in front of rheumatologist who is able to immediately identify and diagnose you with fibromyalgia. Finally.
Or maybe you were in a car accident, your spouse or best friend passed away, or you simply had surgery. You slowly begin to experience some strange and seemingly disconnected symptoms, like muscle aches and extreme fatigue. Then one day your pinky toe feels like it’s on fire and you can’t even wear socks for a few days. Your scalp is itching so badly that you’re scratching yourself raw and causing it to bleed.
Soon you’re overwhelmed with anxiety which is quickly followed by depression. Some days you are in so much pain you can’t even get out of bed. To make matters worse, your friends and family can’t see any physical signs to indicate pain and so they are quickly running out of compassion and patience. You may ask yourself, do I have fibromyalgia?
What is fibromyalgia?
The word “fibromyalgia” is a combination of Greek and Latin that essentially means fibrous tissue/muscle pain. Therefore, the very meaning of the word says volumes about the condition itself, with the keyword being “pain.” The Mayo Clinic provides a very broad summary of the symptoms, which include:
Widespread pain – this is typically characterized by a dull ache that lasts for at least three months. “Widespread” from a medical perspective means that the pain and/or tenderness is on both sides of the body and is also both above and below the waist.
Fatigue – If a patient with fibromyalgia can sleep at night (insomnia is very common), they frequently wake during sleeping hours due to pain. No sleep or poor sleep causes fatigue during waking hours and can make it difficult to function and focus. Furthermore, fibromyalgia patients also have other disorders such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome which are additional reasons for waking frequently throughout the night.
“Fibro fog” – Cognitive impairments such as difficulty concentrating on mental tasks, feeling “hazy,” or the inability to think clearly.
Other problems – And here’s where it gets crazy. The list of symptoms that fall into the category of “other” are varied, but include conditions such as headaches, abdominal cramping, anxiety, depression, burning sensations either on the skin or from within, IBS, intense itching, muscle and joint pain, as well as hypersensitivity to pain, medications, cold weather, foods, physical touch, and more. Let’s not forget random sensations of cold and tingling, mood swings, abnormally painful menstruation, joint stiffness, a feeling of pins and needles, muscle spasms, and delayed onset muscle soreness.
How do I know if I have fibromyalgia?
Researchers claim that fibromyalgia is far more common in women than men. However, as the criteria have ceased focusing on the number of tender points a patient has, more men are being diagnosed as well. In fact, fibromyalgia has not been recognized as an actual problem for all that long in the United States. Thankfully, pharmaceuticals have been approved and used for several years now that are specifically directed to fibro patients, with varying results.
Diagnosing it has been tough because it’s so difficult to pin-point a problem due to overlapping symptoms and the similarity of fibromyalgia to other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. That is to say, many people have depression, or IBS, or muscle spasms, or fatigue, or joint stiffness.
But they are not necessarily inclined to link those symptoms into one group or condition because they seem disconnected, from both the patient’s perspective and that of the physician. Take a fibromyalgia questionnaire, and know having more than a few of the symptoms above is a pretty good indicator that you either have fibromyalgia or are at great risk of it. But this is by no means a diagnosis. To be sure, talk to your doctor and note that rheumatologists, neurologists, and osteopaths are usually much more knowledgeable about this condition. After all, figuring out the problem is half the battle!
Having a chronic illness like fibromyalgia or diabetes is no fun. You have to manage your medications, work around flare-ups, and make sure you have a support network. Being a wealthy celebrity makes doing this a million times easier, of course. What we wouldn’t give to have these resources to treat our illnesses.
This short video provides a list of 7 celebrities who have a chronic illness.
1. Lady Gaga: Fibromyalgia
We’ve covered Lady Gaga’s Fibromyalgia pretty extensively over the last year. She is, by an order of magnitude, the most famous person with fibromyalgia. Ever since she had to cancel a show in Rio after being hospitalized for her fibro, she’s put awarness of the disease front and center.
The singer/actor was diagnosed with lupus in 2015, but as she told Savannah Guthrie this past fall, it wasn’t until her she became so sick that she nearly died that she started taking it seriously. She underwent a kidney transplant in September. The kidney was donated by Secret Life of the American Teenager star Francia Raisa.
The Girls star had to be rushed to the hospital from the Met Gala in April due to complications from endometriosis. She underwent her fifth total surgery, and says that between that and hormone therapy she is endometriosis-free, for now. As a chronic condition it can always come back, of course.
3 members of the Hadid family – Mom and Real Housewivers of Beverly Hills star Yolanda, model Anwar, and model Bella Hadid – have chronic Lyme Disease. The tick-borne disease can be treated with antibiotics if caught early, but once it becomes chronic the symptoms include fatigue, neck pain, trouble sleeping, and muscle aches. Bella Hadid undergoes daily IV treatments for her Lyme Disease.
The star of Judging Amy has dealt with ulcerative colitis for years and is a spokeswoman for the Chron’s & Colitis Foundation.
6. Zoe Saldana: Hashimoto’s Disease
The Guardians of the Galaxy star disclosed she has Hashimoto’s Disease, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the thyroid in 2016. Symptoms of Hashimoto’s include:
Hot flashes, sweating
Trembling
Weight loss
Diarrhea
Hair loss
Nervousness, hyperactivity
Emotional instability and irritability or fatigue
Insomnia and restlessness
Potency problems
Racing heart
7. Jesse J: Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome
I’ll be completely honest, I had to look up both Jesse J. (she’s a pop star from the UK) and Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome (it’s when an extra electrical pathway between your heart’s upper and lower chambers causes a rapid heartbeat). People with this condition are born with it and it is pretty rare. The singer inherited the condition from her dad and underwent multiple surgeries, and now manages her condition with exercise.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSvpxBVjHht/
So have left any celebrities or chronic illnesses off of our list? Let us know in the comments.
Chronic fatigue syndrome makes even the most basic activities difficult. And far too often that includes cooking. After all, making sure you have a balanced and nutritious diet is something most people can’t manage even when they aren’t constantly fatigued. But your diet can make a huge difference when it comes to managing the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. And that’s why a good chronic fatigue syndrome diet plan is an important thing to have.
Knowing what you’re going to cook ahead of time helps you plan your meals and cooking time. And that means that when you’re nearing the end of your energy reserves at dinner time you don’t have to waste any mental energy deciding what you’re going to do for dinner. You’ll already know.
And most importantly, having a nutritious diet planned out means that you can get all the vitamins your body needs to give you as much energy as possible.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Diet
Chronic fatigue syndrome leaves you feeling drained, which means that by the end of the day you’re usually running on fumes. You’ve spent all day fighting through mental fog and fatigue just to do your everyday routine, so when it comes to dinner you don’t want to have to do a lot of preparation or cooking.
At the same time, nutrition is vital when it comes to a good chronic fatigue syndrome diet plan. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead. Being tired and hungry will end up with you eating something easy but highly processed like fast food. And while that’s an easy solution to the problem of cooking, it’s actually likely to make your condition worse.
That’s why it’s useful to have an idea of what you’re going to eat at every meal in the near future. It keeps the amount of willpower you need at a minimum, which is also the amount you’re going to have after fighting chronic fatigue all day.
So with that in mind, here are a few sample meals you can use if you’re struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Easy Chronic Fatigue Meals
Green Smoothie
A green smoothie is a great option for a chronic fatigue syndrome diet plan because not only is it packed with nutritious leafy greens, but it’s really easy to make. Just get together kale, spinach, or any of your favorite greens with a fresh apple. Then all you have to do is throw all the ingredients in a blender and drink it.
Egg Sandwich
Eggs are full of protein, which makes them a great way to start your day. And the good thing about turning eggs into a sandwich, besides the fact that it’s delicious, is that you can take it with you on the way to work. And that gives you a little extra leeway when your chronic fatigue has you running late. Here’s a list of 25 different recipes, so it should be a while before you get bored of these.
Chicken Cobb Salad
Salads are great for lunch because they’re easy to make and pack with you for lunch. This cobb salad recipe is a great example of a nutritious meal that’s also a breeze to prepare.
Thai Tempeh Buddha Bowl
This is a cool because it’s not only easy to make and delicious, it’s totally vegan. Some of the ingredients might require a trip to a specialty supermarket, but feel free to sub those out for some more available options.
Veggie Wholewheat Pot Noodle
Noodles are good for easy meals since all you really need to do is wait for them to boil. And this recipe gives you a healthy lunch option that uses them. Just stick the whole wheat noodles in a portable pot along with some chopped vegetables and you have a healthy, easy lunch.
Spicy Chicken Wraps
And for dinner, this recipe for spicy chicken wraps is pretty easy to make. All you have to do is pan fry some chicken with a few veggies and throw it all in a spinach wrap. While it isn’t as quick as a microwave dinner, it tastes a lot better and is much better for you.
Spaghetti With Smokey Tomato Sauce
Finally, this spaghetti recipe uses a smokey tomato sauce and some fresh seafood for an easy and delicious dinner.
The important thing to remember is that while it might be easier and thus very tempting to eat quick, processed foods when you’re struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome, that’s a counterproductive strategy in the long run because it makes your symptoms worse. Instead, just put in the extra effort upfront if you can. But don’t beat yourself up if you can’t make a fresh meal every night, just try your best the next day.
That’s what living with chronic illness is, taking it one day at a time. So let us know, what do you do for your meals when you’re living with chronic fatigue syndrome? Tell us in the comments.
Anyone with a chronic pain condition like fibromyalgia knows how it can take over your life. It seems like sometimes everything you do is controlled by the level of pain you’re experiencing. But while we think of “pain” as a general term, doctors actually have a number of ways of classifying pain.
One of the largest categories of pain is something called “nociceptive pain.” Nociceptive pain is any pain that comes from the tissue of the body. And learning about how nociceptive pain works can actually teach us a lot about how the body processes pain generally.
So, what is nociceptive pain? And what can it teach us about how to treat pain?
What Is Nociceptive Pain?
Your skin and the tissue underneath is full of cells called nociceptors. When these cells are stimulated, they send electrical signals to the brain.The brain then interprets these signals as pain and sends the sensation back down the nervous system to the area where the receptors are located. This is why when you stub your toe, for instance, you feel pain in that area.
Usually, it takes a lot to stimulate these receptors. That’s why you don’t feel pain when someone touches your arm, but you do when you cut or burn it. Cuts or burns destroy the tissue and send a strong stimulus to the receptors.
Any pain that is based on transmissions from the nociceptors is classified as nociceptive pain. This category includes everything from injuries to inflammation from a condition like arthritis or infections to exposure to harmful chemicals.
As you can imagine, it’s a fairly broad category. And most of the pain that people experience in their everyday life tends to fall into it.
Treating that pain obviously depends on the cause, but if you ever find yourself taking an over-the-counter painkiller like aspirin or ibuprofen, or putting an ice pack on a tender area, then you’re probably dealing with nociceptive pain.
Of course, you may be wondering what purpose pain really serves at all. Wouldn’t our lives be better if we never felt any physical pain? But it turns out nociceptive pain actually plays an important role in our survival. It works as a warning signal in our brain. The nociceptors are an early warning sign that you’re being injured.
Without pain signals, someone could absent-mindedly place their hand near a hot stove, for instance. If they didn’t feel pain, they may leave their hand there until they were seriously burned. The quick, sharp sensation of pain that your nociceptors send to the brain makes you instinctively jerk your hand away before you suffer from serious tissue damage.
That short-term pain helps prevent more pain in the long-term. The problem with pain occurs when you suffer from a condition that causes serious, chronic pain and there is no way to fix it. Our bodies aren’t equipped to turn off pain signals when they become inconvenient. So the pain that helps keep us alive becomes a serious problem for our overall quality of life.
But as it turns out, understanding how nociceptive pain works can actually help us understand a lot about conditions that cause chronic pain and how we may one day be able to treat them.
What Can It Teach Us About How To Treat Pain?
Understanding the pathways between the nociceptors and the brain may one day allow doctors to block these pain signals completely.
One theory, the “gate control theory of pain,” suggests a way this could be possible. Basically, the theory argues that pain signals can be blocked by introducing other sensations. This is why people often instinctively rub an area where they are injured. The sensation of vibration from the rubbing can help block, or “gate,” some of the pain signals and reduce the pain you feel. If doctors could find a way to use that mechanism to introduce a pain-blocking stimulus, it could help us shut off the pain.
And understanding how nociceptive pain works also helps us understand why people with conditions that cause chronic pain seem to experience pain differently from other people. Nociceptive Pain sensations can become stronger over time due to a condition called “hyperalgesia.” Hyperalgesia occurs when nociceptors are consistently exposed to pain signals. Over time, the nociceptors become hyper-sensitized to pain.
This means that people with chronic pain eventually begin to experience pain more intensely than they normally would. Learning more about how this process works may eventually lead to a way to stop it. And that would be a very significant breakthrough in the field of treating chronic pain.
