Do you have pain from head to toe? Are you tossing and turning throughout the night, unable to sleep? Do you wake up to pain and a foggy brain in the morning? These are common symptoms experienced by fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients.The most common sites of pain include the neck, back, shoulders, pelvic girdle, and hands, but any body part can be affected. Fibromyalgia patients experience a range of symptoms of varying intensities that wax and wane over time.

Signs and symptoms
Widespread pain. Fibromyalgia is characterized by pain in specific areas of your body when pressure is applied, including the back of your head, upper back and neck, upper chest, elbows, hips and knees. The pain generally persists for months at a time and is often accompanied by stiffnessYou may have some degree of constant pain, but the pain may get worse in response to activity, stress, weather changes and other factors. You may have a deep ache or a burning pain. You may have muscle tightening or spasms. Many people have migratory pain (pain that moves around the body).

Risk Factors of Fibromyalgia
One study reported that 28% of the children of mothers with fibromyalgia also develop the disorder. Offspring who developed fibromyalgia were no more likely to have psychological disorders than those who did not.

Primary fibromyalgia is the most common type. Many experts believe that fibromyalgia is not a disease but rather a chronic pain condition brought on by several abnormal body responses to stress. Physical injuries, emotional trauma, or viral infections such as Epstein-Barr may be triggers of the disorder, but none have proven to be a cause of primary fibromyalgia.It is believed that individuals with FM may have low levels of certain chemicals in the brain such as serotonin and norepinephrine. Low levels of these brain chemicals can cause depression and contribute to the pain and fatigue experienced in FM.

How is it treated?
Analgesics or “pain relievers” interact with receptors in the body to stop the sensation of pain from various sources. Analgesic drugs vary in strength and addiction potential from over-the-counter Tylenol to stronger prescription medications such as propoxyphene/acetaminophen (Darvocet) and tramadol (Ultram).

Lyrica: This is the first drug approved by the FDA specifically for the treatment of fibromyalgia. While this is a step forward, it is no cure. Lyrica has been shown to cut pain levels in half, but only in 30% of the people who took it.

Exercise. The emphasis is often on muscle conditioning and programs to improve aerobic fitness (such as swimming, cycling, walking and stationary cross-country ski machines) as well as physical therapy. Patients should be told that exercise is safe and effective. After an initial training period, the exercise regimen chosen should be done daily for 30 to 40 minutes.

Widely used diagnostic criteria published by the American College of Rheumatologists establish that a person has fibromyalgia if he or she has had widespread pain for at -

Fibromyalgia affects more women than men; for every nine women suffering from this disorder, only one man is affected. According to the studies conducted by the College of Rhumatology, fibromyalgia affects women aged between twenty and fifty. The disease begins in childhood. Though not a killer disease, it causes different degrees of pain in different conditions. The debate on whether the disorder is progressive in nature or not has not yet been resolved.

Fibromyalgia causes enough pain to keep a patient awake at night. The pain is usually accompanied by a tingling sensation. People who suffer from fibromyalgia are usually subjected to chronic and endless sleep deprivation. They also suffer from memory lapses and other neurological symptoms. The comman complaint, however, is the lack of sleep caused by these incovenient muscular pains.

Fibromyalgia is also accompanied by other problems, which can make it difficult for the patient to enjoy a good night’s sleep. Some of the symptoms of this disorder are irritable bowel syndrome complicated by constipation. Fibromyalgia is also associated with headaches, skin disorders, symptomatic hypoglycemia, and myofacial twitching. The patient usually suffers from stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, and so on. The condition worsens when people don’t get enough rest.

The flareups of fibromyalgia, characterised by muscular pain and tingling sensation, are not the same as the pain suffered by patients of rheumatoid arthritis. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil, Neproxine, and Acenomenofen can provide relief to those suffering from fibromyalgia.

You can also obtain relief from this condition by massaging the affected areas regularly. When you massage, you improve the circulation of the area. The blood and other fluids move easily from the muscles to the joints and you get temporary relief from inflammation and fibromyalgial flareups. But even the temporary relief will help you get some sleep. However, remember to massage only when you are not taking any drug for the condition because massaging in combination with drug intake can lead to complicating side effects.

