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Fibromyalgia is a syndrome, meaning it's a collection of symptoms, the chief of which is widespread pain. But it's not just pain, it's many symptoms.
A symptom is something that only you experience. Symptoms cannot be measured by a doctor. There is no objective measurement for pain. Only you know how much and where you hurt.
Fibromyalgia is a "diagnosis of exclusion." This means everything else that might cause the symptoms must be ruled out before a diagnosis of fibromyalgia is made. Typically, doctors will rule out conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis through blood tests.
Sometimes the test results can be unclear. Many patients say their lupus test was positive, only to have the follow-up be negative. This often happens for rheumatoid arthritis as well.
Once the tests are completed, most patients are referred to a rheumatologist, who will perform the only medical test currently available for fibromyalgia: the pressing on 18 potential tender points on the back. If 11 of them are tender, and one has had widespread pain for more than 3 months, the rheumatologist will diagnosis fibromyalgia.
This seems simple and easy, doesn't it? For a few it is, but for most the journey to diagnosis is a rocky and perilous road. When their doctors can't find anything wrong with them to explain their symptoms, many sufferers are told "it's all in your head," or some such similar insensitive nonsense. You wouldn't believe the stories I've heard!
Many are told they feel so bad because they are "depressed." Some are called liars or fakers. Many MDs tell their hurting patients they don't "believe" in fibromyalgia, as if it were a religion.
The general public, too, is largely ignorant about fibromyalgia and can be very insensitive, if not downright rude. My wife overheard a conversation in a beauty salon where one woman told another that she felt a mutual acquaintance of theirs, a male, should leave his wife because the wife's fibromyalgia was "holding him down." Can you believe it?
But I digress…
The most common symptoms of fibromyalgia are:
A long list, I know. No patient has all these symptoms but some come close.
Keep in mind that some of these symptoms can be caused by other medical problems. How would someone know if a symptom was related to their fibromyalgia or not? Simple. If their doctor can find a cause for the symptom, it's not fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is symptoms that have NO medical cause.
Fibromyalgia can make other conditions that cause pain seem worse. For example, consider bulging or herniated spinal discs. Without fibromyalgia, the disc will cause some pain now and then. But WITH fibromyalgia, it will probably hurt quite a bit.
Fibromyalgia "sits" on top of other conditions that cause pain and amplifies it 10 times or more.
No one knows what causes fibromyalgia, or, in other words, why one person gets it but another person with similar life experiences doesn't. 9 out of 10 fibromyalgia sufferers are women. It does tend to run in families so there could be some genetic component but we don't really know for sure. It would be good to know, but knowing why won't change anything for the person who has it. What they need to know is how to get rid of it.
We do know that some type of stress usually precedes the onset of fibromyalgia in most people. It can be an acute stress, like an accident, a surgery, an injury, or a severe viral or bacterial illness. Or it could initiated by chronic stress, such as prolonged marital or financial difficulties, or severe job stress, etc.
While no one knows what causes fibromyalgia, we (or at least some of us) know what causes the symptoms of fibromyalgia. There's a difference. A BIG difference. One cannot undo what has been done-the stress, injury, accident, etc.-but one can get rid of what's causing the symptoms, in most cases.
Click on the Fibromyalgia Treatment link to learn how we get rid of what causes the symptoms of fibromyalgia…
A symptom is something that only you experience. Symptoms cannot be measured by a doctor. There is no objective measurement for pain. Only you know how much and where you hurt.
Fibromyalgia is a "diagnosis of exclusion." This means everything else that might cause the symptoms must be ruled out before a diagnosis of fibromyalgia is made. Typically, doctors will rule out conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis through blood tests.
Sometimes the test results can be unclear. Many patients say their lupus test was positive, only to have the follow-up be negative. This often happens for rheumatoid arthritis as well.
Once the tests are completed, most patients are referred to a rheumatologist, who will perform the only medical test currently available for fibromyalgia: the pressing on 18 potential tender points on the back. If 11 of them are tender, and one has had widespread pain for more than 3 months, the rheumatologist will diagnosis fibromyalgia.
This seems simple and easy, doesn't it? For a few it is, but for most the journey to diagnosis is a rocky and perilous road. When their doctors can't find anything wrong with them to explain their symptoms, many sufferers are told "it's all in your head," or some such similar insensitive nonsense. You wouldn't believe the stories I've heard!
Many are told they feel so bad because they are "depressed." Some are called liars or fakers. Many MDs tell their hurting patients they don't "believe" in fibromyalgia, as if it were a religion.
The general public, too, is largely ignorant about fibromyalgia and can be very insensitive, if not downright rude. My wife overheard a conversation in a beauty salon where one woman told another that she felt a mutual acquaintance of theirs, a male, should leave his wife because the wife's fibromyalgia was "holding him down." Can you believe it?
But I digress…
The most common symptoms of fibromyalgia are:
- Widespread pain
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Numbness or tingling of the hands and/or feet
- Sensation of swelling in the hands and/or feet
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Past history of menstrual difficulties
- Female urethral syndrome (frequent urination)
- Cognitive dysfunction; i.e., "brain-" or "fibro-fog"
- Inability to control body temperature; i.e., cold hands and/or feet
- Restless leg syndrome
- Dry eyes, mouth, skin, and hair
- Gastric reflux (heartburn)
A long list, I know. No patient has all these symptoms but some come close.
Keep in mind that some of these symptoms can be caused by other medical problems. How would someone know if a symptom was related to their fibromyalgia or not? Simple. If their doctor can find a cause for the symptom, it's not fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is symptoms that have NO medical cause.
Fibromyalgia can make other conditions that cause pain seem worse. For example, consider bulging or herniated spinal discs. Without fibromyalgia, the disc will cause some pain now and then. But WITH fibromyalgia, it will probably hurt quite a bit.
Fibromyalgia "sits" on top of other conditions that cause pain and amplifies it 10 times or more.
No one knows what causes fibromyalgia, or, in other words, why one person gets it but another person with similar life experiences doesn't. 9 out of 10 fibromyalgia sufferers are women. It does tend to run in families so there could be some genetic component but we don't really know for sure. It would be good to know, but knowing why won't change anything for the person who has it. What they need to know is how to get rid of it.
We do know that some type of stress usually precedes the onset of fibromyalgia in most people. It can be an acute stress, like an accident, a surgery, an injury, or a severe viral or bacterial illness. Or it could initiated by chronic stress, such as prolonged marital or financial difficulties, or severe job stress, etc.
While no one knows what causes fibromyalgia, we (or at least some of us) know what causes the symptoms of fibromyalgia. There's a difference. A BIG difference. One cannot undo what has been done-the stress, injury, accident, etc.-but one can get rid of what's causing the symptoms, in most cases.
Click on the Fibromyalgia Treatment link to learn how we get rid of what causes the symptoms of fibromyalgia…
Fibromyalgia Relief Center
1101 Sylvan Avenue
Suite B-12
Modesto, CA 95350
(209) 576-0898
Office@FibroReliefCenter.com
Blog
1101 Sylvan Avenue
Suite B-12
Modesto, CA 95350
(209) 576-0898
Office@FibroReliefCenter.com
Blog
