What is Fibromyalgia?
Actually, there is no specific test for fibromyalgia, but it is one of the symptoms of Lupus. Your rheumatologist can run the bloodwork to see if you have other overlapping conditions as well as prescribe medication to reduce the inflammation and pain. The best bet is to keep up with exercise that strengthens your core muscles (stomach, back) as well as helping you to breathe deeply. That is because everything you do is tiring and stronger muscles will help you do things more easily. For me, the interstitial back muscles relax when I am breathing deeper, either walking or doing water exercise. Yoga, Pilates and water exercises work well, without overtiring your system. Even if you have to nap after exercising, it is better to keep it up. Often the symptoms come and go, so even if you are having a bad patch now, it probably won’t keep on forever. Support groups in your area can be a real help–if there is not one for fibromyalgia, check out the arthritis and lupus groups. Most of us can
Fibromyalgia is a clinical syndrome defined by chronic widespread muscular pain, fatigue and tenderness. Often times, individuals with fibromyalgia will also have chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bladder, cognitive and memory problems (often called “fibro fog”), temporomandibular joint disorder, pelvic pain, restless leg syndrome, sensitivity to noise and temperature, and anxiety and depression.
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendonsthe soft fibrous tissues in the body. Most patients say that they ache all over. Their muscles may feel like they were pulled or overworked. Sometimes the muscles twitch and other times they burn. More women than men are afflicted with fibromyalgia (75% versus 25%) and it shows up in people of all ages.