You can easily manage fibromyalgia with the help of a competent doctor. Take the drugs prescribed as instructed by your physician. This will, in turn, enable you to sleep well. Besides, remember to eat healthy and get plenty of exercise. Taking a healthy diet comprising vegetables and fresh fruits and drinking lots of water and avoiding foods that don’t agree with you will give you lots of relief from the flareups. Take care of yourself and you will be able to sleep better.

Fibromyalgia’s symptoms

Because of fibromyalgia there’re painful points in the muscles, tendons as well as ligaments around your body. These points are particularly frequent around your joints. Painful areas which are in the middle parts of your muscles are lesser and have light pain. These points provide you with continuous pain and you will face a sharper pain when you are putting pressure on that area. But, muscular work out and exercise don’t really maximise the pain. If the muscles are exercised and warmed up, the pain might decrease or disappear for short period.

The areas that are often and particularly affected are neck, hips, shoulder area, knee surroundings, head, jaw joint area, eye surrounding and face. If the head and the neck area are affected, then the person must be facing head ache more often.

Fibromyalgia’s other symptoms are:

-Muscular tension
-Muscular stiffness (particularly in mornings)
-Don’t have a proper sleep (particularly the sleep deepest part is affected)
-Physical and mental fatigue
-Dizziness
-Depressive feelings
-Facing disturbances in the bowel functions such as constipation, pain, bloating and constipation
-Anxious feelings
-Bladder irritability
-Dry skin
-Increasing irritability and sensitivity from the sensorial stimuli such as touch, lights and sounds
-Dry eyes
-Aches during menstruation
-Dry mouth

This disease doesn’t provide any tissue and anatomical alternation in the 1st place; however tension, poor and inactivity circulation in long run may affect the shape of the body and provide inflammatory reactions.

Fibromyalgia’s mechanisms and causes

The fibromyalgia’s actual causes aren’t yet completely understood. And the above spinal region might trigger this disease. Viral and bacterial infections might even be a starting cause of this disease. Fibromyalgia infected person frequently possess magnesium deficiency.

The starting causes might have changed the secretion and production of the transmitter substances which is in brain and in the nervous system, particularly melatonin, substance P and serotonin. Neurotransmitters carries out signals from 1 never – cell to the other. Certain signals from mid nervous – system to your body might have increased and the other decreased, give rise to the disease’s symptoms. The nerve signals that are disturbed and develop these functional alterations which give rise to this disease’s symptoms.

Fibromyalgia’s medical treatment

It would be quiet a difficult task to find out a treatment which might cure this disease completely, however a right combination of many treatments could help in getting rid of most of the symptoms.

Some of the medications are:

-Analgesics could decline the aches in tender points
-At bedtime, muscle relaxant could support to relax while sleeping.
-Antidepressant could support by taking away depression and enhance the sleep.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease giving painful points in muscles and joint areas, stiffness and problems of neurological art like fatigue, poor sleep quality and depressive feelings. The disease develops gradually and can affect great parts of the body. It is chronic, but may give better and worse periods. The disease can make a person nearly disabled, but can also be mild or almost disappear over time.

THE SYMPTOMS OF FIBROMYALGIA

By fibromyalgia there are tender points in muscles, tendons and ligaments around the body. The points are especially common around the joints. Tender areas in the mid parts of the muscles are fewer and with lighter pain. The points give a constant aching and a sharper pain by pressure. However, muscular work and exercise do not necessarily increase the pain. When the muscles are warmed up and exercised, the pain may disappear or decrease for some time.

The neck, shoulder area, hips, knee surroundings, jaw joint areas, head, face, and eye surroundings are especially often affected. When the neck and head area is affected, the pain often takes the form of a common headache.

Other symptoms of fibromyalgia are:

- Muscular stiffness, especially in the morning.

- Mental and physical fatigue.

- Poor quality of sleep. The deep part of the sleep is especially affected.

- Muscular tension.

- Dizziness.

- Anxious feelings.

- Depressive feelings.

- Disturbances in bowel function like diarrhoea, constipation, pain and bloating.

- Bladder irritability.

- Increased sensitivity to and irritability from sensorial stimuli, like light, sounds and touch.

- Dry mouth, eyes and skin.

- Pain during menstruation

The disease does not give any anatomical and tissue changes in the first place, but inactivity, tension and poor circulation may in the long run affect the body shape and give inflammatory reactions.

