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Fibromyalgia seems to cause an almost endless series of complications. As if it weren’t enough that the condition causes fatigue, chronic pain, and trouble focusing, it also leads to things like chronic itching and frequent urination. But one of the most serious conditions that seem to go along with fibromyalgia has to be autoimmune diseases. Having fibromyalgia significantly increases your risk of developing autoimmune diseases like lupus. And those can lead to their own complications like hemolytic anemia.
Hemolytic anemia is a condition where the body’s immune system begins to destroy red blood cells, which can cause a variety of serious problems. So if you have fibromyalgia, it’s worth being concerned about. So, what exactly is this condition? Why does it seem to be linked to fibromyalgia? And what can you do to treat it?
What Is Hemolytic Anemia?
Hemolytic anemia is a complication of different autoimmune conditions. In an autoimmune condition, the body’s immune system begins to attack and destroy your own cells. The immune system works by producing cells called antibodies. These antibodies then begin to move through the blood stream identifying and destroying viruses, bacteria, and other foreign cells that make it inside your body.
After antibodies destroy one type of cell, they become conditioned to identify and destroy these cells immediately next time. This is why your body is able to acquire immunity to certain diseases after being exposed to them. But when you suffer from autoimmune condition, your cells instead turn this conditioning on your body’s own tissue. This conditioning then creates a cycle where your antibodies are constantly attacking your own body’s tissue. Over time, that leads to chronic inflammation and tissue destruction.
There are many different kinds of autoimmune disorders, like lupus or Sjogren’s syndrome based on where they target the body. But any of these conditions can also attack the blood cells. This destruction of the blood cells gradually leads to hemolytic anemia.
Blood cells play a vital role in moving oxygen around the body, so when they get destroyed, it sometimes leads to a number of symptoms. In many cases, particularly when the damage is occurring gradually, people with the condition display no symptoms at all. But over time, they may begin to notice symptoms like blood in the urine, pale skin, fatigue, dizziness, loss of breath, weight loss, abdominal pain, or even jaundice where the eyes and skin begin to yellow.
How Is It Linked To Fibromyalgia?
We know that having fibromyalgia makes you more likely to develop an autoimmune condition. We don’t know exactly why that is, though. It seems like fibromyalgia itself is not actually an autoimmune condition, as many people think.
People with fibromyalgia don’t have elevated levels of antibodies in the blood, which is common in autoimmune conditions. And people with fibromyalgia also don’t have the kind of systemic inflammation that most autoimmune conditions cause.
Instead, the answer may be psychological. We know that stress makes you more likely to develop autoimmune conditions. And it could be that the stress of fibromyalgia simply makes people more susceptible. Until we have more research on the subject, we have to speculate. But if you do have an autoimmune condition, it’s important to be aware of the risk of anemia.
How Can You Treat It?
If you display any of the symptoms of anemia, it’s important to see a doctor as soon as possible. A doctor can provide a diagnosis of anemia by taking a simple blood test to count the levels of red blood cells. Too few red blood cells indicate that the patient is suffering from anemia.
Treatment for the condition depends on identifying and treating the underlying cause of the condition. And for cases caused by autoimmune disease, there are two common methods of treatment.
The first is a blood transfusion. By introducing new blood to your system, doctors can quickly boost the levels of red blood cells in your body, reversing some of the symptoms. This is a temporary solution, as it doesn’t stop your body from destroying the new cells. That’s why doctors often turn to corticosteroids.
Corticosteroids are a type of hormone that your body naturally produces to fight inflammation. By giving you synthetic corticosteroids, doctors can help suppress the production of antibodies, which means there will be fewer antibodies attacking your blood cells.
Finally, in cases of severe anemia, doctors may need to remove the spleen. The spleen plays a role in destroying and recycling red blood cells. So by removing it, doctors can help boost the levels of blood cells.
So, what do you think? Have you had anemia as a result of an autoimmune condition? How do you think it’s related to fibromyalgia? Let us know in the comments.
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