An Overview Of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a chronic and common disease, affecting 5 million Americans 18 or older. Between 80 and 90 percent of people diagnosed with fibromyalgia are women. However, men and children also can have the disorder. Most people are diagnosed during middle age.

Although the cause behind this disease is unknown , the pain is very well known. It can be very painful for most of the people suffering from this disease. The pain is widespread and produces a fatigue disorder.

This disease mostly affects muscles, ligaments, tendons and other soft fibres in the body; as a consequence, patients feel the pain in the muscle joint areas of body, such as neck, shoulder, elbow and heap.

Some experts take it as a special form of arthritis but the fact is the affected muscles in the body are not deformed like arthritis cases. Fibromyalgia is some sort of neuro-muscular pain, which affects the musculoskeletal schema of human body. Patients can suffer from the following symptoms:

* Widespread pain for more than 3 months.

* Tenderness in the neck, shoulder, knee, elbow, or upper buttocks or thigh areas.

* Trouble sleeping.

* Tiredness in the morning or late in the day.

* Mood changes.

* Irritable bowel syndrome.

* Headaches, sometimes migraines.

* Difficulty concentrating.

* Numbness and tingling in hands, arms, feet, legs or face.

* Abdominal pain.

* Bloating.

* Long lasting morning stiffness

* Constipation.

* Diarrhea.

* Fatigue that interferes with work and daily activities.

* Sleep problems (difficulty falling or staying asleep, waking up feeling tired).

In addition of those symptoms, fibromyalgia patients often feels anxiety along with depression. They feel lethargic and may feel frustrated in their life. This depression often leads them to commit suicide.

Women may also face problems in their periods and suffer from other feminine diseases.

In a recent research it is found that women are more affected than men. It is a common phenomenon that women lacks calcium a bit more than men, this may be the reason behind that.

Fibromyalgia disturbs sleep; this leads to mental weakness and often causes mental disorder. The cause behind this disease is still mystery but the resultant effects are very acute. It generally affects people of any age, some experts have revealed that after a traumatic disease or a massive flue fibromyalgia may starts.

Identifying the tender points in the body makes diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome. At the diagnosis of fibromyalgia, other chronic syndromes such as thyroid disturbance, Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome are assumed eliminated. Pain in 11 to 18 tender points indicates fibromyalgia syndrome.

Wow, wasn’t that encouraging? If you have been suffering from Fibro you already know the pain and how real it is! I hope you will check out our other posts to find useful tips for treatment options that may help. I know there is no cure for fibro, but together we can learn to do what we can to manage the symptoms.

Sources: How many Fibro Effects:  http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Fibromyalgia/fibromyalgia_ff.asp#b