Understanding Fibromyalgia

 

There is no doubt that living with a chronic illness isn’t one of life’s most exciting joys.  As a matter of fact, it can be one of the most trying experiences of a person’s life.  Take that frustration and compound it by about a million and you have something close to the problems a person with fibromyalgia is forced to deal with day in and day out.  This little understood disorder is difficult to diagnose, often misunderstood by the patient’s family and friends, and incredibly painful on top of all that.  Each patient is different, but the understanding the basics of this disease is vital in providing support to affected people.

• Fibromyalgia symptoms
• Causes of the disease
• Long term prognosis

One of the most difficult parts of trying to diagnosis fibromyalgia a doctor has to face is the wide variety of symptoms associated with the disorder.  There is no one set test to be performed that will give the health care professional a definitive answer.  It becomes a trial and error exercise that often leaves the patient and doctor very frustrated.  The general description of the symptoms of fibromyalgia includes chronic fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, and pain all over the body.  For each patient, the symptoms also vary in severity making the disease even harder to pinpoint.

It would be much simpler to treat and possibly cure fibromyalgia if doctors know exactly what causes it.  As it is, they only have possible theories to work with.  Some experts believe it may be a pain sensitivity in the brain that causes the brain to “over react” to stimulus of any kind.  There are also theories that support the idea that fibromyalgia is the result of an infection or illness.  In a nutshell, the medical jury is certainly still out on the causes of the fibromyalgia syndrome.

While it seems like there is only bad news in regards to fibromyalgia, at least patients can be comforted by the fact that the disease does not progress and isn’t fatal.  Everyday more research is done to find more effective ways to relieve pain and correct the sleep and chronic fatigue problems associated with this disorder.  By working closely with their doctor, fibromyalgia patients can often find a treatment plan that is effective with this disease.  With patience and understanding the life of a fibromyalgia patient can be comfortable and normal.  In the meantime, hard work is being done to understand it everyday.