Fibromyalgia is a very painful disease and is literally insufferable to the millions suffering it all across the globe. Even though constant research is being done to cure this disease, each step creates more questions than answers. Fibromyalgia was wrongly referred to as fibrositis and later rheumatism. Only in 1990 did the American College of Rheumatology agreed to diagnose fibromyalgia in its own merit based on eleven points on the human body.
What exactly is the origin of fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia has always been regarded as a subpar disease so was ignored until only recently do doctors start giving it the attention its patients greatly need. Some interesting facts about the origins of fibromyalgia are:
- Fibromyalgia was regarded as a neuropsychiatric or musculoskeletal disease back in the day.
- Fibromyalgia was wrongly diagnosed as rhuematism and neurasthenia in the early days.
- Mohammad Yunis is the first medical practitioner to coin the phrase fibromyalgia in 1981.
- A medical article was published in 1987 that named fibromyalgia as a syndrome. Since then, there are much discussions and debates over the legibility of fibromyalgia as a disease.
In 1990, a group of researchers, doctors and surgeons released a paper that dictates that fibromyalgia is just something in the patient’s mind, therefore voiding it of its clinical entity. Even till today there are still medical practitioners who think fibromyalgia is not a legit disease and shouldn’t be treated as one. Most recently in 2009, the doctor that initially regard fibromyalgia as a psychosomatic disorder back in 1990 was interviewed by one of the biggest circulation paper in the States. He still stands by his opinion of fibromyalgia being a side effect of anxiety. So, what exactly in the name of science is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia can be painful and hard to treat.
As a sufferer of fibromyalgia myself it is a big disappoint to me to see the medical community regard this disease as psychologial, even though I cannot disagree that the symptoms of fibromyalgia comes with stress and anxiety as well. If you are one of the people who doubts the existence of fibromyalgia, let me ask you then, how did I turn to a man with ptsd, serious social anxiety and trouble sleeping from a man with great athleticism, no fear and literally no sickness. How do I become from the healthy man to that in just a couple of hours? How can a doctor say those fibromyalgia symptoms are all in my mind? After several years of social anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, I start to feel real physical pain in various parts of my body – my back, thighs, and feet. They are so debilitating I can’t play golf with my friends. After consulting with several doctors, one of them finally diagnose me with two benign tumors and fibromyalgia.
With all that said, what is the cause of fibromyalgia? The article which was published in 2009 did a number on the progress of fibromyalgia research by suggesting that it is not a legitimate disease. I am really thankful that more intensive studies and researches have been carried out and now the medical community view fibromyalgia as a legit disease with real symptoms that require as much attention as ever.
Recent studies show that fibromyalgia is linked to many parts of the nervous system, for example the brain. It also shows various parts of the human body causing pain when the nervous system receives triggers. The medical community has done autopsies on the people who were diagnosed with severe fibromyalgia when they were still alive and their autopsy shows drastic difference in the structure of the brains as compared to a normal man. The researchers releases a terrifying study that shows that long term fibromyalgia patients would start to lose grey matter in their brain. The doctors and researchers coin the term fibro-fog to illustrate this symptom, which causes memory loss.) Although there are many researches being done at the moment for fibromyalgia, it is nowhere near finding the real cure. It has however, proves possible similarities to Alzheimers.
Fibromyalgia symptoms can be felt all throughout your body.
The pain of a fibromyalgia sufferer is very sharp, drastic and should be treated as soon as one feels it coming. If you are a sufferer of fibromyalgia, you do not need to look far than your local doctor for him to tell you that if you don’t treat the pain as soon as possible you are going to lose a lot of grey matter in your brain. Due to recent state laws and the DEA, doctors are being given limited power to prescribing pain killers to patients who are suffering from severe pain in fear of addiction. There are many cases of illegal street dealings of pain killers and people being admitted into hospital for self overdoses. This is bad news for those who are in grave pain and would require pain killers just to get past the day. It is no surprise to see numbers that show many fibromyalgia patients choosing to commit suicide as they cannot get the support and help they need to regulate their pain.
The symptoms of fibromyalgia includes sharp pain in various parts of the body especially the muscles, tendons and joints. If you are a severe sufferer of fibromyalgia you might have symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, headaches and depression.
This goes back to our point of the cause of fibromyalgia. Although there is no one cause for fibromyalgia, doctors have conclude the causes being from physical trauma, virus attacks to cervical stenosis, genetics and just an unusual reaction to pain. All fibromyalgia patients are hoping the research for a cure for fibromyalgia can be rapid but things would require time to mature. In fact, numbers show that women are more prone to fibromyalgia symptoms than men. Questions such as why do children suffer from fibromyalgia as well arises. Does one’s childhood dictates the possibility of fibromyalgia in future life? There are still so many unanswered questions that elude the doctors and fibromyalgia experts. As a sufferer of fibromyalgia for more than a decade, I still remain hopeful that someday a cure would arise.
My stubbornness for a cure arises from the fact that I have personally witness great strides and breakthroughs in the field of fibromyalgia over the past several ten years than the last 25 years combined. I will never give up and I strongly urge people not to as well. Take the medication prescribed by the doctors and stay strong.
All About Fibromyalgia 