Few medical conditions out there raise as many questions as fibromyalgia.
Mysterious and downright confusing even for the world’s leading researchers, this syndrome does not seem to allow itself to be elucidated completely.
Of course, there are many other medical conditions out there that are very mysterious too, but fibromyalgia is definitely among the top ones and it can really alter one’s life to the point where daily activities are a terrible chore.
Fibromyalgia and What We Know about It
In fact, there are very few things that can be explained about fibromyalgia. We know for sure that it does exist (even if many medical specialists still refuse to accept this).
It is estimated that around 5-5.5 million people in the U.S only have been diagnosed with this syndrome and that there are many more in the world too.
Fibromyalgia’s main symptom is widespread pain. However, it is not a kind of pain that can be properly explained in any way.
Even more than that, there are a lot of adjacent symptoms that appear with fibromyalgia as well and they are all life-altering. From swelling, arthritis, joint pain, jaw sensitivity, light sensitivity, food sensitivity and bladder issues to cognitive issues (such as short-term memory problems) and problems related to the bowels, to the sleeping patterns and to headaches, the array of symptoms fibromyalgia can cover can really be overwhelming.
Under these circumstances, it is no wonder that people have been misdiagnosing this syndrome for such a long time now. From being diagnosed as a physical form of depression to being diagnosed as arthritis and lupus, fibromyalgia has really been through a lot of stages.
Even today, when so many people have come out to speak about their fibromyalgia, there are medics that still don’t believe the syndrome exists.
It can be difficult, indeed, to know when a person says that they are in pain and to not be able to offer a logical explanation for it. The causes for fibromyalgia have been long discussed and researched, but up to the moment there is no clear answer.
Genetics may play a very important role in the way the syndrome develops and there are two main things that have led researchers to believe this. The first one is related to the fact that most of the people born in families where fibromyalgia is present also develop it too. And the second reason that led scientists to believe this is related to the presence of certain genes that alter the way in which a person perceives pain.
In addition to the genetics-related cause theory, there are many who sustain that fibromyalgia does not actually happen in the muscles or in the other parts of the body, but in the brain itself.
Apparently, according to these researchers, people with fibromyalgia have issues with perceiving pain at its real level because the neurotransmitters responsible with this in their body are overly sensitive.
Depression, stress, anxiety, poor eating, poor sleeping – there are many other things specialists in this field have been considering among fibromyalgia’s causes, but the truth is that making the difference between cause and symptom and between cause and risk factor is really difficult in this case.
Which Are the Main Things to Know about the Fibromyalgia Treatment?
As you can see, there is little to know (in the actual sense of the word) when it comes to fibromyalgia. It can be really hard to put a diagnosis and to create proper treatment for a medical condition that is as enigmatic as this one, but even so, there are several things that can be done to make one’s life better even when living with fibromyalgia. Which are the main things to know about this? Read on and find out more.
1- First and foremost, accept the fact that there is no cure for fibromyalgia (not at the moment). The treatment you will receive will be symptomatic, which means that it will treat the symptoms separately and not the actual cause. Of course, research is being done every single day and soon enough they may be able to find an answer to the big question behind this syndrome, but until then, keep yourself positive and do your best when it comes to following your doctor’s recommendations.
2- Fibromyalgia treatment is difficult to explain. The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. has indeed approved 3 types of drugs that can be considered to be very effective in treating this syndrome’s symptoms, but the truth is that they haven’t yet been able to explain what exactly makes these drugs work.
Two of the drugs approved by the FDA are anti-depressants in nature (Cymbalta and Savella – and only the latter one has been created from the very beginning for treating fibromyalgia). The other one (Lyrica) was originally conceived to treat nerve pain caused by diabetes, seizures and other conditions, but it was later on found out that it can be efficient in treating fibromyalgia too.
3- Before settling on one type of drug, you should make sure that its adverse effects are not too much to handle for you. For example, Savella can cause insomnia and if that is already one of the symptoms you are experiencing, you may not want to increase its levels even more.
Talk to your doctor, inform yourself on the adverse effects of each type of medication and see exactly which one would be best for you (and would cause adverse effects you could cope with).
4- Be open to alternative therapies too. Many people have chosen to take on Yoga, Tai Chi, acupuncture and other similar practices and they claim that it has helped them manage their symptoms much better. If you are skeptical about these Eastern practices, then try deep tissue laser therapy. One session only lasts for about 5-10 minutes and it can show some immediate results.
5- Keep in mind that you can do all of the things describe above, but if you don’t make any change in your lifestyle, you will continue to feel bad. Eat right, exercise (as lightly as possible) and live a generally healthy life. And, above all, be optimistic! The last thing you need in your life right now is negative thinking!
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