Fibromyalgia is primarily a neurological condition involving the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) misinterpreting pain signals, making it a disorder of pain processing rather than a direct muscle or joint disease, though it causes widespread musculoskeletal pain, stiffness, and tenderness. While it feels like muscle pain, the underlying issue is heightened nerve sensitivity (central sensitization) where the brain amplifies pain signals from minimal stimuli, creating a "pain memory".
Fibromyalgia causes pain in your muscles and joints throughout your body. It can also make you feel fatigued and cause mental symptoms like memory problems. Experts don't know what causes fibromyalgia — and there's no cure for it — but a healthcare provider will help you find treatments to manage your symptoms.
Digestive issues such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are common in people with fibromyalgia, often involving symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain, and irregular bowel habits. These digestive disturbances may contribute to episodes of nausea.
Conditions like fibrocystic breast changes, common among those with fibromyalgia, can cause a sore, lumpy sensation in the breasts.
Fibromyalgia is often triggered by an event that causes physical stress or emotional (psychological) stress. Possible triggers include: a serious injury, such as after a car accident. an infection, such as Epstein-Barr virus or Lyme disease.
Küçük et al15 compared 58 women with fibromyalgia with a control group of women without fibromyalgia and noted that the vitamin D, B12, and ferritin levels were lower in the patients with fibromyalgia than in the control group and that there was a negative correlation between the number of tender points and these ...
TNX-102 SL (Tonmya; Tonix Pharmaceuticals), cyclobenzaprine HCl sublingual tablets, has been approved by the FDA to treat fibromyalgia in adult patients, making it the first new treatment approved for the musculoskeletal and chronic pain disorder in over 15 years and the fourth treatment approved overall.
Stage 4: Severe and Debilitating Symptoms
The final stage of fibromyalgia is marked by severe and debilitating symptoms. Pain can become overwhelming, and fatigue may prevent patients from engaging in even the simplest tasks.
Duloxetine (Cymbalta) and milnacipran (Savella) may help ease fibromyalgia pain and fatigue. Your doctor may prescribe amitriptyline or the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine to help with pain or sleep. Anti-seizure medicines. Epilepsy medicines often help ease some types of pain.
There are plenty of people who experience pain or discomfort in their chest or ribs when wearing a bra. It's especially common for people dealing with certain health concerns that increase sensitivity, such as radiation therapy, or fibromyalgia.
Some people with fibromyalgia also have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is a common digestive condition that causes pain and bloating in your stomach. It can also lead to constipation or diarrhoea.
The successful use of Methotrexate to relieve and resolve fibromyalgia symptoms in these patients was based upon the Omoigui theory of pain that the origin of all pain is inflammation and the inflammatory response.
Fibromyalgia Accentuates Pain
As a result, all forms of pain hurt more than they otherwise would and even a small bruise can be a source of real anguish. Likewise, any toothache or gum infection will be a far more intense and uncomfortable experience for someone suffering from fibromyalgia.
Should you consistently feel sensations such as numbness, a pins and needles effect, tingling, or weakness in the extremities, these could be signs of peripheral neuropathy. On the other hand, if such symptoms are intermittent rather than persistent, they might suggest fibromyalgia instead.
Fibromyalgia tender points tend to be symmetrical in the body. They are located both above and below the waist around the neck, chest, shoulders, hips, and knees. The tender point should cause pain in that exact area when the doctor presses on it with enough force to turn their fingernail white.
The signs of nerve damage include the following:
Opioid-based painkillers can cause a number of side effects and are generally not recommended for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Opioids tend to mask pain and do not resolve the problem causing it.
PRP injections
Perhaps one of the most advanced fibromyalgia treatments is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection therapy. The injection is a concentration of platelets extracted from a sample of your own blood. Platelets are your body's natural healers.
Prednisone, an anti-inflammatory drug, is often prescribed by doctors to relieve symptoms of fibromyalgia. While it may help with inflammation and, therefore, help a person feel better, it is important to note that it comes with some very dangerous side effects.
6 ways to manage your fibromyalgia
Some people do wonder if fibromyalgia is a terminal condition and no, you cannot die from fibromyalgia. In fact, as we have outlined, it is possible to live well with fibromyalgia when you learn more about the underlying causes and how to effectively minimize and manage symptoms.
Symptoms often start after a triggering event. Triggers can include injuries, surgery, infections or emotional stress. Or the symptoms can build up over time, with no single event to trigger them. Women are more likely to get fibromyalgia than are men.
There are no gold-standard treatments for fibromyalgia. Treatment is focused on symptom management. A multidisciplinary approach and individualized treatment plan that incorporates a combination of interventions can help improve outcomes.
Cyclobenzaprine and tizanidine are muscle relaxants that may be used to help manage symptoms of fibromyalgia. These medications can reduce muscle tension and improve sleep, addressing common challenges faced by those with the condition.
Milnacipran (brand name: Joncia®) belongs to a class of medicines called serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI). Other similar drugs from this group are used to treat depression and anxiety, but in Australia milnacipran is approved specifically to treat fibromyalgia.