THE CAUSES AND MECHANISMS OF FIBROMYALGIA

The exact causes of fibromyalgia are not yet fully understood. An injury to the upper spinal region may trigger the disease. Bacterial and viral infections may also be an initial cause of the disease. Fibromyalgia sufferers often have a magnesium deficiency.

The initial causes seem to alter the production and secretion of transmitter substances in the brain and nervous system, especially serotonin, melatonin and substance P. Neurotransmitters carries signals from one nerve cell to another. Some signals from the central nervous system to the body may therefore be increased, and other decreased, producing the symptoms of the disease. The disturbed nerve signals then produce the following functional changes that give the symptoms of the disease:

- An increased activity in brain parts, giving anxiety and disturbing the deep sleep.

- A decreased activity in other brain parts, producing depressive symptoms.

- An increased muscular tension during sleep.

- An increased constriction in the blood vessels in the muscular and joint structures.

- Decreasing blood flow in the muscles and joint areas due to increased muscular tension and blood vessel constrictions.

- A decreased activity of glands producing saliva, sebum and tears.

LIFESTYLE MEASURES AND EXERCISE TO TREAT FIBROMYALGIA

It is difficult to find a treatment that completely cures the disease, but a skillful combination of lifestyle measures and sometimes also medical treatment can take away most symptoms.

The symptoms of fibromyalgia can make it difficult to attain an active lifestyle. Yet, to do work, sport activities and hobby activities will decrease the symptoms and the consequences of the disease.

Regular training will greatly decrease the symptoms of the disease. The training should engage all the muscles of the body and also include exercises that improve the condition.

A combination of muscle strength training as for example weight-lifting and condition training as jogging will be especially useful. Swimming exercises both the muscular strength and the condition at the same time, but the water should not be cold.

In the beginning, the training sessions should be short and easy, but they should be made longer and heavier as one gets used to training activities.

Relaxation techniques like autogenous training and meditation can help to normalize the function of the nervous system and increase the blood flow to the muscles.

Physical yoga can help to reduce stiffness, increase the blood flow and reduce anatomical defects in the joints and muscles.

The symptoms of fibromyalgia will often cause sufferers to believe that they manage less than they actually do. It may be useful for the sufferer from fibromyalgia to seek counselling to help him normalize his activity levels, or adopt a higher activity level compatible with his disease.

A healthy diet is important. The food should be as natural as possible, and include food sources like: Vegetables, fruit, full corn bread or cereals, nuts, almonds, fish, seafood, fouls and mushrooms.

You should avoid great amounts of fat meat, fat cheese or saturated fat from milk and red meat. You should also avoid great amounts of soy oil or corn oil. You should not use margarine and avoid food containing chemically altered fat. Great amounts of all the mentioned fat types tend to deteriorate the blood circulation and increase inflammatory reactions.

You should consume fish oil, olive oil, rape oil, canola oil, nut oil and sunflower oil, or food containing these type of fat like olives, nuts, sunflower seeds and fat fish, because the fat you then consume will decrease inflammatory reactions in the muscles and joint areas.

MEDICAL TREATMENT OF FIBROMYALGIA

Certain types of medication can be used to relieve the symptoms for a time, but should generally not be used permanently:

- Analgesics can reduce the pain in the tender points.

- Antidepressant can help to take away depressive feelings and improve the sleep.

- Muscle relaxant at bedtime can help to relax during sleep.

On the market you will also find alternative drugs to treat fibromyalgia, based on herbs, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. These drugs contain ingredients to give several useful effects:

- To repair nutritional deficiencies found by fibromyalgia

- To normalize the production of neurotransmitters and thereby improve the local blood circulation in muscles and joint surroundings.

- To improve sleep and relaxation in the muscles during sleep.

- To help for tiredness.

- To reduce pain by an analgesic effect.

Examples of ingredients found in such medicines are:

- Magnesium – To cure deficiency in the body’s magnesium level.

- 5-HTP – A serotonin precursor to help against serotonin deficiency and thereby improve local blood circulation.

- Melatonin – To improve sleep and relaxation during sleep.

- Rhodiola Rosea extract – To help against fatigue.

- Ginger Root – To treat pain and inflammation in muscles and joints.

Classical massage or other types of physical therapi, for example a couple of times each week, can also help to increase blood flow, reduce tension, reduce stiffness and thereby take away pain.