The Changing Face of Fibromyalgia

When I first got the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia the doc gave me a brochure with some info and, of course, I went online to see what the Mayo Disease info site had to say on the matter. Because it is a syndrome and there isn't much of an understanding about what happens to cause it I was pretty much thinking that not much was understood about it at all. Not to mention everyone I told pretty much said the same thing, "Oh, that's one of those things they say when they don't know what's happening to you." ARG!

Couldn't be further from the truth. They still may not understand why this happens to some people but there is a lot that they do understand about the condition. With ongoing research the face of Fibromyalgia is certainly changing. Here's what I learned.

1, Myth: Fibromyalgia is more common in women. Fact: Just as many men suffer from Fibromyalgia as women, they simply present slightly differently than women do. Much like docs used to think heart disease was more of a man's disease until they recognized that it just looks different with women.

2. In order to catch both men and women with an accurate diagnosis the ACR put forth a new diagnostic criteria in 2010 that includes: widespread pain index (past week); symptom severity (past week); depression, headache and/or abdominal pain or cramping in the past 6 months;  and symptoms present at a similar level for at least 3 months.

3. A study was done to look at the level of some neurochemicals present in people with Fibromyalgia compared to those without and it was found that Substance P was 3 times higher in those with Fibro. Other neurochemical imbalances were also present.

4. The presence of Central Sensitizations Sensitivities leads to the heightening of sensitivities to light, sound, touch, smells, foods, medications and such. This CSS is thought to help keep us on a path of continued fight of flight response, which keeps us in this cycle of pain and fatigue.

There was a lot of science and facts presented but I don't want to bore you all with all of the details but that was a short list of what I thought was most interesting and I felt like helped me most understand how real everything is that I've been experiencing.