So, what do you think? Did you know that there were different types of pain? Could studying nociceptive pain help us make a breakthrough? Tell us in the comments.
What to do When your Teenager is Diagnosed with Fibromyalgia
Written By: admin
admin
Kids and teens get sick just like we do, and usually, it’s very easy to find out why they got sick. It can be something as simple as a sore throat or an infection, which are easy to diagnose and treat.
However, what many people don’t realize is that fibromyalgia can develop in children and teens especially as well. Common symptoms of fibromyalgia include excessive tiredness and fatigue, aching throughout the body and especially in the muscles and the joints, and difficulty sleeping.
Diagnosing Fibromyalgia
It’s essential that if your teen is feeling the symptoms of fibromyalgia that you consult with your doctor. The problem is that not very many doctors understand what fibromyalgia is or how to treat it very well.
You may have to expand your search to find a doctor or medical professional who understands fibromyalgia and hopefully has experience diagnosing and treating it in the past. Fortunately, it is much easier to find a doctor who understands fibromyalgia now than it was before.
Fibromyalgia is also harder to find in children because it is much more common in adults. The age of 18 is usually the youngest age that a person can be diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but unfortunately, that figure is slipping away, as now as much as five percent of teenagers in the United States are estimated to either display some symptoms of fibromyalgia or be diagnosed with it all together. So, let’s say that you have a teenager who is displaying strong symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Maybe your teenager has even been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. So the next question is, what causes fibromyalgia in teens, and what can you do about it? Fortunately, there is much that you can do.
What causes Fibromyalgia in Teens?
Well, we don’t exactly know what causes fibromyalgia in adults, so as you might guess, we also don’t exactly know what causes fibromyalgia in teens, either. Although no specific gene has been identified yet, it has been discovered that fibromyalgia does run in the family, meaning that a person who has a related family member who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia is more likely to be diagnosed with it themselves over a person who has no family history of diagnosed fibromyalgia.
So if your teen has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, ask yourself if anyone else in the family has. Not just your or our spouse or your other children, but anyone in your extended family. If so, then it’s understandable for why your teen has developed fibromyalgia (though it’s still rare to at such a young age), but if your family has no history of fibromyalgia, then it’s definitely a very rare occurrence that your teen has been diagnosed.
We also know that more girls than boys have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the past, so a teenage girl being diagnosed with fibromyalgia is more likely than a teenage boy as well.
The Symptoms of Fibromyalgia in Teens
The symptoms of fibromyalgia in teens are largely the same as in adults. The most common symptoms of fibromyalgia are fatigue, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, depression, constant headaches, dizziness, constant stomach aches, soreness, achiness and pain throughout the body especially in the muscles and joints, and more difficulty remembering things.
As with adults, fibromyalgia is difficult in teens. When a teenager is diagnosed with fibromyalgia, they will have immense difficulty sleeping at night due to the pain. When they can’t sleep, they will only feel more tired and fatigued during the day, which only makes the pain worse. So in this sense, the symptoms of fibromyalgia essentially work with one another.
It’s very important that you find treatment for your teen if they are diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Many teens will miss many days at school, which can affect their grades and their entire future (maybe their dream is to get into a college that holds high standards, but they miss an important lecture and fail the next test, leading to a B in the class when they could have had an A that the college would have accepted).
And if other teens in the school find out that your teen has fibromyalgia, your teen may rapidly become unpopular and become socially isolated and may lose friends. So not only does fibromyalgia affect a teen medically, it also affects their work/school performance and their friends.
Treating Fibromyalgia
There are many different people who you can consult with if your teen is diagnosed with fibromyalgia. You should consult a doctor who has experience and knowledge in the area of fibromyalgia, a psychologist, and a physical therapist.
There is currently no cure for fibromyalgia for anybody, unfortunately. However, there are still many treatments that you can have your teen use to lessen the pain and symptoms as much as possible. First of all, your teen will need to learn how to cope with the pain.
You can try using cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps teens relieve their depression or anxiety they feel because of the pain. You should also try muscle relaxation techniques, and breathe deeply to get the stress out for the time being.
You can also try using pain reliever medications to lessen the pain, but you should only use ones that are prescribed to you by your doctor and that don’t have any dangerous side effects. You should also keep in mind that there are very few studies regarding medication and fibromyalgia in teens, so use caution.
Good exercise and physical therapy would never hurt either. Getting enough exercise is essential to anyone who is dealing with fibromyalgia. Just set aside anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour each day of exercise, and you will find less pain and less depression. The good thing about physical therapy is that the therapist can show your teen the best exercises to use in regard to fibromyalgia, and how often to use them, why they should be used, etc.
A lot of people find themselves suffering from varicose veins at some point in their lives. Statistics show that around 50% of the US population over the age of fifty has them. In most cases, the veins aren’t a serious problem. But as with many conditions, fibromyalgia can make them worse.
So, what exactly causes them? How are they affected by fibromyalgia? And what can you do to treat them?
What Causes Varicose Veins?
Your muscles and the chambers of the heart act like pumps, pushing blood through the arteries. Valves in the veins control the flow of blood down into the body and back up into the heart. When these valves stop functioning properly, the blood can pool in the veins. As a result, they become engorged as they swell with blood.
They engorged veins develop most commonly in the legs and look like bulging cords across the skin. This usually makes them easy to diagnose, as they’re often very noticeable with the naked eye. But there are a few symptoms that also indicate that you may have varicose veins.
Often, they are painless. But they can cause a tingling or burning sensation along the course of the vein. They may also cause a sort of dull, throbbing pain through the legs, or a feeling of heaviness in the limbs. The pain may also be worse after standing up as the blood moves into the legs. And you may also experience cramping in the legs from time to time.
But varicose veins can also cause more serious health problems. The veins can burst and begin to bleed, especially if you bump or accidentally cut them. And the extra blood pressure in the veins can cause fluid to build up in the tissue, leading to painful ulcers or sores. Finally, blood clots can easily form when they develop deep in the tissue of the legs. These blood clots can cause the leg to swell up and can potentially lead to life-threatening complications.
There are a number of things that can lead to weakened valves and varicose veins. Age is the single biggest factor. As our bodies get older, the valves naturally begin to weaken. Genetics play a serious role as well. People with a family history are significantly more likely to develop them themselves. Finally, a sedentary lifestyle or being overweight can put pressure on the veins and weaken the valves.
These risk factors also tend to play a role in fibromyalgia, which makes varicose veins a serious concern for people with the condition.
Varicose Veins And Fibromyalgia
It wouldn’t be accurate to say that having fibromyalgia causes you to develop varicose veins. Instead, the sorts of people who tend to develop fibromyalgia also tend to have a higher risk of vein problems. Women are significantly more likely to develop them. And women also have the highest risk of developing fibromyalgia.
And the difficulties that people with fibromyalgia face in getting enough exercise also means that they have a higher risk of becoming obese, which increases the odds of developing vein problems.
But there’s also evidence that people with fibromyalgia tend to be more sensitive to pain. So the pain of varicose veins may be more intense in people with fibromyalgia.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to treat them.
What Are Your Treatment Options?
The condition usually doesn’t require treatment unless you’re experiencing significant pain or other complications. But if you just want to reduce mild pain, you can usually do so with compression socks. These are widely available in drug stores and work by helping to push the blood out of the legs. And elevating the legs above the head can also help relieve some of the pressure.
For more serious cases, there are a number of surgical options available. The basic idea behind all of them is to remove the veins that are causing trouble. Surgeons can do this by injecting chemicals into the vein that shut off the flow of blood, or by using lasers that destroy the veins through the skin. Once the veins are dead, they naturally wither away and become scar tissue.
For veins that are deep in the leg, or don’t respond to treatment, doctors can surgically remove them. But it’s usually best to exhaust the less invasive options first.
So, have you had varicose veins? Do you think your fibromyalgia makes them worse? Let us know in the comments.
Here’s a quick 4-minute video segment from the syndicated television show The Doctorson fibromyalgia that may be helpful if you think you have the condition, if you’re having trouble explaining fibromyalgia to your friends and loved ones, or if you’re just curious about fibromyalgia in general.
The segment features Dr. Stork interviewing Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall, the chief medical officer at Pfizer, and has a ton of good info on the disease. They discuss the invisible nature of the condition, and the way it’s often confused with or concurrent with other diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus which can make it difficult to diagnose.
Perhaps the most useful part of the video comes in the discussion of the 18 tender points of pain, complete with a diagram showing where they are on the body. Dr. Lewis-Hall points out that criteria for diagnosing the fibromyalgia include experience pain for longer than three months (i.e. the pain is chronic), tenderness to the touch, and emotional and behavior changes. A lot of fibromyalgia patients experience what is known as fibro fog, which can lead to confusion, an inability to think straight, and forgetfulness.
A doctor may also utilize a questionnaire about common fibro symptoms. If a patient answers yes to a majority of the questions, it may help with the diagnosis.
We’re glad that The Doctors is featuring fibromyalgia. Even though at least 5 million adults in the United States are believed to have the disease, it’s still very misunderstood. Every bit of awareness helps.
“I have FMS, CFIDS, hypermobility, migraines and a few other issues. My dog is already tremendously helpful to me. She can pick up things I drop and hand them to me, carry a pack so I don’t have the weight of a purse on my shoulders or waist, fetch things I ask her to get, carry messages or other things to my husband to save me trips up and down the stairs, and is learning to do things like turn lights on/off, pick up things and put them away, and even strip the dirty bedding off the beds and take them to the laundry room.” – Mira
Just What Is a Service Dog Anyway?
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a service animal is “any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government. Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself. Guide dogs are one type of service animal, used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities.” For example, alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds, pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility impairments, and assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance. However, “A service animal is not a pet.”
What Does This Have to do with Fibromyalgia?
Oh, let us count the ways! When your fibro has you in so much pain that you don’t want to get out of bed, that puppy still has to be fed and walked so you are forced to get up, if only for a bit. But that’s the “worst” part about a service dog to help with your fibromyalgia symptoms, and it’s not a bad thing either.
Can you identify with the needs in this story? “Lily (57# Siberian mix) will jump off her bed from two rooms away and come to steady me when I wobble. It’s amazing how she knows. She also scans my body at nap and bed time to see which area needs her warmth the most. I’ve seen her give Moira a look like, “Get over here and help me”, but Ri [Moira] is oblivious. On the other hand, this morning I couldn’t get out of bed because there was a pillow on the floor and I couldn’t step over it at that time of day. Moira accessed the situation and pulled the pillow out of the way.”
Think through your symptoms, everything from fatigue and muscle pain to being foggy and depressed. Service dogs can help with all of these symptoms. In fact, “Anything from sitting on your lap, helping with orientation, finding calm spots, mobility support, retrieving meds or certain things you will need, even keeping eye contact is a task if it is necessary for you,” say the pros at Dogster.
Service dogs can pull you up inclines or guide you downstairs to keep your balance. They provide body heat and contribute to overall well-being. As one happy fibro sufferer states, “I haven’t broken another bone since he has been trained to assist me, so I walk more in spite of the pain.” They can help you out of the tub and off the floor if you fall. Service dogs can also be trained to catch you just before your joints or back gives out and can even alert you before you overdo it or are about to crash.
Sign Me Up!
You can get a Program Dog which has already been through all the training, train the dog yourself, or enter your own dog into a training program. Good resources include Canine Partners for Life and Service Dog Central, which provides several resources, including a list of tips to find a program or trainer.
Already have a service dog to help with your fibromyalgia? Tell us about it please!
Spider veins are an irritating part of getting older. Many people over the age of 50 find themselves struggling with this unsightly and painful condition. But people with fibromyalgia face unique challenges when it comes to spider veins. So, what are spider veins? How do they affect people with fibromyalgia? And what can you do to treat them?
What Are Spider Veins?
Spider veins–or telangiectasia, as they’re called scientifically–are enlarged veins that grow close to the skin, usually in the legs. They’re often easy to recognize because the veins are easy to see and make up blue or red web-like patterns as they branch out across your skin. And because the veins are so visible, they can make someone who suffers from them self-conscious about their appearance.
In most cases, the veins are simply an unsightly nuisance. But spider veins can sometimes lead to serious health problems. The most common side effect is pain. The swollen veins often ache or throb as blood courses through them. You may notice that the pain is worse when you put pressure on the veins. And the veins might also produce a burning, itching, or tingling sensation.
In addition, the muscles in the legs might start to cramp up and swell. And the poor circulation can lead to restless leg syndrome, where your legs jerk or twitch uncontrollably. That poor circulation can also cause ulcers to develop in the skin. These veinous ulcers develop when the blood doesn’t flow to the tissue, and so the tissue is deprived of oxygen and begins to die. As a result, large, bleeding sores can grow in the skin.
How Are They Linked To Fibromyalgia?
