I will try to put this in simple terms so that it is easy to understand....
Fibromyalgia, (technially not a disease, but a syndrome) is a widespread musculoskeletal pain disorder. It used to be called Fibrositis meaning inflammation in the muscles although research later proved there was no inflammation present in Fibromyalgia patients. Actually it is a neurotransmitter dysfunction. Neurotransmitters are used by your brain to tell your body what to do. Pain is present in your muscles, tendons, connective tissue and a lot of times your whole body. It strikes mostly women between the ages of 20 and 50. Patients with FM have three times more substance P in their spinal fluid. At this point unfortunately medical science does not have a full understanding of the underlying abnormalties.
Symptoms
Muscular pain...
This is the main symptom of Fibromyalgia. People describe it as throbbing, burning, stabbing, shooting, etc. The pain is present on both sides of the body. Sometimes stiffness can be worse in the morning. Most of the time you feel as though you have the flu all over.
Insomnia...
When you are asleep the body does it's repair work and chemical replenishing. In other words it mends itself. Most FM patients do not go into the Delta 4 sleep stage.
Approximatly 96% of patients report chronic fatigue. In some cases people with FM are up all night due to the pain. This of course causes fatigue which in turn makes your muscles worse.
Other Symptoms...
Headaches**Irritible bowl syndrome**Dizziness**Irritible bladder**Sensitivity to cold**Memory loss**Inability to concentrate** and many more. Symptoms tend to differ on some patients.
What makes symptoms worse...
Stress
Fatigue
Change in weather
Over exerting yourself
Diagnosis
Fibromyalgia does not show up in blood test or on x-rays. Initially this led many doctors to believe that "It's all in your head" They thought it was a mental problem and you needed to see a psychaitrist. Many doctors still feel this way. As of now to diagnose Fibromyalgia doctors have to go by the tender points. There are approximately 75 more tender points that exists throughout your body, although they are not used for diagnosis. If you have pain in at least 11 of these 18 tender points it is very possibe you may have Fibromyalgia.
