More About Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is often hard to prove and difficult to make other people understand. Those people are who are not terribly caring may think that is more like hypochondria or laziness, or related to depression, but it is not. It is an illness that is characterized by lack of sleep, muscle pain and unrelenting fatigue. Most people who suffer from fibromyalgia also experience headaches, depression, anxiety, poor memory, numbness and tingling in the extremities, cold hands and feet, and irritable bowel syndrome. These are mostly symptoms of depression, and as such, it is often misdiagnosed as depression.

Most people who have fibromyalgia have not had the right kind of medical attention that they need because some doctors don’t believe in this condition. In 1990 the American College of Rheumatology proposed the first defining conditions for fibromyalgia. The major condition is that all three of the major criteria, and at least four of the minor criteria be present before this condition is diagnosed. The major criteria include: general aches and stiffness of at least three anatomical sites for at least three months; six tender points; and typical exclusion of all other illnesses that may cause these symptoms.

The minor criteria of Fibromyalgia include general aches and pains, chronic headaches, sleep disturbance, neurological and physiological disorders, numbing sensations, irritable bowel syndrome and depression. It is suggested that there are a number of problems with these conditions set out by the American College of Rheumatology, as most patients who definitely have fibromyalgia do not meet the requirements. Some patients have some of the minor symptoms, but not all, and it is very difficult to rule out depression as the cause of these symptoms, which may clash with any of the major criteria.

What is important to remember is that fibromyalgia is typically discerned from depression by looking at the trigger symptoms – those symptoms that are headaches and sleeplessness. There are a number of factors that cause this illness, and that are often overlooked, looked low thyroid activity, trauma (especially whiplash injuries), low serotonin states, sleep disorders, and adrenal dysfunction, amongst other causes. It is now widely believed by medical practitioners and researchers that fibromyalgia is caused by a miscommunication between the nerve impulses of the central nervous system. This leads to an excited state of neurons which could cause intensified pain reactions.

Fibromyalgia is often overlooked by certain medical practitioners, but it is very important that this does not happen because sufferers of this illness will not benefit from depression cures (which is often confused with that which is actually fibromyalgia). It is essential that sufferers that exhibit the symptoms of this illness do not allow themselves to be bullied into thinking that there is nothing wrong with them, or that they need to take anti depressants. As these are two different problems, there will be two different cures – so make sure that you get the best treatment for your condition and do not allow yourself to be misdiagnosed.