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Although more than six thousand studies have now illuminated the processes in the body that cause fibromyalgia and provided effective options for treatment, many physicians still don’t understand it well enough to assist their patients
In 2002 a groundbreaking study showed abnormalities in how the brain processes pain in fibromyalgia
stress (or danger) response that has gone haywire and is constantly on red alert, leading to a chain reaction that results in fatigue, brain fog, and muscle pain.
fibromyalgia is also an orphan disease that is not claimed by a specialty and instead awkwardly straddles the fields of rheumatology, neurology, and sleep and pain medicine.
I frequently felt stiff, weak, and lightheaded. It was as if all the energy of my body and mind had been sucked out.
exercise made me feel worse.
I kept trying new regimens, only to stop after injuring myself.
The combination of improving sleep quality with medication, avoiding inflammation-producing foods, and myofascial release treatments got me through
the fascia was the source of fibromyalgia pain,
Most patients first seek medical guidance for persistent pain or fatigue, but they may also experience irritable bowel and bladder symptoms, low blood pressure, dizziness on standing, poor balance, frequent headaches, numbness or tingling in hands or feet, and sensitivity to loud noises. All of these symptoms can be tied in one way or another to dysfunction in the stress response.
fibromyalgia is not even considered a disease; it is still referred to in the medical literature as a syndrome: a collection of signs, symptoms, and medical problems that tend to occur together but are not related to a specific, identifiable cause.
So in 2010 a different team of rheumatologists developed another diagnostic tool (Wolfe 2011) that no longer requires a tender point exam.
widespread pain in specific areas of the body and moderate to severe symptoms of fatigue, waking unrefreshed from sleep, and cognitive dysfunction.
It is this overactive immune response, not a viral infection, that leads to fatigue, low-grade fevers, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes. Fibromyalgia, on the other hand, usually has a gradual onset, and is not associated with fevers, sore throats, or lymph node swelling.
