Fibromyalgia Fighter

  

I am a Fibromyalgia Fighter.  It is real...it hurts and changes your life forever.  You lose friends and you can lose yourself if you are not careful.  There are days in a Fibro Fog that you say things that you don't mean and people don't understand what happens.  I have found that it is better to stay away from people so that I don't hurt them.  I live a solitary life because of Fibromyalgia.  I'm blessed with a wonderful husband that understands, children that try and parents that love me no matter what. 

What is Fibromyalgia?
by Winnie Yu

Fibromyalgia is a medical syndrome characterized by widespread pain, sleep disturbance, tender points around the body, and a host of other symptoms that range from irritable bowel syndrome to depression. It is a baffling condition and one that is hard to diagnose, commonly misdiagnosed, and difficult to treat. The cause remains a mystery, a cure elusive.

Symptoms vary widely and can change from day to day for individual patients. Most people are able to live with the disease by treating the symptoms. But in some cases, fibromyalgia can be downright debilitating. Some people have given up jobs, abandoned hobbies, and lost relationships because of fibromyalgia.

For years, people questioned whether fibromyalgia actually existed. Even today, there are skeptics who wonder whether the syndrome is real, despite the fact that millions of people suffer from these symptoms. But modern medical research has demonstrated in recent decades that fibromyalgia is very real and that people who have it have Fibromyalgia Defined measurable differences of chemicals and substances in their bodies. These substances are associated with a hypersensitivity to pain.

Like headaches, fibromyalgia may be a symptom complex, with a number of possible causes. Just as headaches can be caused by sinus infections, migraines, muscle tension, or tumors, fibromyalgia may be associated with a neck injury, infections, stress, genetics, or compression of the upper spinal cord. Since each cause may require its own unique treatments, what works for one FMS patient may not work for others.

Confirming you have fibromyalgia is the first part of the struggle. Achieving relief from it is the next big challenge — and an ongoing one. These days, most people manage fibromyalgia with a host of different treatments that may include medications, diet and exercise, physical therapy, and alternative medicine. Efforts to restore sleep and alleviate depression have become routine therapies for fibromyalgia, too. Like the symptoms themselves, the treatment regimen varies, depending on the patient.

The key to living well with fibromyalgia is knowledge. Knowing as much as you can about this condition can help you minimize pain, improve sleep, and develop coping strategies that lessen the toll of fibro on every front. It will also enable you to better manage your fibromyalgia and help you continue to live a rewarding and independent life.

Fact: In the early twentieth century, doctors called fibromyalgia “fibrositis.” The term comes from the Latin roots for muscle (fibro) and inflammation (itis). But over time, doctors came to realize that fibrositis was inaccurate because the condition didn't involve any inflammation. It wasn't until the late 1970s that the term “fibromyalgia” was used. The word blends the Latin term for fibrous tissue (fibro) with the Greek terms for muscle (myo) and pain (algia), and is much more accurate.

 

Fibromyalgia Symptoms:

General Fibromyalgia Symptoms By 

Muscle & Tissue-Related Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Sinus & Allergy-Related Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Sleep-Related Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Reproductive Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Abdominal & Digestive Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Cognitive/Neurological Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Sensory Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Emotional Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Heart-Related Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Skin, Hair & Nail-Related Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Miscellaneous Fibromyalgia Symptoms

 

  Fibro Fog by Suzanne Levy

Fibromyalgia patients often experience a loss of mental clarity and problems with memory. Dubbed "fibro fog," this side effect of the syndrome can have a significant impact on patients' lives.

A blight on the life of the fibro patient
Others describe it as having a ping-pong ball loose in your brain, trying to land on the right words to say. It could be as simple as constantly losing things or transposing phone numbers. But fibro fog can seriously affect people's quality of life. For example: Lynne Matallana, co-founder and president of the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA), found that her fibro fog made it dangerous for her to drive. She had difficulty concentrating and felt less aware of her surroundings. Once she found herself running a red light. "It can be totally incapacitating," says Matallana, 53, of Anaheim, Calif. "It's not just being unable to come up with a word quickly, it's a very, very serious part of this disease."