Spider veins are very common in people with fibromyalgia. The type of people who develop spider veins tend to be older women. And these also tend to be the people who develop fibromyalgia most frequently. But the lifestyle changes that fibromyalgia forces on sufferers can also contribute to developing spider veins.
You’ll notice that several of these are linked to inactivity. And having fibromyalgia obviously makes exercise and maintaining a healthy weight very difficult. Not only is it difficult to find the energy to exercise when you have fibromyalgia, but too much activity can trigger painful flare-ups of your symptoms. And it’s hard to maintain a healthy diet when you struggle with pain too much to cook meals at home.
So, the combination of these factors makes people with fibromyalgia more susceptible to developing spider veins. And the general sensitivity of the nervous system when you have fibromyalgia might make the condition more painful as well.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do.
How Can You Treat Them?
Unfortunately, one of the best ways to treat spider veins is exercise. Of course, the difficulty of exercising when you have fibromyalgia might have been what caused the spider veins to develop in the first place. But even just trying to be a bit more active can make a big difference when it comes to treating spider veins. A simple walk around the neighborhood can significantly change the amount of pain you feel.
But there are other treatment methods as well. One of the most effective methods is compression. Compression helps the blood flow out of the veins and helps treat the pain. You can purchase compression socks over the counter in most drug stores. Make sure to wear them every day for the most benefit.
If these methods aren’t effective, there are surgical options as well. The most basic treatment is called sclerotherapy and involves a doctor injecting a chemical into the veins that cause it to shut off. With no blood flowing through the veins, they eventually turn into scar tissue and wither away.
And there is also laser therapy, where a surgeon uses high-powered lasers to beam light through the skin. This light destroys the tissue of the veins, making it possible to get rid of them without cutting them out.
But for very large veins, surgery may be necessary to go in and physically remove the veins. It’s always best to consult with a doctor about what your treatment options are and what they recommend for your situation.
So, have you suffered from spider veins? Do you think they might be connected to fibromyalgia? What did you do to treat them? Let us know in the comments.
Purpura is a condition that leads to unsightly spotting on the skin. The immediate cause is the bursting of small blood vessels under the skin that allows the blood to pool underneath the epidermis. As a result, purpura leads to blotchy red patches that can occur almost anywhere on the body.
The condition is fairly common, particularly among older people, and it’s likely that most of us will experience it at some point in our lives. But if you’re already suffering from the condition, you might wonder what causes it. And you may want to know what you can do to treat it. So, let’s talk about what purpura is and what you can do about it.
What Causes Purpura?
It’s sometimes difficult to judge what causes purpura. There are so many different reasons that your blood vessels may begin to burst that it can be hard to figure out the exact source of the problem.
But the basic mechanism behind it has to do with the levels of platelets in your blood. The platelets are the basic cells that carry oxygen through the circulatory system. And how many of them you have determines what type of purpura you have: thrombocytopenic or nonthrombocytopenic.
Thrombocytopenic cases of purpura mean that the patient has normal platelet counts in their blood and nonthrombocytopenic means that they have lower than normal levels.
The cause of the condition depends on which type you suffer from. In the first case, where your platelet count is normal, there are a few different things that might trigger the condition:
Medications that affect platelet clotting.
Weak blood vessels.
Conditions that cause inflammation of the blood vessels.
Certain vitamin deficiencies.
And in the second case, nonthrombocytopenic, there are a number of other possibilities including:
Disorders affecting blood clotting.
Congenital disorders like Ehlers-Danloss syndrome.
Medications that affect platelet counts.
Drugs that cause your immune system to begin attacking your platelets.
Infections in the blood stream.
HIV infection.
Certain tick-borne illnesses.
Systematic lupus.
To diagnose purpura, the doctor will do a simple examination of the skin. Because purpura is so visibly distinctive on the skin, it’s often easy to diagnose the condition by simply looking. If the doctor thinks you might have the condition, they will likely perform a test of your blood to check your platelet levels. This test will help them begin to decide what is causing your condition.
It’s worth noting that several of these potential causes are conditions common in people with fibromyalgia. For reasons that we don’t quite understand, people with fibromyalgia are significantly more likely to develop autoimmune diseases. These conditions include conditions like lupus, a systemic autoimmune condition, and arteritis, which is an inflammation of the blood vessels.
But the good news is that it is possible to treat the condition.
How Is It Treated?
The type of treatment your doctor will recommend depends on what is causing your condition. But most treatments involve stimulating your body’s production of platelets which help clot bleeding and prevent ruptures in the veins. There are a few different medications that are very commonly prescribed.
The first is corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are a type of hormone that your body naturally produces to help heal injuries and fight inflammation. But they can also help boost your body’s production of platelets in the blood. So they’re a good treatment if you’re suffering from a condition that lowers your platelet levels.
The other most common types of drugs prescribed to treat the condition are romiplostim and eltrombopag, which both work by stimulating the production of platelets in the bone marrow.
Finally, there is a surgical option for treating the condition. If other forms of treatment prove ineffective, your doctor may schedule you for an operation where they remove the spleen. The spleen is the organ in the body that helps destroy platelets so that they can be recycled. By removing the spleen, the surgeon can help you rapidly raise your platelet count. This is a good option if you’re suffering from another, dangerous condition causing low platelet levels.
But your doctor will be able to give you an expert opinion on what’s causing your condition and what you can do to treat it. But while it might be tempting to simply endure purpura or chalk it up to natural aging, it’s important to seek treatment. The condition can often be a sign of something more dangerous going on and so it’s worth getting checked out.
So, are you suffering from purpura? What do you do to treat it? Let us know in the comments.
When you think of hypnosis, it’s hard to separate the idea from the more familiar images of stage magicians and mind control. But the truth is those images don’t reflect the reality of what can actually be a very useful treatment. Hypnotherapy can be an effective way to treat a number of different illnesses. And what’s most exciting is that there’s evidence it could actually help with fibromyalgia.
So, what is it? How does it work? And can it help treat your fibromyalgia?
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is a process where a trained hypnotherapist coaches a patient into a state of deep relaxation. Of course, the state that it tries to achieve is more than just being relaxed. It’s closer to an altered state of consciousness. And in this state, people are more susceptible to suggestion and have a deeper sort of access to their subconscious. Hypnotherapists can use this state to help people learn to control their body’s physical responses.
That doesn’t mean that a hypnotherapist can control you the way we usually imagine when we think of hypnosis. Someone undergoing hypnosis can’t be brainwashed into doing something they wouldn’t normally do.
Instead, hypnotherapists focus on the subconscious processes through which the brain controls the body. This is useful for cases of anxiety or addiction. These conditions are often the result of negative thinking patterns or experiences. Hypnotherapists strive to help patients realize why they suffer from conditions like these and learn new ways to deal with them.
That’s hypnotherapy is usually most effective for mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. Because these problems are usually accompanied by negative subconscious elements, it can be an effective way to deal with them.
But there’s also evidence that hypnotherapy can affect things we normally don’t think of as something the mind can control, like pain. Numerous studies testing the effect of hypnotherapy for chronic pain have shown positive results. And surgeons have reported that their patients who had the therapy reported higher satisfaction levels and lower levels of pain than other patients.
Some researchers have even concluded that hypnotherapy can be a better way to control chronic pain than traditional methods.
It’s worth noting that, in these studies, patients who were “more suggestible” than others saw better outcomes than less suggestible patients. So, it seems like the power of suggestion can actually be an effective tool for treating pain. And it can be a good way to make that power work for you.
But can it work to treat the pain of fibromyalgia?
Hypnotherapy And Fibromyalgia
Studies have shown that the therapy can improve the pain of people with fibromyalgia. A study conducted by the National Institute of Health looked at 40 patients with the condition. Half were treated with hypnotherapy and the other half received standard physical therapy.
The study found that the patients treated with fibromyalgia noted that they suffered from less pain than the group receiving physical therapy. The study, therefore, concluded that hypnotherapy can actually be more effective in treating the pain of fibromyalgia than physical therapy.
So if that makes you want to give it a try, there are a few things you should be aware of. First, this type of therapy is an ongoing process, similar to physical therapy. A patient typically needs to receive multiple therapy sessions to see benefits and may need to continue the sessions for as long as they struggle with pain.
The National Institute of Health suggests that patients using hypnotherapy to relieve pain can try a few techniques to make their therapy more effective. First, you can actually learn to hypnotize yourself. And teaching a patient to use self-hypnosis outside of traditional therapy sessions can help them manage their pain on a daily basis. In addition, recording the sessions and using them on your own can help treat your pain.
The best course of action is to use these methods in addition to seeing a trained hypnotherapist. And your therapist can coach you in these methods to use outside your sessions to self-manage your pain.
As with all forms of therapy, you should be careful to only visit accredited practitioners and follow their recommendations. And if you find success with your therapy, you may be tempted to ditch your regular doctor. But it’s always better to stay in touch with your licensed physician and follow their recommendations in addition to the recommendations of your hypnotherapist.
So, have you ever had hypnotherapy to treat your fibromyalgia? Did you find it to be effective? Have you never had therapy but think you’d like to try it? Let us know in the comments.
Sex and Fibromyalgia: Breaking Through Taboos and Stigma
Written By: Tiffany Vance-Huffman
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Image: Mickael Tournier on Unsplash
Fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions can destroy your sex life. The exhaustion is enough by itself. But the pain and tenderness that flares up all over your body can make physical contact a nightmare. Even a simple hug or a pat on the back can feel like having someone punch a bruise. So, we’re talking about sex and fibromyalgia? Are you kidding me? Of course, it’s no secret that this creates big problems in relationships. Sometimes it’s a case of low libido. Meaning, when you’re hurting and have zero energy, you just kind of lose the drive to have sex anyway. Other times it’s a case where the mind is willing but the body just isn’t on the same page.
A while back, I wrote a related article on using masturbation as a means to alleviate fibromyalgia pain. The reactions of fibro patients on social media were almost exclusively in extremes. That is to say, some people reacted with glee and affirmation at the idea, while others reacted with rage and disdain…despite the science. The science I speak of is how having sex releases endorphins, chemicals in the brain and nervous system. They are responsible for many things. But one of their more noteworthy functions is this: they are natural pain relievers. So, if you’re already angry that I’m again suggesting sex as a means of treating chronic pain conditions, you’re probably not going to like anything I have to say.
If your sex life is suffering because of your fibromyalgia, let’s look at some ways that you and your partner can work with and around it.
Be Flexible!
Several years ago, ABC News reported on a couple who had to work around the woman’s fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and severe arthritis. A common problem of fibro patients is their extreme reaction to both painful and non-painful stimuli. The woman in the report, for example, explained that even the air can be painful. Sound familiar? She added that her and her partner committed to spending two nights alone together each week. And she would make a point of avoiding anything on those days that she knew would make her fatigued. That’s because she and her partner made intimacy a priority in their lives. However, the intimacy doesn’t have to mean the physical acts of sex. Sometimes it’s just holding each other, talking, or telling stories to keep her mind off the pain. That’s being flexible.
Her partner offered this bit of advice: “Millions of pillows. Low impact positions. And realize this is not something you can do in ten minutes — it takes hours and hours. You have to think of it as an entire evening.”
Being flexible can also apply to the actual positions too. No, I don’t mean you need to have the flexibility of a gymnast. Rather, it implies that there’s more than one way to do things. Some chronic pain patients give up sex all together because of the fear of pain. But there’s something to be said for experimenting. In other words, if one position doesn’t work, there are literally hundreds of others you can try. And several of those are bound to be pain free. The previously mentioned pillows are there for a reason. Even doctors recommend them for fibro patients to stabilize your body during intercourse. And don’t forget those other magical options for intimacy, including oral sex and mutual stimulation. These are great options for loosening the muscles and often require very little movement.
Tricks of the Trade: Sex and Fibromyalgia
One non-profit resource for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia offers some basic adaptations for chronic pain sufferers. They gathered these by talking to patients in their program. In other words, people just like you who are suffering from chronic pain issues. You’ll notice a lot of similarities to the couple mentioned earlier. Here is a brief rundown:
Talking – Includes both explaining your feelings about your reduced interest in sex to your partner and openly communicating during sex so that adjustments can be made.
Alternative Activities – Includes in and out of bed options. This can mean anything from oral sex or cuddling to going for a walk or just watching television together.
Plan Ahead – Scheduling a time for intimacy includes refraining from activities that are certain to cause pain or fatigue as you lead up to your planned time.
Flexibility and Experimentation – Includes daily and seasonal timing, positions and locations, and accounting for unpredictable flareups.
Addressing Pain and Hormone Problems – Working with the timing for taking medications and taking preemptive measures to prevent issues during sex, such meditation, stretching, massage, and a warm bath to relax muscles. Also involves addressing low libido through either low testosterone in men and low estrogen in women.
Emphasis on Caring – Understanding that mental, emotional, and spiritual intimacy are more important than the physical act of sex itself.
