Explanation of Fibromyalgia (FM)

Explanation of Fibromyalgia (FM)

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex condition that's difficult to understand, even for some people with a medical degree. Because it involves the brain and nervous system, FM can have an impact on virtually every part of the body.

If you're trying to understand this condition for the first time 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 FM must be a psychological problem. However, a host of scientific evidence 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.

We will try to help you understand and relate to what's going on in the body of someone with FM, in plain terms and without medical jargon.


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 know show, and instead of 20 guests, you get 100. You're overwhelmed.

That's what's happening with pain signals in someone who has FM. 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 FM, however, don't have enough serotonin (the friends who didn't show up to help), leaving the brain overwhelmed.

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

Other substances in the patient's brain amplify signals - essentially, "turning up the volume" of everything. That can include light, noise and odor on top of pain, and it can 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 FM 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 FM 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 FM 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 FM 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 FM, though, comes sleep disorders that make a good night's sleep a rarity. A person with FM can have anywhere from one to all of the following sleep disorders:

• Insomnia (difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep)


• Inability to reach or stay in a deep sleep


• Sleep apnea (breathing disturbances that can wake the person repeatedly)


• Restless leg syndrome (twitching, jerking limbs that make it hard to sleep)


• Periodic limb movement disorder (rhythmic, involuntary muscle contractions that prevent deep sleep)

Fibromyalgia In a Nutshell

A lot of illnesses involve one part of the body, or one system. FM, 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.

FM can take someone who is educated, 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.

For more information about Fibromyalgia I invite you to visit FM/CFS/ME RESOURCES