Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS)

Signs and symptoms of Fibromyalgia can vary, depending on the weather, stress, physical activity or even the time of day:

• Widespread pain and tender points
• Aggravating factors that affect pain
• Tender points
• Fatigue and sleep disturbances

Can a Change in Climate Really Affect Your Fibromyalgia?

Many fibromyalgia patients claim that changes in the weather directly affect their symptoms.

Most fibromyalgia sufferers claim that they experience changes in:

• Fatigue

• Sleep patterns

• Headaches

• Muscle pain

• Number of symptom flare ups

Do colder temperatures and lower barometric pressures cause an increase in fibromyalgia symptoms?

Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate whether fibromyalgia symptoms are influenced by changes in the weather. Most of these studies have had surprising results.

How the Natural Elements like Fresh Air and the Sun Work Together to Provide Relief from Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Get out in the sun to relieve fibromyalgia, boost your immune system, and revitalize your system. Air is the most essential element needed to sustain life. The strength of the system is, in a great degree, dependent upon the amount of pure, fresh air breathed.

Many people who have Fibromyalgia may also have:

• Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

• Endometriosis

• Headaches

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

How a Doctor Might Determine if the Chronic Pain One Experiences is Fibromyalgia

 

The difficulty with diagnosing fibromyalgia is that, in most cases, laboratory testing appears normal and that many of the symptoms mimic those of other rheumatic conditions such as arthritis or osteoporosis.

The musculoskeletal pain and fatigue experienced by fibromyalgia patients are chronic problems that tend to have a waxing and waning intensity.

 

There is currently no generally accepted cure for this condition. According to recent research, most patients can expect to have this problem lifelong. However, worthwhile improvement may be obtained with appropriate treatment.

Although the causes of fibromyalgia are unknown, it most likely involves a variety of factors working together. These may include:

• Genetics - Because fibromyalgia tends to run in families, there may be certain genetic mutations that make you more susceptible to developing the disorder.

• Infections - Some illnesses appear to trigger or aggravate fibromyalgia.

• Physical or emotional trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to fibromyalgia.

Risk factors for fibromyalgia include sex, age, disturbed sleep patterns, family history and rheumatic disease.

• Fibromyalgia occurs more often in women than in men.

• Fibromyalgia tends to develop during early and middle adulthood. But it can also occur in children and older adults.

• It's unclear whether sleeping difficulties are a cause or a result of fibromyalgia. But people with sleep disorders — such as nighttime muscle spasms in the legs, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea — often have fibromyalgia.

• A person may be more likely to develop fibromyalgia if a relative also has the condition.

• If a person have a rheumatic disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, he may be more likely to develop fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).

As with many other medically unexplained syndromes, there is no known cure or universally accepted treatment for fibromyalgia, and treatment is typically aimed at symptom management.

Developments in the understanding of the pathophysiology of the disorder have led to improvements in treatment

 

A Gentle Therapy that is Especially Helpful for Fibromyalgia Sufferers

Due to its influence on the functioning of the central nervous system, Craniosacral Therapy benefits our body in a number of ways. It is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to Fibromyalgia and alleviate a wide range of specific medical conditions.

Deep Relaxation, Relieving Pain, Stress and Anxiety

Gentle traction to the spine that leads to an expansion in the body is the essence of the Jahara Technique. Through the Jahara’s ActivExercises™ you will be provided with self-treatment tools for pain management through which you will gain pain-free moments in your daily life. With gentle guiding hands while practicing proper postures, you will develop kinesthetic awareness of your body.

This form of therapy is very recommended for Fibromyalgia pain.

Applying hot stones on the body increases the temperature of the skin and muscle tissue to improve circulation and calm the nervous system. As a result, hot stone massages are deeply relaxing and act to re balance the body and mind.

Self-care is critical in the management of fibromyalgia. Implementing these changes in your life can reduce fibromyalgia symptoms:

• Reduce stress

• Practice good sleep habits

• Exercise

• Pace yourself

• Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Fibromyalgia is usually thought of as a fairly new illness, however, it may have actually existed for centuries

Although the term “fibromyalgia” was first coined in 1976, physicians have written about conditions resembling FM since the early 1800s.

 

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is now a recognized clinical entity causing chronic and disabling pain. For several centuries, muscle pains have been known as rheumatism and then as muscular rheumatism.

 

Many names have been applied to symptoms resembling those of fibromyalgia, including: fibrositis, psychogenic rheumatism and neurasthenia.

• The term fibrositis was coined by Gowers in 1904 and was not changed to fibromyalgia until 1976.

