You can’t physically see Fibromyalgia, the depilating chronic disorder that has taken on a life of its own, inhabiting your body and staying like an unwelcome guest, and when you complain about the many different ways that it has affected your life others often think that you are making up ailments. You may even start believing that it is all in your head despite the fact that you are having regular symptoms that mimic a chronic case of the flu that never goes away. Fibromyalgia is somewhat of a mystery that has begun taking over many people’s lives in the last decade like a forest fire blazing out of control. The sufferers of Fibromyalgia usually get their first indication that something is definitely wrong when they begin to wake up stiff and sore on a regular basis. Hobbling to the bathroom to ease some of the pain in a hot shower temporarily relieves the symptoms, but by midday the soreness is showing itself once again, leaving a person feeling completely drained.
Doctors are often left scratching their head when sufferers of Fibromyalgia complain about sleep troubles, muscle pain, chronic fatigue, burning pain in various locations throughout the body, and numbness and tingling in the feet or hands. Quite often it is dismissed as stress, but if you have ever been truly stressed out, you know that the doctor is dead wrong. True, the memory loss, headaches, and muscle pain could easily be explained away as stress, but then there are the other ailments that afflict Fibromyalgia sufferers, like sensitivity to some smells, blurry vision, painful periods, temperature sensitivity, the shakes, and legs that ache so bad you feel like a better option would simply be to just cut them off.
Luckily there is therapy to help Fibromyalgia sufferers to better deal with this chronic disorder once it has been confirmed that this is the underlying cause to your many complaints and ailments. The “tender point” exam is the standard method used in diagnosing the syndrome. The examiner will check several areas of your body to check for muscle discomfort, and yes the exam is very uncomfortable, but it is a necessary tool in establishing whether or not you are truly afflicted with Fibromyalgia. There are 18 different tender points that will be looked at. Having the majority of these testing positive for pain, along with a blood test, will either rule out Fibromyalgia or give you a solid answer as to what is going on inside of your body. Small doses of antidepressants like tricyclic are normally prescribed to relieve pain and improve sleep, and are normally taken at bed time.
Physical therapy that includes water exercises, low impact aerobics, stationary cross country ski machines, cycling, yoga and stretching, and heat applied to aching muscles along with an antidepressant gives Fibromyalgia sufferers the maximum relief that they can hope for. Therapy will by no means cure Fibromyalgia, but it will help you to better cope with, endure and understand the chronic disorder in a much better light. Many times Fibromyalgia can be associated with other systemic rheumatic conditions which refer to diseases that can cause inflammation and damage to numerous different tissues and organs in the body. Systemic rheumatic conditions associated with fibromyalgia include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, and polymyalgia rheumatica. To find a rheumatologist in your area go to http://www.rheumatology.org/directory/geo.asp?aud=pat.
The first step that you should take if you have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia or if you think you may have it is to consult a rheumatologist who specializes in bone, joint, and muscle disorders. Get a “tender point” examination as there are currently no lab tests to confirm this chronic disorder. The doctor will ask about your symptoms, and with the exam can easily decide your diagnoses. Sufferers may also consider joining a support group with people who are dealing with the same issues everyday. You may even learn something new through talking to others that have Fibromyalgia. To find a support group in your area got to http://fmaware.org/.
