Fibromyalgia and Me

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ME sufferer David Christie (15) has to spend 19 hours a day in bed. His mum, Antoinette, talks to Gráinne McCarry.

“As a young boy, David was involved in everything. He was a scout and he loved trampolining and horse riding. He would have played any sport and he was an Irish national champion in ju-jitzu in 2002. He was no different from any other wee boy. He was always outdoors and he never gave me any trouble. He got involved in everything that was going. He was such a thoughtful child — a wee gentleman.

His sickness began when he developed a rash in February 2003 at the age of 10. The dermatologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Belfast had never seen it before. He took photographs and a biopsy and diagnosed David with the skin condition pleva, which is caused by a viral infection. He was given cream for it and still attends the dermatologist to this day about it.

The following year, David began St Mary’s Grammar School. He was so alive and full of energy and he used to walk six miles every day to school and back. Then, all of a sudden he started to lose his energy and we had to give him a lift to the school gate because he wasn’t fit to walk it.

When his condition deteriorated, he didn’t have the energy to walk from the gates up the steep hill into school. We got a special pass from the principal to drive to the school gates. Then, it got to the stage where he couldn’t manage school at all.

After six and a half months of his first year there we had to take him out of school. He wasn’t fit to attend.

He was complaining of chest pains, nausea, fatigue and a general feeling of unwellness. For a long time, we didn’t know what was wrong with him. He was diagnosed with ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) in October 2005.”

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If you know that you have fibromyalgia, it’s important to find the right fibromyalgia treatment options for you. Here are some treatment options that you should discuss with your doctor in order to improve your health.

Fibromyalgia, also known as soft tissue rheumatism,non-articular rheumatism and fibrositis, is a condition that affects tendons, muscles and ligaments. It is a very common disease that gives rise to a widespread pain in all joints that connect the bones. Fibromyalgia sufferers are therefore subject to regular chronic fatigue and sleep trouble as a result of swelling of joints and tissues or pain . These people are so much affected by this condition so the researchers in the medical community have searched for the cause of this problem but have not found the source of the problem.

Fibromyalgia affects about 6 million people in the United States. This represents five percent of the US population . Such a condition produces intense pain throughout the body of the victim of this awful syndrome and the risk of having fibromyalgia also increases with age. Fibromyalgia symptoms are very similar to arthritis except there are no outward signs such as swollen joints.

The symptoms of fibromyalgia can also be reduced when heat is applied. It also helps in relaxing stressed muscles and reducing pain or swelling. Taking a hot shower or applying hot compress or can give patients temporary relief from widespread pain. While fibromyalgia can affect the lives of the patients significantly but an early fibromyalgia treatment can enable some patients lead a healthy and normal life.

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This seems to be a burning question for millions of Americans who are affected by this chronic disease. Before you learn the answer to that question, you need to understand what this disease is all about.

Fibromyalgia Syndrome Explained

According to the American College of Rheumatology the fibromyalgia syndrome is characterized by two main symptoms. The first symptom would be accentuated pain all over the body continuously for more than three months and the second would be localized and sharp pain in minimum 10 to 20 points anywhere in your body.

Other symptoms of the fibromyalgia syndrome that you may find with this disease are chronic fatigue, sleeping problems, tingling sensation in legs, hands and face, constant headaches, stomach ache often combined with either diarrhea or constipation.  Some people also experience a burning sensation in their muscles. Yet others may complain about blurred vision, pain in the heels and even hearing problems.

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To date, there is no identified cause or cure for fibromyalgia. This syndrome consists of a cluster of symptoms including moderate to intense pain in trigger points on the body, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, depression,lowered immune system, inability to concentrate, anxiety, and peripheral neuropathy – a condition that causes burning ,aching and twitches in the hands and feet. For most patients,medications for fibromyalgia do bring about symptom relief . A few times the only way to determine if a medication will help relieve fibromyalgia symptoms is by trial and error by the treating physician. If it works, then use it! but if it does not, try something else until symptom relief is obtained.

Through years of experimentation, the best fibromyalgia medication has been fairly standardized. A few medicines are considered as mainstream treatments, and some are still very hotly debated. Normally,the last word rests with the patient unless a certain medication is contraindicated due to drug interactions and drugs that may provide temporary relief but actually harm the patient in the long run.

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Q: I am a doctor returning to Anderson. I have worked with patients and had a family member with fibromyalgia. I noticed your column about fibromyalgia. Could you recommend a local support group where I could speak? — Dr. K.B., Anderson

A: The Upstate does not advertise local support groups for fibromyalgia. From what I’ve discovered, the majority of support groups are developed, organized and operated by individuals as part of larger national organizations. Dr. Robert Schwartz at St. Francis Hospital in Greenville has provided a support group that met on the third Thursday of each month. The last posted meeting was in December 2007.

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The factors of risk that are considered to facilitate the occurrence and the development of fibromyalgia are stress, depression, inadequate sleeping patterns, inappropriate diet and unhealthy lifestyle.

Although many people who are exposed to all of these factors of risk don’t develop neurological conditions, statistics indicate that all patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia have suffered from depression at certain stages of their lives and many of them have developed the disorder on the premises of insomnia, unhealthy lifestyle and inappropriate diet.

So exactly how important is a good fibromyalgia diet?

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“You are looking better than before” is a typical statement made to compliment someone. It may even be used as a form of reassurance. However, this may create a dilemma especially when it is said to somebody who is experiencing pain of fibromyalgia silently.

Often fibromyalgia patients suffer silently as others simply fail to decode their pain. There are of course certain other conditions like premenstrual syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome and posttraumatic stress disorder, which can also be considered as invisible disability disorder like fibromyalgia.

The Visible Form of Fibromyalgia

The visible form of fibromyalgia disability is on the rise. Compared to earlier times, fibromyalgia disability is now better understood with an increased awareness regarding the prevalence of the complication.

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Nov. 30, 2006 — There is now “overwhelming” scientific evidence showing that fibromyalgia and related chronic pain conditions are real, but their clinical management leaves much to be desired.

That is the conclusion of two researchers from the University of Michigan who have studied fibromyalgia for several years.

Because there has been no obvious physiological cause for the pain disorder, doctors still routinely dismiss fibromyalgia as being “in a patient’s head.”

But after reviewing the research, Richard E. Harris, PhD, and Daniel J. Clauw, MD, write that it is increasingly clear that fibromyalgia is a central nervous system disorder and that patients experience hypersensitivity to pain. There also appears to be a fairly strong genetic component to fibromyalgia and related conditions.

“It is time for us to move past the rhetoric about whether these conditions are real, and take these patients seriously as we endeavor to learn more about the causes and most effective treatments for these disorders,” Harris and Clauw write in the December issue of the journal Current Pain and Headache Reports.

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Cognitive behaviour therapy is effective in treating the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a recent systematic review carried out by Cochrane Researchers.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a potentially long-lasting illness that can cause considerable distress and disability. Some estimates suggest it may affect as many as 1 in 100 of the population globally. There is no widely accepted explanation for the disease and patients are currently offered a variety of different treatments.

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