Fibromyalgia (which is often referred to as fibro) has a well-earned reputation for being an all-consuming and frustrating condition, thanks to side effects that involve your physical, mental, and cognitive health.
From systemwide pain, including back pain, to problems with focus and memory, the reach of fibromyalgia is extensive, as the estimated 4-10 million American adults who have the chronic condition can attest.
As pain management and musculoskeletal experts, the team here at World Medical Group dbs Neuropathy & Pain centers of Texas routinely helps patients to navigate the often challenging world of fibromyalgia. We’ve learned a few things along the way, which we want to share here.
Let’s take a look at the many ways in which fibro can affect your life and, more importantly, what we can do to help you get your life back on track.
Classifying a condition like fibromyalgia is tricky, because there’s a good deal that we still don't understand about the disorder.
Many providers group fibro under arthritis, since joint pain is a common side effect, but the condition extends well beyond that single condition.
We think it’s a good idea to label fibromyalgia as a chronic pain disorder, since an increased sensitivity to pain is at its core. Researchers have found that people with fibro have altered signaling in the neural pathways that send and receive pain transmissions, making them feel more pain than others.
Beyond that, we know that heredity might play a role, as well as environment, but we haven’t uncovered any specifics, such as a gene mutation. We also don’t fully understand why women are far more prone to develop fibromyalgia than men, but higher levels of anxiety, as well as hormones, might play a role.
What we do know for certain is that fibromyalgia can be life-altering thanks to its side effects, which we review next.
Now let’s get to the heart of this discussion about the many ways in which fibromyalgia can leave its mark on your life, which include:
As you might imagine, the widespread pain that’s linked to fibro is the leading — and arguably the most uncomfortable — symptom. This pain can be felt from head to toe, and people with fibro often describe it as burning, aching, or throbbing.
Areas where this pain tends to develop more than others often include your neck, shoulders, back, and hips. The back pain that’s associated with fibro is unlike other spine issues because it tends to affect the entire back
Another hallmark of fibro is trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep, as well as general fatigue. This fatigue can strike even when you do get enough sleep and is likely a response to your body trying to deal with constant pain.
Many fibro sufferers report this symptom, which refers to difficulties with concentration, focus, and memory.
As if the above symptoms of fibromyalgia weren’t bad enough, people can also experience:
And all of these symptoms can come and go, often flaring with certain triggers, such as stress.
Given that we don’t know exactly what causes fibromyalgia, we don’t have a cure. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t without treatment options, however, and there’s much that we can do to help control the symptoms through:
While these treatments are designed to make you more comfortable, we also highly recommend stress management, since fibro tends to be triggered by heightened stress and anxiety.
So, even though there’s no cure for fibromyalgia, there’s much we can do to make you more comfortable. To explore which treatments would be best for you, we invite you to contact one of our locations in Waco, Arlington, Wichita Falls, and Fort Worth, Texas, today to schedule a consultation. Call us or send a message online.
