Tomorrow, May 12, has been designated National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. The theme this year is "Fibromyalgia Affects Everyone."
The slogan sounds a bit hyperbolic to me, but I will let you be the judge. Over the next several weeks, I plan to answer some basic questions about this puzzling syndrome: what is it, what causes it, how do we treat it?
If you or a loved one lives with fibromyalgia, I hope you will find the blog entries for the rest of this month helpful and hopeful.
As a functioning(most-of-the-time) "Fibromite" I want to tell you about this syndrome, how it affects the daily lives of those of us suffer with it, and how we cope. We hope with increased awareness, knowledge, and understanding, improved funding for fibromyalgia research will ensue.
FIBRO WHAT?
Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) is a chronic, wide-spread pain syndrome that involves muscles, connective tissues (tendons, ligaments), bursae, and joints. FMS involves abnormal pain processing, sleep disturbances, fatigue and the resultant cognitive and memory impairment, or fibro fog as those of us plagued by it have affectionately named it.
FMS sufferers do not get much, if any, stage 4 Delta sleep. This is the healing phase of sleep where the repair of bodily tissues takes place, as well as the restoration of the immune system. Muscles in Fibromites do not recover overnight as in normal individuals, leaving us feeling as if our bodies have been marched over, multiple times, during the night.
FMS can be accompanied by such ailments as swollen glands, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), migraine headaches, anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to environmental elements, like noise, odors, bright lights, and changes in barametric pressure and temperature.
The severity of the symptoms can wax and wane, but for many, fibromyalgia can be extremely debilitating and interfere with basic daily physical activities and the overall enjoyment of life.
Stay tuned for more on fibromyalgia:
May 18 Causes and Diagnosis
May 25 Treatments and Tips for Coping
June 8 Loving a FMS Patient (an interview
with my Buddy.)
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1 comment:
Well now, this is a piece about something I am very familiar with, and very glad that my beloved chose to write about. No I don't suffer with this condition, yet over the past several months I have been educating myself about this syndrome. What I have learned via the computer is very informative. Being gifted to love so very much, and be devoted to,the woman who deals with this on a daily basis, in one form or another, is information that can't be read about.
I will have the honor of being interviewed regarding just what I mentioned above, Loving a FMS patient, therefore I will not remain on my soap box that long, this time around.
Does it " Affect Everyone " as the theme states ? I suppose one can derive the broad intention of those words.
Speaking from a very personal place, I feel it would " affect me " if I chose to write it off as something that will go away eventually, or just take a Tylenol, that'll help.
That being said,please allow me to say to the " well partners ", love them, legitimize what they are trying so hard to live with.....be there, let them know they aren't alone in this.
Knowledge is truly a powerful weapon.
Honey I'm with you and always will be, and I love you very much ! xoxoxoxoxo
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