In the past five years, physicians have been taking fibro fog more seriously, according to Daniel Clauw, MD, director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Research has shown that sufferers annually lose more than three times as much "gray matter" brain tissue than healthy, age-matched controls. And some of that loss occurs in areas of the brain that are involved in memory and concentration, says Patrick Wood, MD, a senior medical adviser to the NFA and one of the coauthors of the 2007 study.

Matallana has discovered that being overstimulated makes things far worse. "I know I get it a lot when I'm in a situation where there are a lot of fluorescent lights or a lot of background noise. Or if I haven't gotten a good night's sleep or I'm feeling more pain. All of these things mean I can have a hard time focusing on the things that are important." She finds that by avoiding such conditions, she can manage her fog and make sure it doesn't excessively impact her life

4 steps to beating Fibro Fog  Health.com article

 

What Fibromyalgia Feels like:
by Winnie Yu

You'll Feel Pain: Deep muscular aches. Sharp, shooting pains. Throbbing sensations. Those are just a few ways that fibromyalgia patients describe the chronic widespread pain that is the most common and persistent feature of fibromyalgia. Virtually all fibro patients experience some type of pain every single day. The severity of the pain can vary, depending on the weather, your stress and activity levels, and how well you've been sleeping.

Essential: For some people with fibromyalgia, everything is irritating. Ordinary lights hurt their eyes. Silk sheets irritate their skin. The hum of a car engine makes them edgy. Chalk it up to more symptoms of fibromyalgia. Some people who have FMS become hypersensitive to the sounds, smells, and sensations around them. This condition is called allodynia, which occurs when normally bearable sensations become painful ones. Interestingly, in FMS, allodynia can affect all five senses.

The pain-sensing part of a fibro patient's nervous system has been made hypersensitive. Doctors measure this by pressing on what are known as “tender points,” spots scattered around your body that they use to monitor your pain sensitivity. When another person presses on these tender points — using enough force to whiten the thumbnail — you feel pain. In fibromyalgia, there are eighteen symmetrically positioned tender points that have been identified to help diagnose the disease. If more than eleven of them are tender, you qualify for a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

You'll Feel Tired: We all have days when our energy levels are low. But in people who have fibromyalgia, the fatigue is extreme and can be physical, mental, or, most commonly, both. The fatigue in fibro is mind numbing, debilitating, and exhausting. It can make it hard for you to prepare a meal, do simple chores, or perform your job. This overwhelming weariness can make you listless and unable to exercise. In some cases, you may simply feel chronic exhaustion. Approximately 90 percent of people who have fibromyalgia experience fatigue.

You Might Feel Confused: Everyone has momentary lapses in memory, problems concentrating, and difficulties recalling the right word. But in people who have fibromyalgia, these cognitive challenges become more frequent, and you may develop what is commonly called fibro fog.

Fibro fog can result in numerous challenges. You may become absentminded, forgetful, and easily confused. Everyday objects get misplaced and turn up in strange places. Following simple directions becomes a major effort. Concentrating on a task feels like a Herculean effort. In fact, this may be a form of fatigue as well. Just as your muscles run out of energy too quickly in FMS, so can your brain cells. When they run out of energy, they don't work well anymore. It may also be a side effect of some medications used to treat fibro.

You'll Feel Sad, Maybe Anxious: People who have fibromyalgia often report feeling sad, and some may experience clinical depression. Approximately 30 percent of people with fibromyalgia are clinically depressed at any point in time. The constant pain, lack of sleep, and the struggle to pin down a diagnosis or get relief is enough to sadden even the most buoyant spirits. It is often the lack of hope and feelings of helplessness that trigger the descent into depression.

Depression can have serious ramifications, especially for people with chronic conditions that require vigilance and constant self-care. A depressed person is less likely to exercise and take her medications, and may even begin abusing drugs or alcohol. The lack of self-care can lead to a vicious cycle of despair that ultimately worsens your symptoms.