Look, fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions are no walk in the park. And engaging in sexual activity while dealing with these diseases can be incredibly difficult. Sometimes it’s just impossible. But these are ways to mitigate some of the pain. And remember that sex is healthy and helpful when it comes to natural pain killers. You can yell at me all you want. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s okay. The idea here is to provide options from people who suffer just as badly as you.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and Fibromyalgia
Written By: Wyatt Redd
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A few years ago, Paige Howitt went into a routine surgery for her knee. Shortly afterward, she began feeling an intense pain radiating from the site of the surgery. As the weeks went by, the pain began to spread and grow more intense. Though she didn’t know it at the time, she was suffering from a condition called “complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).”
CRPS is a rare condition that can affect people who have recently suffered some trauma to the body. In Paige’s case, it was surgery. But CRPS can also affect people who have had strokes, heart attacks, or serious injuries. We don’t know for certain what causes people like Paige to develop CRPS, but the answer probably lies in the nervous system.
Nerves are obviously very sensitive. And when exposed to trauma, they sometimes become hyperactive, sending pain signals to the brain that are far more intense than the original injury and can continue to do so long after the injury is healed. Think of it like a dial that controls pain being turned up and then getting stuck there. As a result, people like Paige deal with constant, agonizing pain.
And like Paige, people with CRPS often find that the pain begins to control every aspect of their lives. Paige found that the pain was so intense she had to cut back her hours at work and can no longer do the types of things she used to enjoy. And because heat makes her pain worse, she can never be far from an ice pack.
Obviously, Paige’s story is familiar to anyone who suffers from the condition. But it’s also familiar to anyone who suffers from fibromyalgia. After all, anyone who has Fibromyalgia knows how chronic pain can completely change someone’s life. And the similarity between the two conditions has led some people to speculate that there may be a link between CRPS and fibromyalgia. But is there anything to that theory? Let’s take a look at some of the evidence.
CRPS and Fibromyalgia
There are some obvious similarities between CRPS and Fibromyalgia. Both cause pain with no obvious source. Both conditions can develop after physical trauma. And with each condition, the pain can be severe enough to be debilitating. People with either CRPS and Fibromyalgia often have difficulty moving, and the sites where the pain is located are usually sensitive to touch. And changes in temperature can aggravate both conditions.
But there are some significant differences as well. In cases of CRPS, the pain is usually located at the site of the injury. In Paige’s case, the pain is focused on the knee. That’s different from fibromyalgia, where the pain spreads across nearly the entire body, particularly in 18 specific tender points. In addition, CRPS often leads to swelling around the site of the original injury. And while people with fibromyalgia may experience swelling, it’s usually not as localized as in CRPS.
But in spite of the differences, there may be a significant connection between the two conditions. As with CRPS, the pain of fibromyalgia is probably rooted in the nervous system. Researchers in Australia have recently proposed a possible explanation for both conditions that could explain this connection.
Essentially, the idea is that inflammation in the nervous system causes the nerves to transmit pain signals to the brain. Once nerve cells are damaged, the immune system begins sending cells to the nerves to repair them. As the nerve cells heal, they become more sensitive in response to these immune cells. That’s why injuries can seem to grow more painful overtime before healing.
Usually, the nerve cells eventually stop being over sensitive and the pain goes away. But in cases of CRPS and fibromyalgia, the nerve cells may get stuck in the hypersensitive stage. The immune system continues sending cells to the nerves and triggering the pain response.
Some of these immune cells are called microglia, and other researchers have suggested that the microglia might actually be the key to understanding fibromyalgia. Basically, they are immune cells that cross the barrier between the blood and the brain. As they move through the body, microglia trigger the body to release chemicals that cause inflammation, which may create a cycle where the nerves are constantly inflamed.
It’s possible that both CRPS and fibromyalgia are caused by this interaction between the immune system and the nerves. By studying CRPS and other nervous system conditions, we may be able to learn more about fibromyalgia. And eventually, that may lead to a cure.
Systemic lupus is just one of the many different terms surrounding lupus that make it difficult to make sense of. Systemic lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus, cutaneous lupus, are all terms you’re likely to hear at one point or another after a lupus diagnosis, but even after all those syllables, you often aren’t any closer to really understanding what’s going on.
So let’s figure out what exactly is systemic lupus in simple terms. What are some of the different kinds of lupus? And what can you do to treat it?
What Is Systemic Lupus?
Systemic lupus sounds like it must be complicated, but actually, it’s just plain old lupus. The scientific name for lupus in full is systemic lupus erythematosus. But because that is obviously a mouthful, people typically just call it lupus. But what is lupus in the first place?
Well, to put it simply, lupus is an autoimmune condition, which is a condition where the body’s immune system turns against it. See, in a healthy immune system, white blood cells produce antibodies that attach themselves to foreign cells like bacteria and begin to destroy them. Afterward, these antibodies are conditioned to identify and attack these foreign cells before they can infect the body.
This conditioning is why your body is able to develop immunities to certain illnesses after being exposed to them. But it can also lead to serious problems for people with lupus. In cases of lupus, the antibodies begin to identify your body’s own cells as foreign invaders and begin attacking them. As these continues, the bodies inflammation response begins to react to the constant attack on the cells and tissue all over your body begins to become inflamed.
This can cause a wide range of symptoms ranging from minor to life-threatening. Lupus often attacks the heart, lungs, or kidneys. The arteries become hardened under this assault and the lining of the lungs gets inflamed. In addition, the kidneys can suffer significant damage. As a result, people with lupus have a higher risk of a number of health problems like heart attacks or kidney problems.
What Are The Different Kinds Of Lupus?
In addition to plain lupus, there are a few other kinds of lupus. First, there’s cutaneous lupus. In cutaneous lupus, the symptoms of the disease are limited to the skin. Usually, this results in conspicuous rashes all over the body, most often on the face. People with cutaneous lupus sometimes develop systemic lupus as well. Though this is not always the case.
Finally, there is drug-induced lupus. Unlike systemic lupus, drug-induced lupus is caused by certain drugs rather than the immune system. Symptoms of drug-induced lupus typically take a few weeks to months of medication use to appear, but they are generally the same as the symptoms of regular lupus. Luckily, drug-induced lupus is reversible, and once you stop taking the medication, your body should recover within a few months.
How Do You Treat Lupus?
Lupus is a frightening word to hear come out of your doctor’s mouth during an appointment, but there is good news. Lupus is often easy to manage. The first priority when treating lupus is to reduce the level of inflammation. The inflammation is often the damaging and painful aspect of the disease, particularly in the lungs. So reducing inflammation is vital to lupus management.
The first line of treatment is simply non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen. These over-the-counter drugs actually work to keep your tissue from becoming inflammed in addition to serving as painkillers.
But if these NSAIDs don’t work, doctors often prescribe corticosteroids instead. Corticosteroids are a hormone that reduces inflammation. The body produces them naturally, but they can also be injected for therapeutic purposes. By working to reduce the inflammation of lupus, these drugs prevent the damage to the vital organs.
Finally, if more serious measures are needed, doctors can prescribe immunosuppressant drugs to people with lupus. Immunosuppressants work by, you guessed it, suppressing the immune system. Obviously, for lupus, which is a condition caused by an overactive immune system, this is a valuable treatment tool.
Often these types of drugs work very well for reducing the damage that lupus causes and 80-90% of people with lupus will have a normal lifespan. So though lupus can be deadly, for most people it is possible to manage the condition well enough to live a mostly normal life.
So tell us, have you been diagnosed with systemic lupus? How do you manage your condition? Let us know in the comments below.
New therapies for treating fibromyalgia are being developed all the time. But so far, no cure for this painful and debilitating disease has been found. But there are still plenty of ways that you can manage your fibro pain. And if you can’t find any relief from your doctor, there’s still plenty of non-medical therapies for fibromyalgia you can try.
Yoga
People have used yoga for thousands of years to keep their bodies and minds strong. And it turns out that yoga might be a choice as far as non-medical therapies for fibromyalgia go.
Yoga strengthens your muscles and tendons, which is great for fibro pain. The natural pain and aches of fibromyalgia primarily affect joints and muscles. So of course, yoga is a great way to help manage that pain.
Excercise
Like Yoga, exercise is a good way to manage fibromyalgia pain. Exercise is known to make people feel more alert and can also be a good way to manage chronic fatigue.
Of course, it’s often hard for people with fibromyalgia to exercise, given that their muscles ache too much or that too much exertion can trigger a flare. It’s up to you to decide if you can handle exercise. But remember that by starting with limited exercise and working your way up, you may still be capable of more than you realized.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a good way to handle the gastrointestinal problems associated with fibromyalgia. By taking just a few spoonfuls a day you can improve your digestion and circulatory system.
This will help manage irritable bowel syndrome and increase the circulation through your hands and feet.
Tumeric
Tumeric is a natural anti-inflammatory substance. And some of the compounds in it can help increase the circulation in your hands and feet. The best way to take turmeric for fibromyalgia is in the form of widely available over the counter supplements.
And evidence suggests that some of these may be as effective in the treatment of fibromyalgia as opioid pain relievers which are what doctors traditionally use to treat fibromyalgia.
Cayenne Pepper
The ingredient that makes peppers spicy is called capsaicin, and there is evidence that it helps with certain forms of pain. And the capsaicin stimulates and then desensitizes the nerve receptors which reduces the feeling of pain in people with fibromyalgia.
The best way to take capsaicin is in the form of a topical cream that you rub onto the areas where you feel pain. It may hurt worse at first. But after a few minutes, it should begin to feel better.
Magnesium
Magnesium is an important mineral that many people are lacking in their diets. And it could be that the role magnesium plays in keeping the body healthy and well-regulated is missing in fibromyalgia patients.
A simple magnesium supplement may be enough to help you get better sleep and manage the pain of fibromyalgia.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
The potential benefits of omega 3 acids haven’t been studied very well in fibromyalgia patients. But the studies that have been done suggest that they may help symptoms. Omega 3 is a substance that usually exists in fish. And it has helpful benefits for your cardiovascular system and may even help reduce pain.
A high-quality omega 3 supplement may help you manage your fibromyalgia symptoms.
No matter which of these non-medical therapies for fibromyalgia works for you, it’s important to remember that everyone’s fibromyalgia is different. And the thing that works for a friend with fibromyalgia may not be the thing that works for you. Keep trying new treatments and remedies and you’ll find something that works for your symptoms.
Fibromyalgia is a condition that affects the whole body. That’s why it’s important to approach treatment in a way that takes the entire body into account. There’s a lot of evidence that things like yoga can significantly improve the pain of fibromyalgia, as can moderate aerobic exercise and a healthy diet. But you may have also heard of some similar, but less well-known, techniques like posture correction.
The principle behind posture correction is that as we age, we tend to move away from the natural posture we had as children. As a result, our bad posture pulls the body out of alignment and puts stress on our muscles and joints. And some have suggested that this stress could be making the pain of fibromyalgia much worse. But is this idea actually supported by science? Let’s take a look at some of the most common posture correction techniques and whether or not they might actually help with the pain of fibromyalgia.
Posture Correction Techniques
Obviously, when you’re in the middle of a flare up and wracked with shooting pain all over the body, the last thing you can think about is keeping your spine straight. That’s why most of the most common posture correction techniques are about gradually training your body to naturally correct your posture. And there are quite a few different ways to do so.
First, there’s the Alexander Technique. The Alexander Technique is over 100 years old and was developed by an actor who found that years of unnatural movements damaged his ability to speak. By carefully studying the way he moved, he found that he was able to cure the damage to his vocal chords and began using this technique to train others. The technique has found a lot of famous fans over the years and even today, actors use it to condition their bodies to move naturally and to improve their posture.
Then there’s the Feldenkrais Method. Like the Alexander Technique, the inventor of the Feldenkrais Method developed it as a way to cure an injury he suffered. The method also focuses on working with a teacher to slowly correct posture and move more naturally through a series of guided exercises.
And one of the simplest ways to improve your posture is actually with a corrective back brace. These sorts of products are commonly used to correct conditions like scoliosis, but they can also lead to better posture for anyone. As with any such product, some are obviously more effective than others. You can usually find reviews online that will help you make an informed purchasing decision.
Finally, you can actually train yourself to have better posture on your own. Start by having a friend take photos of you from each side. Draw an imaginary line through these images and see if the photo is even on both sides. If one arm hangs down farther than the other, for instance, try to correct this by shifting your posture. Using this corrected posture, press your back against a wall with your heels together and try to touch the back of your head to the wall. Ideally, you shouldn’t have to lift your chin to do this. If you find that you can’t touch the wall without raising your chin, push your head back as far as possible and hold that position for twenty seconds. Repeat this exercise a few times a day and your posture will gradually improve until you can touch the wall.
But the obvious question is: do any of these work for fibromyalgia pain? Let’s look at the evidence.
Do They Actually Work?
