Lately i have had several people close to me ask about Fibromyalgia. I have explained it before in my blog, but thought i would do so again. I pretty much experience it all. Winter months are harder for me, mainly because of all the weather pressure changes. Some days are worse then others,. Most days though are pain days in one way or another. It seems to be never ending.
Today I have had another bad day dealing with headaches, pain all over, light and noise bother me, throat hurting, jaw pain, and i feel like i am in a fog. (what i call fibro fog) I am pretty emotional. Everything seems to set me off into tears, or irritates me. I have tried hard to stay away from people because i do not want to say or do something i will later regret. I am tired, irritable and flat out exhausted.
I hope the below info helps those that do not understand Fibromyalgia.
What is Fibromyalgia
Symptoms
The primary symptoms of fibromyalgia include widespread musculoskeletal pain, severe fatigue, and disturbed sleep. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons – the soft fibrous tissues in the body.
* Pain - The pain of fibromyalgia has no boundaries. People describe the pain as deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting, and stabbing. Intense burning may also be present. Quite often, the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning and you may hurt more in muscle groups that are used repetitively.
* Fatigue - This symptom can be mild in some fibromyalgia patients and yet incapacitating in others. The fatigue has been described as "brain fatigue" in which patients feel totally drained of energy. Many patients depict this situation by saying that they feel as though their arms and legs are tied to concrete blocks, and they have difficulty concentrating, e.g., brain fog.
* Sleep disorder - Most fibromyalgia patients have an associated sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly. This condition was uncovered in a sleep lab with the aid of a machine that recorded the brain waves of patients during sleep. Researchers found that the majority of fibromyalgia patients could fall asleep without much trouble, but their deep level (or stage 4) sleep was constantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activity. Patients appeared to spend the night with one foot in sleep and the other one out of it.
* Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas, and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40 to 70% of fibromyalgia patients. Acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) also occurs with the same high frequency.
* Chronic headaches - Recurrent migraine or tension-type headaches are seen in about 70% of fibromyalgia patients and can pose a major problem in coping for this patient group.
* Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome - This syndrome, sometimes referred to as TMJ or TMD, causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain in one-quarter of fibromyalgia patients. However, a 1997 published report indicated that close to 75% of fibromyalgia patients have a varying degree of jaw discomfort. Typically, the problems are related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the jaw joint and not necessarily the joint itself.
* Other common symptoms - Premenstrual syndrome and painful periods, chest pain, morning stiffness, cognitive or memory impairment, numbness and tingling sensations, muscle twitching, irritable bladder, the feeling of swollen extremities, skin sensitivities, dry eyes and mouth, dizziness, and impaired coordination can occur. Fibromyalgia patients are often sensitive to odors, loud noises, bright lights, and sometimes even the medications they are prescribed.
* Aggravating factors - Changes in weather, cold or drafty environments, infections, allergies, hormonal fluctuations (premenstrual and menopausal states), stress, depression, anxiety and over-exertion may all contribute to fibromyalgia symptom flare-ups.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
I am in a fibro fog
Posted by Tracy at 9:11 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I used to get you look just fine and healthy from my sister alot till she was dx with the fibro then all of the sudden she's like oohh it's so hard... *raises brow* gee gotta love how people do that..
take care
((((((((Mysti)))))))
I don't know WHY you have this, and I can understand why this is 'chronic illness.' As you know, much like bipolar, its not so easy for people to pinpoint by sight. A 'disabled' person has a cane or wheelchair, right??!! So what do you do when people only believe what they see?
I don't care because people are judgemental and horrible. There's no understanding it, and it's why I'm a damn hermit. I've worked, while receiving disability, and there's no point trying to explain to an employer. Even to the kindest person who wants my friendship, so few and far between, these hells are difficult to explain and people are not getting them, many times. That is so true. This is not a shockeroo, sadly enough.
BUT you have every right, nay you should be encouraged, to work it out, on blog, in conversation with others, etc., thinking of who you want to be REGARDLESS of your illnesses. When a good day will allow.
Think of who you Want to be, (when you are not in the throes of feeling terrible) even if it seems impossible. Then you are already moving yourself in that direction. Know that your ability to participate in the world as much as you do makes you a hero to some of us.
:) :) :)
Tart
:):):) Hugs you tart, thank you for the encouraging words.
I just want to give helpful information for all fibromyalgia sufferers.
Fibromyalgia is a condition where you feel chronic pain in certain parts of your body; it is a muscular pain especially around the joints. There can also be centralized pain felt in the spinal chord, brain, neck shoulders etc. People with fibromyalgia generally complain of pain in the joints, but it actually is the muscles and the tendons around it that cause the pain, it can be excruciating sometimes and can be a continuous throbbing pain. People suffering from Fibromyalgia also show symptoms of depression, sleeplessness, irritable bowel syndrome, stress and many others, which are caused due to the pain.
Finally here's Rid Fibromyalgia that provides a simple process to helps you eliminate all your symptoms of fibromyalgia and enjoy living your life again. This will provides us the best and most effective solutions on how to rid ourselves from pain.
The Rid Fibromyalgia provides an eBook entitled “Heal the Body” that will teach you the best diet that will allow you to eat your way to wellness, it will also document which vitamins and supplements will target and reverse the illness, how to achieve pain relief through acupuncture, what exercises are safe and will work, and what type of medications may make you sicker, and what will work. This eBook takes a step by step approach in showing you how to rid yourself of the pain naturally so that you can take back your life.
We must know the symptoms of this illness. For us to know what would be the approach we will going to apply. Here's Signs and Symptoms of Fibromyalgia and steps to treat it naturally.
We must also be responsible and aware to the things to gain and cope up with this kind of illness. Eating nutritious food with regular exercise would be result to a better life. Here's Basic Tips in Coping Fibromyalgia.
If we say Fibromyalgia Diet, there is no specific recommended diet for fibromyalgia. But a healthy diet rich in vitamins and minerals can certainly help in coping with the illness. Magnesium rich vegetables are recommended for patient's suffering from fibromyalgia. Here's some information for you to help in Fibromyalgia Diet.
We must also think that vitamins are important for Fibromyalgia sufferers. This will give us additional energy and strength to kept a healthy living. But of course, you must be aware that not all vitamins are effective or directly gives you a good result. Find the best vitamins that would easily give a good response if your taking it. The best thing is your healed and keep your body healthy as possible. Here's The Benefit of Vitamins for us to know why vitamins are important for fibromyalgia sufferers.
Also feel free to view this video Fibromyalgia Help. It really gives good information for those who have Fibromyalgia and encourage not to give up because in every pain your getting through has a good solution in the end.
Here's Rid Fibromyalgia, For free info and helpful articles on fighting fibromyalgia.
Post a Comment