I am a wife, a mother, an auntie and a friend. I love thrifting, garage sales, re-purposing, creating, painting, anything that makes our little rental home more welcoming, comfortable and cozy. I have discovered the "art" of amateur photography & I love the idea of capturing the beauty in the ordinary everyday things that surround us. Blogging is a wonderful way to make new friends and share with people who have the same interests. My personal taste in decorating leans towards "casual cottage/coastal decor". I now have a small shop on etsy, called "SandySeashore" where you'll find some of my vintage finds, my photography and some handmade things. I hope you take the time to check it out! Thanks for droppin' in!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Please read this - it could mean a lot to someone in your life.

FIBROMYALGIA - what is it?
 
I know I've mentioned I suffer with Fibromyalgia before, But this post isn't about me, it's about the syndrome itself and to help all the people who suffer with it, by informing others. A lot of people think they know what it is, but very few really do. It is a fairly new diagnosis to the medical field, therefore not really understood.

Let me assure you that it is very very real. 

Please read on.

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Fibromyalgia is a complex condition that's difficult to understand, especially if you don't have a medical degree. Because it involves the brain and nervous system, fibromyalgia can have an impact on virtually every part of the body.

If you're trying to understand this condition in someone you know, it can be incredibly confusing. When a lot of people see a bizarre collection of fluctuating symptoms that don't show up in medical tests, they decide fibromyalgia must be a psychological problem. A host of scientific evidence, however, proves that it's a very real physical condition.

Digging through that scientific research doesn't help most of us, though. Terms like neurotransmitter dysregulation, nociceptors, cellular enzymes and opiate pathways aren't exactly easy to grasp.
The goal of this article is to help you understand and relate to what's going on in the body of someone with fibromyalgia, in plain terms and without medical jargon. At the end of each section, you'll find relevant medical terms with links to definitions. They'll be helpful if you want to go beyond a basic understanding, but you don't need to understand the terms to get through this article.

Understanding the Pain of Fibromyalgia

 

Imagine you're planning a party and expecting about 20 guests. Three or four friends told you they'd come early to help you out. But they don't show, and instead of 20 guests, you get 100. You're overwhelmed.
That's what's happening with pain signals in someone who has fibromyalgia. The cells send too many pain messages (party guests), up to five times as many as in a healthy person. That can turn mild pressure or even an itch into pain.

When those pain signals reach the brain, they're processed by something called serotonin. People with fibromyalgia, however, don't have enough serotonin (the friends who didn't show up to help), leaving the brain overwhelmed.

This is why people with fibromyalgia have pain in tissues that show no sign of damage. It's not imagined pain; it's misinterpreted sensation that the brain turns into actual pain. 

Other substances in the patient's brain amplify a host of other signals -- essentially, "turning up the volume" of everything. That can include light, noise and odor on top of pain, and it can further overload the brain. This can lead to confusion, fear, anxiety and panic attacks.

Understanding the Ups & Downs of Fibromyalgia

 

Most people with a chronic illness are always sick. The effects on the body of cancer, a virus, or a degenerative disease are fairly constant. It's understandably confusing to see someone with fibromyalgia be unable to do something on Monday, yet perfectly capable of it on Wednesday.

Look at it this way: Everyone's hormones fluctuate, and even things like weight and blood pressure can rise and fall during the course of a day, week or month. All of the systems and substances in the body work that way, rising and falling in response to different situations.

Research shows conclusively that fibromyalgia involves abnormal levels of multiple hormones and other substances. Because those things all go up and down, sometimes one or more are in the normal zone and other times they're not. The more things that are out of the zone, the worse they'll feel.

Understanding Stress & Fibromyalgia

 

Some people think fibromyalgia patients are emotionally incapable of dealing with stress, because a stressful situation will generally make symptoms worse.The important thing to understand is that we respond to stress both emotionally and physically. A physical response, in everyone, includes a rush of adrenaline and other hormones that help kick your body into overdrive so you can deal with what's happening. People with fibromyalgia don't have enough of those hormones, which makes stress very hard on their bodies and can trigger symptoms.

Also, when we talk about "stress" we usually mean the emotional kind, which can come from your job, a busy schedule, or personal conflict. A lot of things actually cause physical stress, such as illness, lack of sleep, nutritional deficiencies and injuries. Physical stress can have the same effect as emotional stress.


Understanding the Fatigue of Fibromyalgia

 
Think of a time when you were not just tired, but really exhausted. Maybe you were up all night studying for a test. Maybe you were up multiple times to feed a baby or take care of a sick child. Maybe it was the flu or strep throat. Imagine being exhausted like that all day while you're trying to work, take care of kids, clean the house, cook dinner, etc. For most people, one or two good night's sleep would take that feeling away.
With fibromyalgia, though, comes sleep disorders that make a good night's sleep a rarity. A person with fibromyalgia can have anywhere from one to all of the following sleep disorders:

Fibromyalgia In a Nutshell

 

A lot of illnesses involve one part of the body, or one system. Fibromyalgia, however, involves the entire body and throws all kinds of things out of whack. As bizarre and confusing as the varied symptoms may be, they're tied to very real physical causes.

Fibromyalgia can take someone who is ambitious, hardworking and tireless, and rob them of their ability to work, clean house, exercise, think clearly and ever feel awake or healthy.
  • It's NOT psychological "burn out" or depression.
  • It's NOT laziness.
  • It's NOT whining or malingering.
  • It IS the result of widespread dysfunction in the body and the brain that's hard to understand, difficult to treat, and, so far, impossible to cure.
The hardest thing for patients, however, is having to live with it. Having the support and understanding of people in their lives can make it a lot easier. 

By
Adrienne Dellwo

Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Guide
Reviewed by the Medical Review Board

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

4 comments:

  1. Wonderful information. Thinking of you my dear sweet sis. Love you lots!!!!
    xoxoxox

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  2. Wow Sandra,
    That really helps! I have been feeling very guilty, feeling lazy, and not being able to pull my weigh around the house, I'm the homemaker.
    Everything has suffered, dirty floors, dust..you get the picture. I hope you don't mind if I share this article. GREAT info.
    Still praying for Eric, hows he doing???
    Blessings dear friend!!!

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  3. I found this article through several links (doesn't one always with blogging?)and it has brought tears to my eyes. I battle with Fybromyalgia too. I have all the usual symptoms but it is the pain that gets me down. I can do the physical things, like sweeping the garden path but then three weeks later the pain in my shoulder is still there.I never know how much to make myself do and feel permanently guilty that I am lazy and a wimp! I won't go on and on about it but just wanted to say 'Thank you' for spreading the word. I will try to put in a link but my technical blogging skills are still in their infancy! In friendship, Jane x

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  4. So clear and helpful as a tool for communication! My primary chronic illness is lupus SLE, but much of this applies there as well. I'm so sorry you have this struggle. May the Lord comfort and strengthen you and send you all the help(ers) you need today.

    ReplyDelete