The truth is that there really hasn’t been that much scientific study on the subject of using posture correction to treat fibromyalgia. Both the Feldenkrais Method and the Alexander Technique promise a variety of health benefits, but studies on the effectiveness of these methods have had mixed results. As far as using the techniques to improve fibromyalgia specifically goes, there simply hasn’t been enough study to suggest that it helps or that it doesn’t.
With that being said, there is some evidence that poor posture can increase the amount of pain that someone with fibromyalgia experiences. Poor posture can strain joints and muscles and increase tension throughout the body, all of which can make your fibromyalgia pain worse. Furthermore, poor posture actually increases your risk of an early death because of the strain that it puts on the cardiovascular system.
Logically, improving your posture should help correct at least some of these problems. So, using some of the techniques we covered earlier to improve posture may actually provide a variety of benefits. Besides, it never hurts to have good posture.
Let us know what you think? Did correcting your posture help with your fibromyalgia? Tell us in the comments.
People with fibromyalgia often ask, “Is fibromyalgia genetic?” It’s a hard question to answer, especially when little is known about how fibromyalgia works. But it’s something that could be relevant to getting the best possible treatment. So let’s look at the evidence.
Is fibromyalgia genetic?
If you have fibromyalgia, there’s a good chance that you know someone in your family who also has it. According to research, fibromyalgia does tend to run in families. And that implies that there is a genetic component to the disease.
The fact that fibromyalgia might be genetic means that the genes that are responsible for so much about the way your body works are passing along fibromyalgia.
But that also means that if someone in your family has fibromyalgia, then you are also likely to develop fibromyalgia.
What does that mean for you?
Because we know that fibromyalgia is genetic, we know that having a relative with fibromyalgia is a red flag when it comes to the possibility of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia. So if someone in your family has the disease, you should keep on guard for the signs that you are also developing it.
Fibromyalgia can’t be cured, but it can be treated. And there’s no reason to spend years suffering without any treatment at all from mysterious aches and pains because you didn’t realize you had the disease.
After all, many people with fibromyalgia can go years before finding out that the cause of their pain is in fact, fibromyalgia.
So with your knowledge of the fact that fibromyalgia is genetic, you can have a better chance of catching it early.
How do I know if I have fibromyalgia?
There are a few warning signs of fibromyalgia that you should watch out for:
Chronic fatigue
Muscle pain
Joint stiffness and ache
If you have any of these symptoms, you should consult a doctor. Tell them if fibromyalgia runs in your family. This will alert them to the possibility that you have fibromyalgia and they should begin tests.
Just remember that the best way to deal with fibromyalgia is to be proactive about managing your symptoms. And get a diagnosis as soon as possible.
According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, approximately 100 million Americans suffer from some from some form of chronic pain such as fibromyalgia or arthritis. That’s nearly one-third of all Americans who need some ways to manage chronic pain.
That’s a staggering number.
In one sense, it’s almost comforting to know that, as someone who suffers from chronic pain, you’re not alone. On the other hand, that is a staggering number of people who suffer from some form of chronic pain.
This video offers a few ways to manage chronic pain:
Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. This one can be hard, as people can be really hateful towards people with fibromyalgia. But if you have someone in your life who isn’t hateful, don’t be shy. They love you.
Focus on what you can control
This is a hard one, but it really helps. Remember, it’s not your fault that you have a chronic pain disorder. It’s out of your control. Be kind to yourself. Plan ahead when you can, and learn what triggers flare-ups so you can try to avoid them.
Trick your brain
This doesn’t mean that you can just decide to not be in pain. But there are some techniques for reducing anxiety and depression and helping yourself stay positive. Meditation is one way. There is also cognitive behavior therapy is another.
Some of these techniques may sound simple. You might even find them stupid. But the science backs them up.
Do you have any ways to manage chronic pain that you really love? Let us know about them in the comments.
GHB: Should This Notorious Drug be Approved to Treat Fibro?
Written By: Wyatt Redd
admin
Image: Shutterstock.com/ chuckstock
You’ve probably heard of GHB, and if that name doesn’t seem familiar, it’s because it is commonly known as a date rape drug. Criminals use date rape drugs to incapacitate people and make them easier to victimize. The fact that this class of drugs renders victims unconscious within minutes and can easily be slipped into a drink makes them popular with rapists and other criminals.
But did you know that this kind of drug might actually be a breakthrough medication for fibromyalgia treatment?
GHB and fibromyalgia
The FDA recently considered sodium oxybate, or GHB, as a fibromyalgia treatment and concluded that there was “no question” that the drug was effective in its double-blind studies. The drug is believed to work by suppressing the central nervous system. That alleviates the overactivity associated with fibromyalgia. It also helps treat difficulty sleeping, a problem that fibro sufferers know all too well.
FDA decided not to clear GHB
However, the administration ultimately decided that it couldn’t clear the drug for mass production due to a number of concerns. First, they concluded that there was a need for further studies on the safety of the drug. Second, they were concerned by the odd dosing procedure. Sodium oxybate requires users to take the drug at night and then set their alarms to wake up four hours later for a second dose.
And finally, there was concern that making the drug more available would make it easier for criminals to gain access to it. The medically prescribed form of the drug as would be given for fibromyalgia treatment works in the same way as the illicit kind of GHB. Test subjects found it knocked them out, “before they had time to send an email.”
But the truth is that sufferers need some form of effective fibromyalgia treatment, especially those who find their condition causes trouble sleeping. And the decision to limit GHB as a treatment makes getting the help they need even more difficult.
And with fibromyalgia such a little known and misunderstood condition, the idea that criminals would be pretending to have it in order to gain access to date rape drugs seems very unlikely.
There is hope, however. The FDA hasn’t permanently banned the use of the drug as a fibromyalgia treatment. It has simply required that more studies be done on a way to improve the safety and reliability of the drug.
Is that fair?
But the truth is that sufferers need some form of effective fibromyalgia treatment. That’s especially true for those who find their condition causes trouble sleeping. And the decision to limit GHB as a treatment makes getting the help they need even more difficult.
And with fibromyalgia such a little known and misunderstood condition, the idea that criminals would be pretending to have it in order to gain access to date rape drugs seems very unlikely.
There is hope, however. The FDA hasn’t permanently banned the use of the drug as a fibromyalgia treatment. It has simply required that more studies be done on a way to improve the safety and reliability of the drug.
So if you find that your fibromyalgia symptoms make it difficult to sleep, one day you may be able to find relief in the form of a common date rape drug. That would be fitting in the end. A drug like GHB is not inherently bad. It’s how it is used that matters. And the idea that a drug which is used commonly to hurt people might also help others in the form of an effective fibromyalgia treatment would be a kind of poetic justice in the end.
Let’s just hope that the FDA decides to see it that way too.
Fibromyalgia swelling makes life difficult for a lot of sufferers. The pain and discomfort make daily tasks a challenge. Putting on shoes, or picking out an outfit, or even just getting around is harder with painful swelling in your hands or feet. But what causes the swelling? And how can you treat it?
What is fibromyalgia swelling?
Fibromyalgia often causes swelling in sufferers. Swelling, or edema, is a medical condition where fluid builds up underneath the skin. Edema is usually the result of injury, but with fibromyalgia, there is usually no obvious cause behind the swelling.
Now, this swelling usually happens in the hands and feet. But this fact often causes people to confuse fibromyalgia with arthritis, which also affects the hands and feet. And that sometimes makes treatment difficult. That’s because doctors may confuse your fibromyalgia pain with another condition. So, make sure that your doctor knows you have fibromyalgia.
In addition, fibromyalgia sufferers sometimes feel like their joints are swelling when they are not. It is part of the generalized, uncomfortable symptoms that fibromyalgia causes. And it makes treatment even more difficult since there are no physical symptoms.
What causes fibromyalgia swelling?
Fibromyalgia is a neurological condition, which means it affects joints and other nerve endings. No one knows how or why fibromyalgia targets nerve endings. But the overactivity in the nervous system causes joints to become inflamed.
Fibromyalgia is believed by many doctors to be a condition that causes your body’s immune system to over react. And in the same way that an allergic reaction can cause inflammation in the joints or face, your body’s immune response may be the cause of fibromyalgia swelling. That suggests that fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disorder, but again, there is no scientific agreement on that issue.
What can I do to treat fibromyalgia swelling?
There is currently no cure for fibromyalgia. That means that treatments for fibromyalgia swelling involve easing the discomfort instead of treating the underlying cause. Until a cure is developed, most treatments will simply involve reducing the swelling and managing the pain so you can continue to live an active life.
There are a few things you can do to limit the swelling caused by fibromyalgia. First, try to move the fluid away from the affected areas. Raise your hands over your head or put your feet up against a wall. Raising the affected limbs over your head will cause the fluid to drain away from the temporarily.
Ice can sometimes help reduce the amount of swelling. Anyone who has ever had a busted lip or black eye knows that an ice pack can help reduce the swelling around the injured skin. Ice causes the water in your cells to contract, which reduces swelling. And in addition, it can help alleviate the pain.
Finally, your diet can play a big role in limiting how much fibromyalgia swelling you experience. High sodium levels often cause your body to retain water, which makes swelling more severe. Try removing sodium from your diet and see if your fibromyalgia swelling becomes more manageable.
Vitamin B-6 is another nutrient you should think about when dealing with fibromyalgia swelling. Vitamin B-6 can help regulate fluid build up in your body. So a daily vitamin supplement can help you limit the swelling associated with fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia swelling is another one of the many uncomfortable symptoms that make fibromyalgia such a difficult disease to live with. But with some careful monitoring of your diet, and some basic home remedies, you can reduce the amount of fibromyalgia swelling you have to live with.
Lupus and Fibromyalgia: How Does Having Both Affect you?
Written By: Wyatt Redd
admin
Image:Shutterstock.com/ESB Professional
Many people confuse lupus with fibromyalgia because they share similar symptoms. Both cause fatigue and muscle ache. And both are chronic conditions that make living with them difficult. But lupus and fibromyalgia are different diseases and are easy to distinguish once you know the symptoms.
However, because the diseases both tend to be common in women of child-bearing age, it is possible to have both lupus and fibromyalgia. In fact, 1 in 4 people with lupus also have symptoms similar to fibromyalgia. So how can you tell if you have both? And how does having lupus affect fibromyalgia?
What is lupus?
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that causes pain and inflammation in different parts of the body. Like any autoimmune disease, your body’s immune system going haywire and attacking your body’s own tissue triggers lupus.
Lupus attacks many different parts of the body but most often targets the skin or internal organs. The severity of lupus varies widely from person to person. In situations where lupus attacks the sin, the largest symptom is a visible rash, most often on the face or nose.
In more serious cases, lupus attacks vital organs such as the brain, which kills the patient. Though in most cases, early medical intervention allows lupus patients to live healthy, productive lives.
How is it different from fibromyalgia?
There are a number of key differences between lupus and fibromyalgia. First, while Lupus is known to be the result of your body’s immune system attacking itself, fibromyalgia has no known cause. Some people speculate that like lupus, fibromyalgia is an immune disorder. But where lupus attacks the tissue in your body, fibromyalgia causes pain in your joints without damaging them.
So, while lupus is a more life-threatening disease, both cause painful and debilitating symptom such as pain and fatigue. And finally, lupus is more understood than fibromyalgia and effective therapies exist for treating it, such as immunosuppressant drugs.
And finally, lupus is more understood than fibromyalgia and more effective therapies exist for treating it, such as immunosuppressant drugs.
How can you tell if you have both?
The easiest way to tell if you have lupus is when it manifests physically in the form of a distinctive rash. Unfortunately, lupus affects everyone differently. So it can be hard to diagnose. Doctors can perform tests to determine if you have lupus.
If you have constant fatigue and muscle pains, then there is a good chance you have at least one of the conditions. Both are symptoms consistent among fibromyalgia and lupus. So if you do have these symptoms, it is worth going to the doctor for tests.
If you also develop a rash, hair-thinning, or a low-grade fever, then it is more likely that you have lupus. Again, a trip to the doctor’s office is the only way to know for sure.
How does it affect fibromyalgia?
So how does having both lupus and fibromyalgia affect you? Well, for reasons that are not quite understood, having either condition makes you more likely to develop the other. It’s estimated that around 25% of people with lupus will also have with fibromyalgia.
Secondly, having lupus is also known to make your fibromyalgia symptoms more severe and frequent. Fibromyalgia sufferers who also have lupus will have attacks more often. The attacks will also last longer and be more painful.
Finally, having lupus makes diagnosing your fibromyalgia more difficult because the symptoms are so similar. Luckily, doctors can manage lupus and minimize this effect with good treatment.
The most important thing to remember when you are suffering from lupus symptoms is to get help as soon as possible. Don’t assume that the symptoms you are feeling are just related to fibromyalgia and be aware of the early lupus warning signs.
Lupus is a serious disease that is life-threatening. So it is important to be on guard for signs of developing it and to get treatment. And that will also help you manage the complications of having both lupus and fibromyalgia.
