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But The Pain Was There When I Asked For

The Doctor’s Appointment

Learn about the "walking pain", the impact on your daily life

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   What is Fibromyalgia, how common is it? 

by Renate Schedl

Medical

‘Fibromyalgia’ is a descriptive name that may change as we learn more about the condition.  Medical researchers have just begun to untangle the truths about this life-altering disease.  Medical articles refer to fibromyalgia patients as "challenging" at best, and as "difficult" and "extremely draining". 

While it is a highly prevalent condition, identified in nearly 20% of patients visiting rheumatology clinics, fibromyalgia is often confused with other pain disorders, and little is known about its root cause.  Fibromyalgia (syndrome) is a common disorder seen in rheumatology practices, and has been known under a variety of names during the years.Primary fibromyalgia, a poorly-understood chronic pain syndrome, is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, nonrestorative sleep, fatigue, psychological distress, and specific regions of localized tenderness, all in the absence of otherwise apparent organic disease.  Primary sleep disorders that may be associated with FM include: alpha electro-encephalographic arousal disturbances, sleep apnea, and sleep-related periodic involuntary limb movement disorders.  Primary fibromyalgia syndrome (PFS) is a common and characteristic rheumatologic condition manifested by diffuse musculoskeletal aches, pains, and stiffness frequently modulated by various factors.

Disease

The cause or causes of FM are unknown and patients with FM show no specific pathologic changes in their musculoskeletal tissues; and there is no laboratory test diagnostic of it.  However, it is important to understand that arthritis causes inflammation and damage to the joints, muscles, or other important body tissues; fibromyalgia does not.  In the absence of objective pathology, reports of pain and other unexplained symptoms may be ascribed to psychological causes.  Although the cause or causes of FM remains to be determined, most researchers believe that the widespread pain, the hallmark symptom of FM, is due to abnormalities in central nervous system function.  It is a chronic syndrome that causes a stiff, burning pain in or near the joints, not dissimilar to the pain of arthritisWhile fibromyalgia is one of the most common diseases affecting the muscles, its cause is currently unknown.  It can occur independently, or can be associated with another disease, such as systemic lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
Although fibromyalgia is often considered an arthritis-related condition, it is not truly a form of arthritis (a disease of the joints) because it does not cause inflammation or damage to the joints, muscles, or other tissues.  Even physicians do not always agree on whether a disease is considered rheumatic. 

Therefore, fibromyalgia is different from many other rheumatic conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, and polymyositis).  Like arthritis,however, fibromyalgia can cause significant pain and fatigue,and it can interfere with a person’s ability to carry on daily activities.  Also like arthritis, fibromyalgia is considered a rheumatic condition.  People with certain rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (commonly called lupus), or ankylosing spondylitis (spinal arthritis) may be more likely to have fibromyalgia, too.  One study supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is trying to identify if certain genes predispose some people to fibromyalgia.

Syndrome

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome rather than a disease.  Unlike a disease, which is a medical condition with a specific cause or causes and recognizable signs and symptoms, a syndrome is a collection of signs, symptoms, and medical problems that tend to occur together but are not related to a specific, identifiable cause.

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a common and chronic disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points.  Fibromyalgia—A chronic syndrome that causes pain and stiffness throughout the connective tissues that support and move the bones and joints.

Psychological

There is common agreement that patients with fibromyalgia very often experience anxiety and depression.  They also have in common a muddled history full of claims that the patients’ psychological status is to be blamed. Psychological input is worth considering in cases of Fibromyalgia, since Fibromyalgia is biobehavioural in nature.  Psychological disregulation is discussed and hypothesised to cause but also later in the process parallel alterations in somatic homeostatic functions. 

Moreover, considerable debate continues about whether fibromyalgia is even a distinct syndrome or is instead a collection of painful conditions with overlapping features.  A core concept, "unprotected self," mirroring childhood conditions and adult psychological functioning, was identified.  Like other chronic painful conditions, fibromyalgia may be associated with a significant amount of psychological distress.  ** The Mind-Body Connection ** Health care professionals are learning that the physical aspects of chronic pain conditions such as FMS cannot be effectively understood without consideration of the associated emotional and environmental factors.

Conclusion

Summing it up, the history of FM has been colored by false accusations that this syndrome is none other than a problem of stress, anxiety or depression.  So often FM patients are labeled as having a stress-related sleep disorder — once again implying that stress is at the root of their problems.  Preliminary results showed that people with fibromyalgia had significantly more memory problems than adults their same age and similar to those 20 to 30 years older.  Regardless of these opinions, fibromyalgia can be considered a syndrome rather than a disease as its signs, symptoms, and medical problems are sporadic and not related to a single, identifiable cause.  

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