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Understanding fibromyalgia

      Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder of the muscle and skeleton system characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and multiple tender points.  “Tender points” refers to tenderness occurring in localized areas such as neck, spine, shoulders and hips.

        It is a very dangerous condition because it is difficult to be diagnosed and is thus susceptible for wrong diagnosis.

        It affects 3%- 10% of the population and is more common in women than men.  It is common in women aged between 20 and 50years.

      Ninety percent of fibromyalgia patients suffer with severe fatigue or a sleep disorder.

      There are psychological as well as physical aspects associated with fibromyalgia.

        Fibromyalgia can occur as a primary syndrome characterized by muscular pain or as a secondary syndrome to other rheumatic diseases. It is possible to have fibromyalgia syndrome as well as another rheumatic disease.

 Symptoms

Firstly, it is important to know that not all patients have the same symptoms.  Patients can have one or more of the following symptoms.  

      The defining symptoms include chronic, widespread pain and tenderness even to light touch. 

      Other symptoms are fatigue, needle-like tingling of the skin, muscle aches, prolonged muscle spasms, weakness in limbs, chronic sleep disturbances

      Patients also face psychological problems such as anxiety, depression symptoms, decreased attention span and impaired concentration.

      Patient can also experience eye related problems like blurred vision, eye pain, fluctuating visual clarity and general eye pain.

However, this disorder does not cause inflammation which is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis. 

Symptoms have a slow onset and they are aggravated by unrelated illness or changes in whether.  Patients of fibromyalgia sometimes find that they are unable to perform some motor functions such as walking up the stairs or driving a car.

Causes

Since this a functional disorder, the exact cause is not known.  However, varies attempts have zeroed in a few possible causes.  It includes genetic predisposition, stress, sleep disturbance, dopamine abnormality and dysregulation of serotonin metabolism.

Treatment

Treatment of fibromyalgia requires a comprehensive approach.  It requires the active involvement of the physician, physical therapist and the patient as well. Medications include taking antidepressants, analgesics, benzodiazepines etc.  It is advisable to avoid pain killers as it results in bringing down the level of pain which is a superficial treatment to the disease.  Instead physical therapy helps in healing internally and copes with the disease.  Aerobic exercise such as swimming and walking are known to improve muscle fitness and reduce muscle pain and tenderness.  A few changes in the working pattern such as the duration and the intensity of work must be lesser.  Apart from this, healthy eating habits also help.  Patients can also go for massage therapies which give temporary relief to the patients.  Patients with fibromyalgia may benefit from a combination of exercise, medication, physical therapy, and relaxation.

The most difficult, yet the most important aspect of this disease is diagnosis which is often wrongly diagnosed or is not taken seriously by the patient or the family members.  This mainly occurs due to lack of knowledge about the disease.  It is hence important to get all the facts about the disease right so that treatment can be targeted in relieving the patient of pain.