There are many disorders affecting people about which the knowledge is very minimal. One such disorder is fibromyalgia.
This is one of the common diseases that affect nearly 2 to 8 percent of the global population.
The actual cause of the disease is still unknown but there are many factors identified that hold responsibility for the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
It is more common in women compared to men. That can be due to various reasons such as the hormonal change that women undergo, the difference in the immune system or the design of the body.
But there are still researchers going on to identify why it is experienced more in women compared to men. Fibromyalgia pain is also dependent on the level at which it the affected individual is able to withstand.
It is also reported that Fibromyalgia pain is something seasonal. The pain can be severe some of the days and during some days it will be minimal and bearable.
Fibromyalgia can be sometimes an outcome of an accident or surgery. Planning the daily activity becomes a challenge due to continuous pain in the body.
Sometimes individuals don’t feel like getting out of their bed due to severe pain that they experience.
There are many symptoms experienced by fibromyalgia patients. Some of these symptoms even vary from one person to another.
The symptoms usually interfere with the day to day activity of a person contributing to more stress in their mind.
The top symptoms of fibromyalgia are as follows:
Persistent body pain
People experience widespread body pain with the condition of fibromyalgia.
They find it difficult to do day to day activity with the widespread pain that they experience. Women report more pain compared to men.
The reasons are still unknown. The pain also occurs in all the parts of the body. If one half of the body experience pain, the same pain is replicated in the other half of the body. Pain can also be seasonal due to some weather changes.
Continuous headache
People with fibromyalgia experience continuous headache preventing from doing any other work.
This continuous headache sometimes develops and becomes migraines in people. It is suspected that a continuous headache can be an outcome of imbalance in the chemicals in the brain.
Another reason can be improper blood flow to head and brain region. For some people, the pain first starts in one region and spreads to other regions like a widespread pain.
Disturbances to sleep
Sleeplessness is very common in fibromyalgia patients as they find it difficult to sleep holding the continuous pain in their body.
It is quite common that people with fibromyalgia get only light sleep compared to deep sleep.
In some people, Restless legs syndrome is also combined with fibromyalgia making them move their legs continuously during their sleep.
People who don’t get proper sleep also tend to have more pain in the body the next day. When there is a slight disturbance during the sleep, which can also create wide awake situations in fibromyalgia patients.
It is good to have a calm and cool place to sleep. Researchers have proved that sleeplessness can happen even if the condition of the room is improper. You can use an air conditioning system to keep the room cool.
Anxiety and Depression
Depressions are quite common in fibromyalgia patients along with anxiety issues. With the conditions of fibromyalgia people become more depressed.
It is purely a mental illness that comes after the condition of fibromyalgia. Fear about their life can be one main reason for this symptom.
When anxiety or depression affects a person, chronic pain experienced by the person is also amplified.
Some doctors prescribe antidepressants that can help in keeping the depression level under control.
If the brain fluids like serotonin secretion are interrupted due to various factors, depressions can occur.
Sensitivity to Touch
With this condition, fibromyalgia patients find it very difficult to hold things in their hand.
Even a lightweight object will be very difficult to handle for them. This creates more sensitivity to their nerves and sometimes it even creates pain in the body.
The soft muscles and tissues in the body are exposed to more pain compared to other parts of the body.
Regulating more blood to the affected part or sensitive part can give good relief from the hypersensitivity.
Simple and gentle exercises will help in stimulating more blood to the affected region.
Exhaustion
Exhaustion is very common when people with fibromyalgia do some work. This can also be an effect of too much strain to their body or an outcome of sleeplessness.
The energy levels in the body will be reduced making them feel lazy and stressed out. Correcting the sleep cycle can sometimes be very helpful in overcoming the condition of exhaustion in people with fibromyalgia.
Some simple changes to their day to day activities can help in overcoming the exhaustion that they experience.
Due to a high level of exhaustion people also find sleepy during the daytime.
Some people when they are more exhausted they even sleep in their car parking the car in a shade.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
This is one of the most reported conditions by people who have fibromyalgia.
Researchers are not sure why there is a connection between fibromyalgia and IBS.
This can also lead to further disturbances in the stomach with further symptoms like constipation, cramps in stomach or pain etc.
This condition is also related to sleeplessness. The next day they find it very disturbing to their stomach. The cause for IBS can also be due to a bad food that they consumed.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS)
RLS is a feeling that is experienced during the sleep. This symptom can be very disturbing for patients with fibromyalgia to get good sleep.
Most of the people with fibromyalgia keep moving their legs during sleep due to RLS. This can occur due to various reasons.
If you have given too much strain to your legs during the daytime in spite of your fibromyalgia symptom, RLS can be a problem during the night time.
Source: www.fightfibromyalgia.net/