This is not a question of politics or worldviews. Neither is it a matter of superiority versus inferiority. Rather, asking a question about the differences in pain experiences for women and men is an issue of biology and chemistry. And like much of the sciences, this gets complicated. Adding further to the complexity is the interesting fact that every individual, regardless of sex, experiences pain differently. That’s why it can be so very difficult to diagnose chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia.
Why is this question even important? Because it plays a significant role in a bias against the way women are treated for pain. That applies to everything from chest pain and chronic pain that men also experience, to the even worse treatment women receive for female-specific problems and conditions. You see, the short answer is yes, women and men experience pain differently. In fact, women are actually more sensitive to pain. But you would never know that based on assumptions, stereotypes, and the way the medical field addresses women’s pain.
How do Women Experience Pain?
Frankly, this whole topic is a just a tiny bite off incredibly large fields of study. We will only address some highlights here.
Marked for Inflammation
There are countless studies that examine sex-based differences in pain. These examine everything from hormones, pain thresholds and tolerances, to opiate receptors and much, much more. We will just look at one of those for now. A landmark study was published in 2001 called “The Girl Who Cried Pain: A Bias Against Women in the Treatment of Pain.” In asking this very question of whether men and women experience pain differently, the authors addressed a 1998 study that hypothesized a link between reproductive hormones, inflammation, and pain: “….the hormones may “act directly in the muscles to modulate the release of nitric oxide,” which causes vasodilation (blood vessel dilation), inflammation, and pain. In addition, estrogen may interact with various mediators of inflammation (i.e., swelling) and increase pain sensation.”
Well, it turns out that their hypothesis is pretty accurate due to the presence of something called high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Hs-CRP is a biomarker for inflammation in the body. That suggests that the more Hs-CRP someone has, the more inflammation and pain they are likely to experience. And guess what? Women have more of this protein than men. Furthermore, a University of California (Davis) study found a positive correlation between the severity of PMS symptoms and the presence of Hs-CRP.
Brain and Central Nervous System
“The Girl Who Cried Pain” authors cited another study that used brain scans with PET imaging on male and female subjects who were exposed to painful stimuli. They found that “females had significantly greater activation of the contralateral prefrontal cortex, the contralateral insual, and the thalamus when compared to the males.” In plain terms, that means that the females were far more affected and sensitive to pain than the males. They add, “The authors surmised that the differences between men and women in their response to pain were (1) a direct result of physiological differences between men’s and women’s brains; (2) mediated by emotional or cognitive responses that are different between men and women and are responsible for brain activation differences between men and women; or (3) a result of both (1) and (2).”
After reading this, some of you may be inclined to attribute a woman’s heightened sensitivity to pain to her alleged “weakness” compared to males. But that misconception actually leads to the added influence of a culture that associates expressions of pain with weakness.
Culture and Pain
Have you ever watched old movies that depict women fainting at the sight of…. just about anything? Well, there are at least two reasons for that. One is the use of the corset during the 19th century. An accessory designed to make women look extra small by tightly squeezing her torso, the corset often prevented women from adequately breathing. Another reason is what is referred to in psychological terms as mass sociogenic illness. This is a kind of group-mentality sickness of sorts, but there is no actual source or reason. The National Library of Medicine explains that “It occurs in the context of a credible threat that provokes great anxiety…” Much of this took place during the Victorian era in which women were expected to act dainty and frail. And fainting due to corsets and/or anxiety regarding anything that rocked their fragility was just a norm. In other words, all the cool ladies were doing it.
I’m not entirely blaming the Victorian era for the still pervasive modern misconception that women are weaklings. There are much more controversial issues attached to that notion as well. Nevertheless, women in our Western culture are associated with weakness. And since women are more inclined than men to express pain for many of the same and related cultural reasons, a woman’s pain is frequently dismissed as just part of her weakness, rather than a part of her biological makeup.
The irony here is that since women do experience pain more intensely than men, they ought to be treated more aggressively than men. Instead, their pain is downplayed, they often misdiagnosed due to misogynistic assumptions, and even simply dismissed as someone who lacks the fortitude to handle the daily stresses of life. Give me a break!
Has anything like this happened to you? Were you convinced of a chronic disorder like fibromyalgia, but struggled for years to be taken seriously by your physician? Please tell us your story.
Juvenile Arthritis: How it Compares to Fibro
Written By: Wyatt Redd
John
Image: Public Domain Pictures
Adults with fibromyalgia know how hard it can be to get a diagnosis. There are so many conditions that can mimic the symptoms of fibromyalgia, and many doctors aren’t that knowledgeable about the condition. And one of the most common sources of confusion is between arthritis and fibromyalgia because the two are so similar.
But children can also suffer from both conditions, and they have the same problem with getting accurately diagnosed as adults do. So, let’s look at some of the signs that your child is suffering from one of the conditions and what you can do to help.
What Are The Symptoms Of Juvenile Arthritis?
It can be hard to know when your child is suffering from juvenile arthritis, particularly when they are younger. Young children may not be able to express exactly what they are feeling. So, it’s important to look for some of the more subtle signs.
Often, children with juvenile arthritis are irritable or can have difficulty walking. That’s because they may be experiencing pain in their joints but not understand how to express it. In addition, there are physical signs you should be aware of like rashes, persistent fever, or swelling in the joints. Often, the swelling is worse in the morning when a child wakes up.
If you notice that your child seems to have difficulty moving in the morning and seems to be in pain from swollen joints, then it’s possible that they have juvenile arthritis.
What Are The Symptoms Of Juvenile Fibromyalgia?
It’s probably a little harder to know when your child is suffering from juvenile fibromyalgia. Many adults with fibromyalgia can go years before they get diagnosed, so it’s easy to imagine how difficult it is to recognize the condition in children. And unlike juvenile arthritis, there are few physical symptoms like swollen joints that you can recognize.
If your child is often tired and spends a lot of time sleeping, then there’s a good chance that something is wrong. Children with juvenile fibromyalgia are also often irritable and can struggle in school due to the mental fog that’s often a symptom of fibromyalgia. Older children may also simply tell you that they experience frequent pain in their muscles, which is a good sign that they have fibromyalgia.
Juvenile fibromyalgia is somewhat rare and affects somewhere between 2 and 6% of children. But it’s more common in girls than boys. If your child is displaying any of these symptoms, it’s always a good idea to take them to the doctor as they can be a sign of other serious conditions as well.
What Should You Do To Help?
If your child seems to be in pain, of course, you want to get them to a doctor. When you do take them, make sure that you have a good idea of what your child’s symptoms are so you can describe them to the doctor. For instance, if you’ve noticed that your child has frequent fevers, it can be helpful to make a chart of when they’re experiencing them and what their temperature is. And it can also be helpful to chart out the times when your child is experiencing pain.
This information can help your doctor make an accurate diagnosis. And your child may not be able to describe their own symptoms if they are young.
Doctors often have a hard time diagnosing either condition in children, so the first step will likely be ruling out other conditions with similar symptoms like lupus. The doctor will probably want to do a series of tests looking at the levels of antibodies in the blood to determine what condition your child has. If they think that your child is suffering from arthritis, this can also help them tell what kind.
Fibromyalgia is usually one of the things they will check last if they can’t find another source of the child’s symptoms. The test for juvenile fibromyalgia is the same as the one for adults. The doctor will look for symptoms like chronic fatigue and pain, along with a physical test.
There are 18 specific points on the body associated with fibromyalgia called “tender points.” The doctor will press their thumb into these points to see if the child feels pain in them. If the child experiences significant pain in 11 of these points, then they probably have fibromyalgia.
If your child is diagnosed with either condition, the good news is that doctors can provide treatment. Follow the doctor’s recommendations and if you’re not satisfied with the results, consider seeking out a doctor who specializes in the condition.
What do you think? Have you had experiences with juvenile arthritis or fibromyalgia? Let us know in the comments.
People have had strange ways of curing illnesses for a long time. And in the days before modern medicine, one of the most common ways that people treated chronic disease was sending people to a new location. The hope was that a new environment would be able to cure the illness that someone was suffering.For instance, Russian writer Anton Chekhov once checked into a resort in southern Russia in the hope that the dry air and a steady diet of fermented mare’s milk would cure his tuberculosis. After two weeks of drinking alcoholic milk, he gained twelve pounds but wasn’t cured.
But many people hope that moving to a new environment can help cure their fibromyalgia. So can moving to a new city really help your fibro symptoms?
Environment and fibro symptoms
There’s not a lot of good studies about the role that the environment can play in causing fibro flare-ups. Though a lot of fibromyalgia sufferers will swear that changes in the weather can cause their fibromyalgia symptoms to get worse. Some people even say that they can predict if it’s going to rain by their fibromyalgia pain.
And some studies have concluded there is a scientific basis for this claim. The low-pressure fronts that are associated with rains and storms are known to have at least some effect on certain people with arthritis. So it stands to reason that fibromyalgia joint pain might respond in the same way.
But here’s the thing, many studies have concluded that there is no link between fibromyalgia and environmental triggers. A Dutch study in 2001 concluded that there is no measurable difference between the amount of pain fibro sufferers feel during the winter months than the summer months. They concluded that any additional pain people feel during cold weather is actually the result of people feeling like their symptoms should be worse.
That may sound ridiculous to you. Especially if you’re one of those people who definitely feels like your symptoms are worse during cold weather. And the issue is far from decided. Especially when other studies contradict that earlier one.
Can moving to a new city help your fibro symptoms?
So can moving to a new city help your fibromyalgia symptoms? It’s tough to say. Some evidence says that it will. Other evidence suggests that it won’t.
Anecdotally, some people have reported feeling better after moving south. And if fibromyalgia symptoms do respond to cold or wet weather, then it makes sense that a drier and warmer climate would help. In that case, moving to a new city with a different climate would help your symptoms.
But until science understands more about fibromyalgia and the way it responds to the environment, there’s really no way to know for sure. However, if something works for your fibro symptoms, then it works. And if you feel like your fibro symptoms are better in one place than another, then they probably are.
If you want to move to a new city because it helps your fibro symptoms then why not do it? At the same time, don’t feel obligated to move because you feel like the place you live in now is too cold or wet. There’s no sure bet that you would feel better somewhere else.
Ultimately, you have to do what is best for you and manage your fibro symptoms in the way that helps you find some relief. But it might be worth trying out a new climate and seeing how you feel. After all, that’s a great excuse to take a vacation somewhere warm.
Aching Joints: How to Tell if it’s Fibromyalgia or Synovitis
Written By: Wyatt Redd
admin
Image: Shutterstock.com/ESB Professional
Fibromyalgia is a disease that attacks the joints. But there are many other diseases that also cause joint pain. One of the most common is synovitis, which is caused by the swelling of the tissue surrounding your joints.
So how do you tell if you have or fibromyalgia synovitis?
What is synovitis?
Synovitis is caused by the swelling of the tissue around the joint, or synovium. In someone with synovitis, this tissue becomes tender and strained. And that causes their joint to hurt when they move or touch them.
The most common cause of synovitis is overuse of the joints. As a result of strain to the joints, the tissue becomes inflamed and fills the joints with synovial fluid, which is a clear fluid that causes the joints to swell up.
What is fibromyalgia?
No one is sure what causes fibromyalgia. There are a number of theories ranging from an overactive immune system to delayed food allergies.
Fibromyalgia causes pain all over the body, especially in 18 specific points. Most of these points are located in or near the joints of the body.
How can you tell whether it’s fibromyalgia or synovitis?
There are a lot of similarities between synovitis and fibromyalgia. Both can cause pain or stiffness in the points. Both can cause swelling.
But there are some very significant differences that make it easy to tell between the two of them. First, the pain caused by synovitis is located only in the joints. And usually, the pain is located in just one joint. While the pain caused by fibromyalgia is usually constant or worse at night, synovitis pain spikes only when the joint is moved.
And fibromyalgia also causes fatigue. In fact, one of the most significant symptoms of fibromyalgia is the sort of mental fog that comes with it. Fibromyalgia causes sufferers to feel constantly tired and have a hard time thinking or remembering simple things.
These kinds of mental symptoms are completely missing from synovitis.
What do you do if you have synovitis?
If you have swelling or pain in your joints, the most obvious solution is to go see your doctor. They will look at your joints for the signs of synovitis which are swollen, red, and warm joints. They may stick a needle into the joints to withdraw fluid for a definite diagnosis.
Your doctor will be able to recommend therapies to treat your pain. The most common treatment for synovitis is rest and a cold compress. But the doctor can also prescribe steroid injections into the joints to treat the swelling.
What do you do if you have fibromyalgia?
If you have joint pain accompanied by other symptoms of fibromyalgia, go to to the doctor and discuss your concerns. They will be able to tell you if you have fibromyalgia. If you do have fibromyalgia, there is currently no cure. But there are many different therapies that may be able to help you manage your fibromyalgia pain.