• Smythe laid the foundation of modern FMS in 1972 by describing widespread pain and tender points.

• The first sleep electroencephalogram study was performed in 1975.

• The first controlled clinical study with validation of known symptoms and tender points was published in 1981. This same study also proposed the first data-based criteria.

• The important concept that FMS and other similar conditions are interconnected was proposed in 1984.

• The first American College of Rheumatology criteria were published in 1990 and neurohormonal mechanisms with central sensitization were developed in the 1990s.

• Serotonergic/norepinephric drugs were first shown to be effective in 1986.

Fibromyalgia Controversies

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) continues to be a disputed diagnosis.

 

Many members of the medical community consider Fibromyalgia a ‘non-disease’ because of a lack of abnormalities on physical examination, the absence of objective diagnostic tests, and extensive overlap with other proposed conditions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

 

Several controversial issues exist with regard to Fibromyalgia that range from questions regarding the validity of the disorder as a clinical entity, to issues regarding primary pathophysiology and the potential existence of Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) subtypes.

 

According to the article "Fibromyalgia Wars", “the large majority of physicians, sociologists, and medical historians” are skeptical about the validity of Fibromyalgia as a clinical entity. Some call Fibromyalgia a “non-disease” and “an over-inclusive and ultimately meaningless label.” Frederick Wolfe, the most-cited Fibromyalgia researcher and lead author of the 1990 paper that first defined the Fibromyalgia classification criteria, questions the validity of Fibromyalgia as a disease.

He considers Fibromyalgia a physical response to stress, depression, and economic and social anxiety, and believes the associated symptoms are a normal part of everyday life. In 2009, he wrote, "the tendency to respond with distress to physical and mental stressors is part of the human condition."

 

Wolfe and other opponents of the Fibromyalgia concept say that labeling Fibromyalgia as a "disease" simply legitimizes patients’ sickness behavior, slowing their recovery and harming them.

 

In a study of 100 individuals identified as having Fibromyalgia, physical functioning decreased significantly over time, and individuals who had been diagnosed earlier had larger numbers of reported symptoms and greater severity.

 

However, there was also a statistically significant improvement in satisfaction with health following classification. The authors of the study concluded that the ‘Fibromyalgia label’ does not have a meaningful adverse affect on clinical outcome over the long term.

 

The validity of Fibromyalgia as a unique clinical entity is also a matter of contention. There is considerable overlap between Fibromyalgia and other medically unexplained syndromes, which are frequently referred to collectively as "functional somatic syndromes" (e.g. Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

 

Some researchers believe that differences in psychological and autonomic nervous system profiles among affected individuals may indicate the existence of Fibromyalgia subtypes. A 2007 review divides individuals with Fibromyalgia into four groups as well as “mixed types”:

1. “Extreme sensitivity to pain but no associated psychiatric conditions” (may respond to medications that block the 5-HT3 receptor)

2. “Fibromyalgia and co-morbid, pain-related depression” (may respond to antidepressants)

3. “Depression with concomitant Fibromyalgia syndrome” (may respond to antidepressants)

4. “Fibromyalgia due to somatization” (may respond to psychotherapy).

The eighteen trigger/tender points consist of nine bilateral sites adding up to eighteen in total.

The nine bilateral trigger/tender point locations consist of the:

1. Occiput: at the insertions of one or more of the following muscles- trapezius, sternocleidomastoid, splenius capitus, semispinalis capitus

2. Low cervical region: at the anterior aspect of the interspaces between the transverse processes of C5-C7

3. Trapezius muscle: at the midpoint of the upper border

4. Supraspinatus muscle: above the scapular spine near the medial border

5. Second rib: just lateral to the second costochondral junctions

6. Lateral epicondyle: 2 cm distal to the lateral epicondyle

7. Gluteal: at the upper outer quadrant of the buttocks at the anterior edge of the gluteus maximus muscle

8. Greater trochanter: posterior to the greater trochanteric prominence

9. Knee: at the medial fat pad proximal to the joint line

Serotonin and Substance P are important neurotransmitters, and key factors in understanding Fibromyalgia

Serotonin is involved in multiple functions that regulate and influence:

• Sleep cycles

• Mood

• Learning

• Pain perception

• Immune system

How Increasing Serotonin Levels Can Help Reduce Fibromyalgia Pain

 

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps to communicate pain signals to different parts of the brain. When serotonin is lacking, the brain cannot communicate pain signals effectively, resulting in increased, even severe pain. fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) has also been linked to low levels of serotonin in the brain.