Blog # 11 Chronic pain in women

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder rather than a disease. Fibromyalgia cause widespread pain, it can affect a person physically and mentally. An individual with Fibromyalgia suffers from different tender spots across the body and the body has a problem with processing pain.

Symptoms (Pain)

·         Widespread pain

·         Shooting and stabbing pain

·         Profound muscular discomfort

·         Numbness

·         Burning

·         Tingling

·         The pain and stiffness and so on can intensify in the morning

Symptoms (Fatigue)

·         Extreme exhaustion

·         Lack of Stamina

·         Fatigue that is associated with Fibromyalgia has no relation the tiredness a person would feel after a long day, it can affect the functionality of a person, it can interfere with how a person conduct daily activities.

Symptoms (Sleep)

·         Fibromyalgia can also interfere with an individual’s ability to fall into a deep restorative sleep. “During sleep, individuals with FM are constantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activity, limiting the amount of time they spend in deep sleep” (NFA, 2009).

Additional symptoms:

·         Individuals with FM will also experience, trouble remembering things and loss of concentration, dizziness, anxiety, sensitive skin, rashes and eye problems, ect,ect (NFA, 2009).

Prevalence

·         In the U.S. it affect approximately 10 million people and about 6 percent of the world’s population

·         It affects women 2- 3 times more than men, about 85 percent of women are affected by FM

·         Men and children of all ethnic background

·         It begins to develop in the adults between the ages of 20 -50

·         Incidents rises as people age by the age of 80, 8% of adults will be diagnosed with FM

·         Amongst families (mothers and their children)

Diagnoses

·         There are no known laboratory tests that can be conducted to diagnose a person with FM.

·         The only known way to decide if a person has FM is to do a full physical exam. The patient must meet the American College Rheumatology (ACR) criteria of FM symptoms, which are:

a)       Patient medical history

b)      Self-reported symptoms

c)       Widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for a minimum duration of three months (NFA, 2009).

d)      Tenderness or pain in at least 11 of the 18 specified tender points when pressure is applied (NFA, 2009).

However, Fibromyalgia can be hard to diagnose because its symptoms can be identical to those of other diseases.

What Causes Fibromyalgia?

·         There is no definitive cause for FM, but researchers have linked it to “Pain amplification due to abnormal sensory processing in the central nervous system (NFA, 2009).

·         Low levels of blood flow the thalamus region of the brain.

·         Some might be predisposed to it (genetics).

·         It might be cause by sickness or trauma to the body due to an accident.

How is Fibromyalgia treated?

·         Managing pain (Pharmaceuticals)

a)       Lyrica

b)      Cymbalta

c)       Savella

·         Sleep management

a)       Going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning

b)      Go to sleep in a quiet environment

c)       No caffeinated beverages or sugar before bed

d)      Try not to eat before bedtime