The most important thing when you find that you have significant joint pain is to seek medical help. There is no reason to endure that kind of pain when there are things that can be done to help manage it.
You probably haven’t heard of central sensitivity syndrome, but it actually plays a pretty significant role in fibromyalgia. And understanding the relationship between central sensitivity syndrome and fibromyalgia can help you understand what’s going on in your body when it comes to your fibromyalgia.
So what exactly is central sensitivity syndrome? And what’s the relationship between central sensitivity syndrome and fibromyalgia?
What Is Central Sensitivity Syndrome?
Central sensitivity syndrome is a condition where your nervous system becomes sensitized to pain. You see, every sensation travels through the central nervous system. What we think of as touch or pain are actually signals in the nervous system which travel through the spine to the brain and back.
But in someone with central sensitivity syndrome, the nervous system over-reacts to every source of stimulation. So where someone with a normal central nervous system might bump their elbow and feel fine after a few minutes, someone with central sensitivity syndrome will be reduced to writhing in pain.
Essentially, your body becomes overly-sensitized to pain. That’s why doctors believe that central sensitivity syndrome plays a role in chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia. And if you feel like you are overly sensitive to pain then you likely have a form of central sensitivity syndrome.
What Causes Central Sensitivity Syndrome?
No one is sure exactly what causes central sensitivity syndrome, but there are some theories. First, doctors believe that the nerve receptors themselves are to blame. The receptors are clearly becoming more reactive in patients with central sensitivity syndrome. The react to normal stimuli as if they were a source of extreme pain. Some doctors suggest that some people are just more likely to develop this kind of nerve receptor sensitivity to others.
And it seems like there is also some relationship between the pain receptors and injuries to the nervous system, which could be an explanation for what causes central sensitivity disorder.
Things like strokes and spinal cord injuries make patients vulnerable to central sensitivity syndrome, which suggests there’s a direct relationship between nerve damage and central sensitivity syndrome. But there are also a number of factors that make people predisposed to developing central sensitivity syndrome.
A history of feeling anxiety, depression, or psychological trauma makes a patient more likely to develop central sensitivity syndrome. That suggests that there is some relationship between the brain and becoming sensitized to pain, but no one is sure what it is at the moment.
How Are Central Sensitivity Syndrome And Fibromyalgia Linked?
In the same way, chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia are closely linked to central sensitivity syndrome. Central sensitivity syndrome can make your fibromyalgia worse by increasing the amount of pain you feel. But fibromyalgia can also make you more likely to develop central sensitivity disorder.
The constant stress on your nerve endings makes them more likely to become sensitized. And there seems to be a link between people who develop fibromyalgia and central sensitivity syndrome. That suggests that both conditions are the result of the same underlying problems with the nervous system.
Finally, that heightened sensitivity to pain could explain a lot of why fibromyalgia causes generalized pain and fatigue. It might turn out that fibromyalgia is the result of an over-sensitivity in the nervous system. Unfortunately, doctors don’t totally understand the link between central sensitivity syndrome and fibromyalgia. When they do, it will likely be possible to treat both conditions, as well as other nervous system disorders more effectively.
Is There A Way To Treat Central Sensitivity Syndrome?
Right now, there isn’t a totally effective treatment for central sensitivity syndrome. But the methods that doctors use to treat it are similar to the ones doctors use to treat fibromyalgia.
Typically, doctors prescribe drugs that are designed to target the central nervous system. Things like anticonvulsants and antidepressants are the most common. Both classes of drugs make the nervous system less sensitive and prevent the interaction between nerve receptors and the chemicals in the brain.
Besides medication, the most common treatments for central sensitivity syndrome are more holistic approaches. For example, doctors recommend that people with central sensitivity syndrome get as much exercise and sleep as possible. Sleep helps to regulate the nervous system and reduce the effects of central sensitivity syndrome. And exercise helps your body manage and reduce pain.
But while we don’t fully understand the relationship between the two disorders, the study of one offers hope for the other. And there may come a time when research into central sensitivity disorder offers new, effective treatments for fibromyalgia as well.
Can the Alexander Technique Help With Fibromyalgia?
Written By: Wyatt Redd
admin
Image: Pixabay
The Alexander Technique is a method of conditioning your body to move in a way that reduces stress to your muscles and skeleton. This fact has led many people to suggest that it could be a good way to treat fibromyalgia. After all, fibromyalgia is a classified as a musculoskeletal disease. Logically, a treatment that reduces musculoskeletal pain should help reduce the pain of fibromyalgia as well. But does that theory work out in practice? Let’s talk about the Alexander Technique and whether it can help with fibromyalgia pain.
What Is The Alexander Technique?
The Alexander Technique was created in the 1890’s by a man named Frederick Alexander. Alexander was a theatre actor who found one day after years of reciting Shakespeare on the stage that he could no longer speak as loudly. Doctors examining Alexander could find no physical cause for the damage to his voice, leaving Alexander’s future as an actor in serious doubt.
Refusing to give up his dream, Alexander set to figuring out how to fix the problem himself. He theorized that the problem was rooted in the way he used his muscles. Alexander examined his posture in mirrors from every angle and realized that when he spoke, he was subconsciously tensing his muscles and shifting his posture in an unnatural way. By imitating the artificial way that other actors move, Alexander had abandoned the way the body is naturally designed to function.
So, Alexander began to consciously unlearn all the artificial movements he was used to and simply let the body work the way it was designed. By doing so, Alexander managed to cure the damage to his voice. Then, he set out to teach others how to cure themselves. His technique grew over the following decades and helped a number of famous people like Aldous Huxley and George Bernard Shaw.
Today, the technique is still in use, and many people swear by it as a way to help with a wide variety of pain. Basically, the technique works like this:
You seek the help of a trained instructor who will observe your posture and movements.
The teacher then makes adjustments to your motions and trains you to be conscious of these movements and perform them more naturally.
This more natural way of moving puts less stress on the muscles and skeleton, thus relieving pain.
Proponents of the Alexander Technique argue that it can cure a number of health problems like breathing difficulties or back pain. But can it work for fibromyalgia? Let’s look at the evidence.
Can It Help With Fibromyalgia?
There’s significant debate about whether or not the Alexander Technique is actually effective for treating different health problems. Most of the problem lies in the fact that the technique hasn’t really been studied as a medical treatment. There are not many good, peer-reviewed trials testing the technique for conditions like asthma or fibromyalgia. As a result, most established medical authorities consider it an experimental treatment.
But that doesn’t mean that they don’t recommend it. There are many doctors and health organizations that do suggest using the Alexander technique for people who suffer from musculoskeletal pain. And there is some evidence that the technique can benefit patients who suffer from chronic pain.
One of the most recent studies of the technique from the UK NHS Choices organization found that it can be effective for treating long-term neck or back pain and Parkinson’s disease. But that same study found that there was little evidence to suggest it works for other conditions like asthma, headaches, or osteoarthritis.
So does it work for fibromyalgia? The truth is that there just isn’t a lot of scientific evidence to suggest it does. But that situation is familiar to anyone with fibromyalgia. It seems like everyone with the condition has a treatment that they swear by that simply isn’t recognized by the medical community. Many people with fibromyalgia say that things like CBD oil are effective for people with fibromyalgia, but not many scientists haven’t taken the time to seriously investigate it.
So, while there just isn’t enough evidence to say that the Alexander Technique is definitely effective for fibromyalgia, it might still be worth a try. Many people who try the technique believe that it does help their fibromyalgia. The good news is that it costs little to arrange a few sessions and try it out for yourself, and there are really no risks associated with the method. And if it doesn’t improve your fibromyalgia, you may find that it provides other benefits.
Let us know, have you tried the Alexander Technique for your fibromyalgia? What did you think? Tell us in the comments.
When someone mentions having widespread joint pain, what do you think of? I usually envision the hands because there are so many joints there. Sometimes the knees come to mind, especially when I see older persons struggling to get around. And I almost always associate joint pain with arthritis. In fact, the pain I’ve felt in and around my joints in my hands has debilitated me a few times in life. I assumed it was some kind of early onset arthritis during my 20s and early 30s. But it turns out, joint pain can actually refer to any discomfort, inflammation, or pain from any partof the joint. The Mayo Clinic says that includes “cartilage, bone, ligaments, tendons or muscles. Most commonly, however, joint pain refers to arthritis or arthralgia, which is inflammation or pain from within the joint itself.”
So my assumptions weren’t too far off. Of course, now I know that my joint pain was actually part of my fibromyalgia symptoms. Thankfully, it has only effected my hands from time to time. But for many fibro patients, widespread joint pain can be debilitating. Indeed, most fibro patients suffer from joint pain in one way or another. But a lot of other people deal with this condition, right? So what are the causes of it, how does it effect you, and what should you do about it? We’ll explore some of the basics of this very complex condition.
What Causes Widespread Joint Pain?
One of the reasons joint pain is so complicated is because the causes literally range in the dozens. The Mayo Clinic alphabetically lists about 30 different conditions that lead to joint pain, ranging from Adult Still’s Disease and Dislocated Bones to Lyme Disease and Tendinitis. Although the National Health Service (NHS) of England says that it’s usually the result of injury or arthritis. But what about widespread joint pain? That can’t be from injury, right?
Actually, that is something a bit different. The NHS adds that widespread joint pain can be a sign of a disease that effects other organs in the body as well. For example, in the case autoimmune conditions like lupus, the immune system attacks healthy cells like organs and tissues. Furthermore, there are other less common and even rare conditions that can cause widespread joint pain as well. These include, but are not limited to juvenile arthritis, certain treatments like steroid therapy, and even cancer.
It’s clear there are a lot of variables involved in this condition. But what exactly does it look like in practical terms?
Symptoms of Widespread Joint Pain
So, with a condition like osteoarthritis, it’s common to wake in the morning and feel some pain and stiffness. But this is primarily relegated to certain areas such as the hips, knees, and lower-back. In the case of fibromyalgia, however, joint pain can be found over the whole body, thus the term “widespread.” Experts add, “The pain can be deep, sharp, dull, throbbing, or aching, and it is pain that’s felt in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the joints. The Arthritis Foundation describes the muscle and tissue pain as tender, aching, throbbing, sore, burning, and gnawing. For some people with fibromyalgia, the pain comes and goes. The pain also seems to travel throughout the body” [emphasis added].
This sounds pretty miserable, doesn’t it? Obviously, there’s no specific cure, unless of course you’re dealing with a specific disease or condition that is causing it and can also be treated. So what should you do?
Treating Widespread Joint Pain
The absolute most important step in treating this condition is finding out the root causefirst. If you are experiencing the symptoms discussed here, but you aren’t sure what the cause is, then finding out can make all the difference in the world. For example, your pain could be related to gout. So treating the gout first will then lead to the treatment of the joint pain. Furthermore, your widespread joint pain could be related to inflammation. In that case, anti-inflammatories would be helpful four you. And while it is less likely, the pain could be related to cancer. Other possibilities include rheumatic and neurological causes. Thus, finding the root cause immediately is absolutely imperative.
If your pain is mild and relatively limited in location, however, the Mayo Clinic recommends the following options:
Try an over-the-counter pain reliever, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve).
Avoid using your joint in ways that cause or worsen pain.
Apply ice or a package of frozen peas to your painful joint for 15 to 20 minutes a few times each day.
Apply a heating pad, soak in a warm tub or take a warm shower to relax muscles and increase circulation.
Have you experienced widespread joint pain? Do you know the cause? What treatments have helped you deal with the pain? Please share your experiences with us here.
Many who suffer from fibromyalgia come from a generation or worldview that criticizes and forbids the use of marijuana, even for medicinal purposes. However, cannabis (Latin name for the marijuana) has been used as a medicine for at least 5,000 years of recorded history. Interestingly enough, among a variety of ailments and conditions, cannabis was also used to treat pain, inflammation, poor memory, migraines, fatigue, depression, and rheumatism. Sound familiar, fibro sufferers? It has been smoked, eaten, and made into teas and pastes in the medical life of India and China for thousands of years. It was introduced to the U.S. around the turn of the 20th Century by Mexican immigrants. But racism and classism led to the criminalization of marijuana.
Is there any modern proof marijuana works?
Studying the medical benefits of cannabis is largely responsible for the legalization of it. While it has been used in the past as an actual cure for certain conditions, there is no evidence to show that it will specifically cure fibromyalgia. However, there is substantial evidence to show that marijuana can radically improve fibro symptoms ranging from pain and muscle stiffness to insomnia and mood. In fact, fibromyalgia has been linked to an endocannabinoid deficiency that can be treated with cannabinoid medicines.
