Improving sleep quality often leads to a significant improvement in fibromyalgia symptoms. While most people with fibromyalgia can get to sleep at night, more than 90% have difficulty experiencing the deep sleep a person needs to wake up feeling refreshed.
Sleep and fibromyalgia share a bidirectional relationship. Just as painful symptoms can prevent patients from getting enough rest, sleep deprivation can exacerbate the widespread feelings of pain and tenderness brought on by fibromyalgia. Sleep loss can also lower a person's pain threshold.
For people with light to moderate CFS or FM, a scheduled rest plan might mean one or two rests of 15 minutes to half an hour each. Those with severe conditions may benefit from taking many brief rests a day, for example a 10 to 15 minute rest every hour or two.
Try stress management techniques, such as deep-breathing exercises or meditation. Sleep hygiene. Because fatigue is one of the main components of fibromyalgia, getting good quality sleep is essential.
A major risk of leaving fibromyalgia untreated is that symptoms such as chronic pain, fatigue, headaches, and depression can become excruciatingly worse over time. Fibromyalgia also has a huge impact on mental health and anxiety and mood disorders can also worsen if you don't treat fibromyalgia.
Relaxation. If you have fibromyalgia, it's important to regularly take time to relax or practise relaxation techniques. Stress can make your symptoms worse or cause them to flare up more often. It could also increase your chances of developing depression.
Physical and emotional stress are the most common triggers of fibromyalgia flares. Other triggers include lack of sleep, weather changes, and hormone imbalances.
The central nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) transmits information all over your body through a network of specialised cells. Changes in the way this system works may explain why fibromyalgia results in constant feelings of, and extreme sensitivity to, pain.
Fibromyalgia can make you extremely sensitive to pain all over your body, and you may find that even the slightest touch is painful. If you hurt yourself, such as stubbing your toe, the pain may continue for much longer than it normally would.
The symptoms of fibromyalgia are associated with physical inactivity such as excessive sitting. Physical inactivity itself produces increased oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, factors present in fibromyalgia. Therefore, increasing physical activity should benefit patients with fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes pain in muscles and soft tissues all over the body. It is an ongoing (chronic) condition. It can affect your neck, shoulders, back, chest, hips, buttocks, arms, and legs. The pain may be worse in the morning and evening.
Biofeedback, deep breathing, meditation, self-hypnosis, or even just distracting yourself with a good book or some soothing music can help take your mind off the pain and make coping with a flare more manageable, say experts at the National Fibromyalgia Association.
4. Don't overdo it on good days. But don't “make up” for lost time on days that you're pain- and fatigue-free. “Trying to do too much when you feel great can trigger a flare,” says David Edelberg, M.D., a Chicago integrative-medicine specialist and author of The Triple Whammy Cure (Atria).
Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
Chronic, widespread pain throughout the body or at multiple sites. Pain is often felt in the arms, legs, head, chest, abdomen, back, and buttocks. People often describe it as aching, burning, or throbbing. Fatigue or an overwhelming feeling of being tired.
By self-managing fibromyalgia pain and controlling daily stress, most people with fibromyalgia can work at almost any kind of job. But being proactive is crucial to reduce potential flare-ups that could occur throughout the day.
The most helpful treatment approach for fibromyalgia is a combination of self-care, physical activity and cognitive-behavioral therapy. But medication may also be needed. Many drugs prescribed for fibromyalgia work to turn down “pain volume” in the central nervous system (CNS).
Results: There were four parent stages of FM identified and labeled: 1) regional FM with classic symptoms; 2) generalized FM with increasing widespread pain and some additional symptoms; 3) FM with advanced and associated conditions, increasing widespread pain, increased sleep disturbances, and chemical sensitivity; ...
The drugs amitriptyline, duloxetine, milnacipran and pregabalin can relieve fibromyalgia pain in some people. They may cause side effects such as a dry mouth or nausea. Normal painkillers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen (paracetamol) aren't recommended for the treatment of fibromyalgia.
Magnesium
Not only is it credited with keeping the heart, kidneys and bones strong, it also helps us avoid muscle spasms, weakness and back pain, Dr. Teitelbaum says. Women with fibromyalgia may be deficient in magnesium, studies suggest. And magnesium may help relieve fibro pain and other symptoms.
A fibromyalgia attack is also known as a flare-up. An attack can come on suddenly and cause mild to severe pain. These attacks may cause aching, burning, throbbing, or stabbing.
Walking can help control pain and fatigue. Start by walking as little as five minutes a day and add 30 seconds or a minute each day if you can. Work up to 30 minutes to an hour of walking, three to four times a week.
Fibromyalgia was formerly classified as an inflammatory musculoskeletal disease but is now considered to be an illness that primarily affects the central nervous system.