Widespread pain, chronic fatigue, and never-ending sleep problems may be caused by just about anything, but fibromyalgia is probably the last possibility you’d consider.
Even experienced physicians don’t quite understand fibromyalgia, and it typically takes a long time to diagnose it.
Most doctors characterize fibromyalgia as a chronic disease that causes widespread pain and tenderness throughout the body.
While there are approximately 3 million cases of fibromyalgia diagnosed each year, most people don’t know enough about the disease to research its symptoms or even consult with their doctor.
Before you ignore the warning signs, there are a few thing you should know about fibromyalgia.
It’s more common in women.
Roughly 80 to 90 percent of individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia are women. While researchers still aren’t sure why the disease is more common in women, they suspect it has something to do with hormones or immune system differences.
There are tender points.
Although fibromyalgia is characterized as a chronic disease that causes widespread pain, it does have tender points that hurt when pressed on:
- Front of the neck
- Back of the head
- Inside the knees
- Outside of the elbows
- In between the shoulders
- Top of the chest
- Top and sides of the hips
Most patients suffer from chronic fatigue.
Because fibromyalgia causes constant pain, it’s hard for many individuals with the disease to sleep properly at night. Lack of sleep for a number of nights may lead to chronic fatigue, which in turn, often makes the pain worse.
Many people suffering from fibromyalgia feel “foggy.”
Often called the “fibro fog,” fibromyalgia can cause its sufferers (mostly women) to have a hard time concentrating or focusing. Many patients say having the disease makes them forgetful or confused. This may be a direct result of fatigue, but some researchers believe it actually stems from fibromyalgia’s effects on the brain.
Fibromyalgia can cause headaches and digestion problems.
According to a study in the journal Clinical Rheumatology, about half the people diagnosed with fibromyalgia experience frequent headaches. Women, especially, have been known to suffer from painful migraines. Experts believe this may stem from imbalance of chemicals like serotonin and epinephrine in the brain.
On that same note, researchers believe fibromyalgia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) are connected, though they don’t know how or why. IBS causes a number of uncomfortable symptoms, like bloating, diarrhea, constipation, and cramps.