Furthermore, oncologist and director of clinical research programs at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine in San Francisco, Donald I. Abrams, M.D., published a related study in The Journal of Neurology. It included a “randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial that demonstrated that smoked cannabis was effective in this situation,” says Abrams. “The people who say there’s no evidence that smoked marijuana has any medicinal benefits really can’t say that anymore. The drug was quite comparable to the best available treatment we currently have for painful peripheral neuropathy” (painful, damaged nerves). For many fibro patients, painful and damaged nerves are the cornerstone of this debilitating condition. Thus, more and more suffering from fibromyalgia are turning to marijuana in various forms as a way to mitigate the incapacitating and weakening effects. And it’s not just young people who are using it, but the ages span across the board.
For example, CNN reported on the use of marijuana for fibromyalgia, beginning with Lynda, a middle-aged mother of three in New York: “I would use [marijuana] when the burning pains started down my spine or my right arm, and shortly after, I found I could continue with housework and actually get more done.” It went on to report that since only 35-40% of fibro patients get relief from prescription medications, some turn to marijuana. If you live in a location where it is legal, you have probably noticed dispensaries popping up all over the place. It may be difficult to determine where to begin, but you may wish to start with a list of top medical marijuana physicians and institutions in the United States, including a few around the world such as Spain, Israel, and Canada for our international readers.
Doesn’t marijuana get you high?
Some people want this effect and others don’t. There are so many varieties of cannabis, including those with higher levels of cannabidiol, which is one of the dozens of cannabinoids that make up the cannabis plant. Leafly is a good place to get you started in exploring the myriad of strain options for treating a host of medical conditions. And as with any fibromyalgia treatment option, you may have to try a variety of strains before you find the one that works for you. In fact, occasionally you’ll even find someone for whom medical marijuana is not particularly effective, other than dulling certain fibro symptoms. However, most fibromyalgia patients who try it as a treatment method are very happy with the results because they have been able to resume life again. Will it help you? The only answer is to try it and see, but do your research first to understand the law and various options. Then tell us your results!
There’s no question that fibromyalgia is a devastating disease. Not only does it take a serious toll on your body, but it can disrupt every aspect of your life. In fact, one of the things that people with fibromyalgia find themselves struggling with the most is the toll it can take on their relationships. It’s hard to be the same sort of vibrant, friendly person you truly are when you’re in constant pain. And the reality of living with fibromyalgia is that even getting out of bed can be a struggle. That means that when you suffer from the disease you can’t take on life the way they used to.
All too often, the people you thought would always be there for you gradually drift away when you don’t have the energy to maintain those relationships. Ask anyone with fibromyalgia and you’ll hear stories of lost friendships and the emotional toll that can take. But it’s not just friends. Fibromyalgia can put a serious strain on a marriage as well. It takes a lot of energy to maintain a marriage when you have fibromyalgia, and energy is something most people with fibromyalgia have in short supply. That’s why seeking a professional counselor can be a good idea.
What Is Marriage Counseling?
Many people are reluctant to bring up marriage counseling with their spouse. It can seem like an admission that something isn’t working in a marriage or even an accusation that your partner is to blame. But the truth is that any marriage can benefit from a professional counselor. That’s because the process isn’t about assigning blame or deciding who is right and wrong.
Marriage counseling is simply a way to help you develop tools to communicate more effectively with your spouse. Every marriage has underlying issues that place a strain on the relationship. Marriage counseling involves seeing a trained therapist who can help you communicate and resolve those issues in a constructive way.
Often couples who struggle with issues in their relationship hesitate to express them to their spouse because they are worried that it will lead to an argument. And as anyone who has been married knows, that’s because it often does. But those arguments aren’t an effective way to resolve those issues. Both sides just end up more entrenched in their position and with hurt feelings that can grow over time into resentment.
When you see a marriage counselor, they can help you work through your issues without arguments. The result is often that both partners begin to see the other’s point of view and can begin strengthening their relationship based on that understanding.
How Can It Help When You Have Fibromyalgia?
There are two reasons why marriage counseling can be especially beneficial for people with fibromyalgia. First, the difficulties someone with fibromyalgia faces can strain a marriage significantly. Obviously, it’s no one’s fault if they are experiencing a flare up and have to spend the day in bed. But this does put a strain on their spouse, who has to assume the responsibilities of caring for children or keeping up the house by themselves. And the fact that you simply can’t be as active as you used to can leave a spouse feeling like their relationship with you has changed. You simply can’t make the kind of time for romantic dates or activities they used to be able to make when you have fibromyalgia.
Secondly, it can be hard for someone to bring up these concerns when their spouse has fibromyalgia. They already see how much their spouse is suffering and don’t want to make things harder for them. So, it’s easy to see how they could end up letting something that’s bothering them grow into resentment. In addition, people with fibromyalgia have a tendency to not complain when something is bothering them. Their disease is so hard to live with that they have to try to stay positive. They feel like they can’t burden their spouse with their suffering, even when it’s something unrelated to their condition. But you’ll notice that in both of these scenarios, neither spouse is communicating with the other.
That’s why counseling can be such an important tool for maintaining a marriage when you have fibromyalgia. By getting help, spouses can learn to communicate more effectively and address problems before they destroy a relationship. So, if you’re struggling with fibromyalgia, and it’s taking a toll on your marriage, counseling may be just what you need.
Let us know, have you pursued marriage counseling to help with fibromyalgia-related issues? Would you recommend it to others? Tell us in the comments.
ECT treatment has to be one of the most dreaded procedures in the history of medicine. Mention ECT treatment- or as it’s popularly known, “electro-shock therapy”- to someone and it fills their mind with images of unwilling patients being strapped down and violent electric currents being run through their body. It’s an image created through pop culture like movies and television shows and, to be fair, some of the early history of the treatment.
But, ECT treatment has come a long way since those early days. And it may be time to take another look at a treatment that has shown very promising results for treating a lot of different conditions. So, what is ECT treatment really? Is it effective? And is it safe?
What Is ECT Treatment?
ECT stands for “electro-convulsive therapy.” And essentially it works by sending a small electric current through the brain, which induces a seizure. The idea behind the treatment actually has a long history, dating back to the 1930’s. Around that time, doctors who worked with patients suffering from epilepsy noticed that following a seizure, many patients felt much calmer and had a significant reduction in mental health symptoms.
As a result, doctors began wondering if artificially inducing a seizure might be beneficial for patients struggling with other conditions like depression or anxiety. Doctors discovered that by shocking the brains of patients with electricity, they could induce these seizures and ECT treatment was born.
Unfortunately, the field of psychiatric medicine was a bit cruder in those days and ECT treatment quickly took on a sinister role in the popular imagination due to the fact that undertrained staff began using it improperly as a means of controlling patients with severe symptoms. And that’s a shame because their misuse of ECT has maligned a treatment that actually shows a lot of promise for helping people.
Is ECT Treatment Effective?
It may surprise you to learn that, done properly, ECT treatment is actually a very effective method of relieving the symptoms of certain conditions. For instance, it’s frequently used to treat drug-resistant depression. And ECT treatment is one of the most effective ways to handle this condition. While anti-depressant drugs are effective for many people with depression, those who are a serious risk to themselves in the short-term or are resistant to medication do seem to benefit from ECT treatment and do so immediately.
A short course of ECT treatment can begin to relieve the symptoms of depression within hours and for people at risk of suicide, it can be a literal life-saver.
In addition, ECT has shown some promise for treating many chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia. Studies have shown that ECT treatment can stimulate blood flow to the brain and reduce pain in people with fibromyalgia.
But in spite of its effectiveness, many people are reluctant to try ECT therapy due to its reputation. But that reputation may not be justified when you consider how the treatment is actually performed.
Is ECT Treatment Safe?
You may imagine ECT treatment as being strapped down and shocked with painful electric currents. But in reality, ECT treatment is largely painless.
First, patients are sedated under general anesthesia before undergoing treatment. That means that they aren’t conscious when the procedure is performed and so they don’t experience any pain during the procedure.
Secondly, the procedure is performed by trained healthcare professionals who carefully monitor the strength of the current to ensure that it’s safe. That’s the primary difference between modern ECT therapy and the dark period in its history that a lot of people think of when they hear the term. ECT therapy today is done as safely as possible.
There are a few side-effects to the treatment, however. The muscles clench involuntarily during the procedure, so you may feel some residual soreness in your jaw or limbs. And memory loss is a frequent side effect. Patients are often unable to remember events up to a few days or even months before the treatment. But generally, this is temporary and the memory returns within a few days. In rare cases, this memory loss may be permanent.
But in terms of permanent physical damage, the risk of ECT treatment is very low. And many patients feel that the potential improvement in their symptoms outweighs the risk. With that being said, you should consult with a doctor before considering ECT therapy.
So what do you think? Is ECT therapy safe? Would you consider it? Have you tried it before? How did it work for you? Let us know in the comments section.
6 Examples of Chronic Pain: Their Causes and Treatments
Written By: Wyatt Redd
admin
Image: Pixabay
If you spend enough time researching chronic pain, you’ll find out quickly that there is a lot more variety in the way that people experience chronic pain than you may have thought. But if you look through enough chronic pain examples, you’ll quickly realize that there are a few general patterns.
You see, chronic pain conditions are a huge problem around the world. In America, for instance, 1 in every 10 people suffers from some kind of chronic pain. But the term “chronic pain” captures a huge number of different conditions and diseases that all cause chronic pain in a different way. But generally speaking, you can put chronic pain into a few categories: Nociceptive, neuropathic, somatic, visceral, idiopathic, and psychogenic.
Of course, that probably just sounds like some dense medical jargon. But really, it’s not that complicated. So let’s look at some chronic pain examples that will help us understand the difference between these types of chronic pain.
Chronic Pain Examples
Chronic Pain Examples #1: Fibromyalgia
Let’s start with one that you are probably familiar with if you’re a regular reader of this site: fibromyalgia. And if you haven’t heard of fibromyalgia, basically it’s a condition that causes chronic pain throughout the muscle tissues. So this chronic pain example involves pain that is located in the muscle tissue. Normally, this kind of pain would be categorized as nociceptive, which means the pain comes from soft tissue.
But fibromyalgia, as always, defies easy answers. Because the pain of fibromyalgia doesn’t actually stem from the muscles, it doesn’t fall into the nociceptive category. We don’t know why people with fibromyalgia experience chronic pain since there is no actual damage to the soft tissue. And that makes fibromyalgia pain idiopathic, which means that it is a pain with no obvious source.
Chronic Pain Examples #2: Diabetic Neuropathy
In this entry into our list of chronic pain examples, the nerve damage from a case of diabetes causes pain that travels around the body. This pain feels like radiating waves of burning, tingling, or a “pins and needles” sensation. This type of pain is extremely difficult to treat and can be maddening to live with. And it’s quite common among people with diabetes or any condition that leads to nerve damage.
Of course, as you might have guessed, this pain is categorized as neuropathic pain.
Chronic Pain Examples #3: Endometriosis
In this example, there is a woman who is affected by endometriosis, which is a condition where the tissue in the uterus expands to grow outside of the uterus. No one knows for sure what causes it, but it is often extremely painful.
And because this type of pain stems from the actual organs in the body, it is classified as visceral pain, or a pain that is caused by a problem with internal organs.
Chronic Pain Examples #4: Depression
In this instance of our chronic pain examples, imagine there is someone who is deeply depressed. You are probably familiar with the symptoms of depression: loss of appetite or motivation, feelings of sadness or worthlessness. But while our patient in this scenario has all of these symptoms, they also have one more.
Our patient suffers from severe and persistent headaches. After a doctor examines them, they find no obvious physical cause. This, of course, doesn’t make their pain any less real, but it does speak to the fact that it stems from the mind rather than a physical source. So the patient’s chronic pain is actually psychogenic pain (pain that stems from psychological disorders).
Chronic Pain Examples #5: Arthritis
In this example, we are looking at a person who suffers from severe arthritis. A build up of fluid in their joints causes them to swell, which makes moving and performing basic tasks very painful. This pain continues for a few months, which makes it difficult to live a normal life.
But most important for us to know is that this type of pain the patient is experiencing is somatic, which is pain that’s picked up through sensory nerves in the joints or skin.
Chronic Pain Examples #6: Plantar Fasciitis
In this example, we’re looking at someone with plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis is a type of chronic pain caused by inflammation of the tendons in the foot. And though there are ways to manage it, it can often become a chronic condition.
But again, the important thing to know is that their pain is nociceptive pain because it originates in the soft tissues of the foot.
So with that run through all our chronic pain examples, you should have a better understanding of what chronic pain is, how it is classified, and how your chronic pain fits into the larger scheme of medical classification.
But let us know, have you experienced any of these types of chronic pain? More than one? Tell us in the comments.
Fibromyalgia Treating is now part of the RedOrbit.com community!
We are excited to announce that FibromyalgiaTreating.com is now part of RedOrbit.com. All of the same great people, writers and editors but now with more firepower. We now have access to an enormous amount of additional research information
from doctors and scientists. We can now extend to other conditions that may be part of your everyday lives and help you on a broad level if that is what you need. We are here for you and now, better than ever so sit back and enjoy
the new Fibromyalgia Treating by RedOrbit!
