So what are Fibromyalgia Symptoms? Is it all about pain? Does fibromyalgia cause a specific
type of pain? I am going to answer these questions for you and in the process share a really
vital, potentially life-saving fact with you, that anyone experiencing fibromyalgia or pain
must keep front of mind.
The symptoms of fibromyalgia are often thought
of as being solely pain. A bit like saying, ‘my arthritis is flaring up’ and wincing
in reference to pain. However, not only is Fibromyalgia not a rheumatic disorder, but
it’s actually about much more than pain alone. There is in fact a long list of fibromyalgia
symptoms involving various bodily systems. So Fibromyalgia is not a symptom. Fibromyalgia
is a syndrome, an illness that has multiple symptoms with pain being only one of them.
So let’s start talking about the fibromyalgia symptom of chronic pain.
You may have heard about the existence of fibromyalgia tender points. These can often
be confused with trigger points. Tender points are used as part of the diagnosis
of Fibromyalgia and are sensitive areas that become painful when pressure is applied.
Trigger points on the other hand, are when pressure refers pain to another part of the
body. And these can also occur in Fibromyalgia. So whilst tender and trigger points can result
in pain from applied pressure, pain in fibromyalgia is usually widespread and varied. It can be
like the pain you experience when you have the flu, the aches, or it can be a deep muscle
pain, it can be shooting pain, a burning pain or a stabbing pain, and the pain can even
throb. In fact some people can be so sensitive that even the lightest touch on your skin
can cause pain, a bit like when you have a severe sunburn.
So as you can see, there isn’t really such a thing as ‘Fibromyalgia pain’. The symptom
of pain in Fibromyalgia syndrome can be varied and people have quite different experiences.
But you may be surprised to learn that pain is actually only one of many many symptoms
of this syndrome. Now the core fibromyalgia symptoms include fatigue, sleep dysfunction
and cognitive disturbance. Now many people experience fatigue in life,
but fatigue in fibromyalgia is on a completely different level. It’s often described as
being profound, profound fatigue. People often wake up fatigued and this fatigue interferes
with most daily activities of living. Even if people with fibromyalgia can get to sleep,
they often don’t get deep sleep or they wake up late in the night unable to return
to sleep. The cognitive disturbance is often called
fibro fog or brain fog and its made up of a range of problems including confusion, inability
to concentrate and problems with memory. However, it also includes other neurological manifestations
such as sensitivities to stimulus like bright lights, smells, noise and even touch.
All these core symptoms of fibromyalgia can vary in severity and they can change over
time. So not only do symptoms vary amongst people with fibromyalgia, but they also vary
for the individual, as time goes by. As you can see, Fibromyalgia is about more
than pain. And when we look at all the other symptoms of fibromyalgia that people tend
to experience, the list is staggering as you can see now.
I am going to share with you an important, potentially lifesaving caution in a moment,
but let’s understand the issues that leads up to that first, including the fact that
there are symptoms or conditions connected to Fibromyalgia that go even beyond this list
over here. Understanding this is really key for some people.
Now please realise that people don’t usually have all of these fibro symptoms. They may
only have some of these symptoms for a period of time whilst the core symptoms remain.
In fact, many people have many of the symptoms for years, often quite severely, and often
go undiagnosed until the pain sets in. What they don’t realise, is that they often could
have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ME/CFS, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome
knows as POTS or Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, depending on what their specific symptoms
were. More and more members of the medical community are now starting to realise the
connection between these syndromes. There is also a large range of other concurrent
conditions that are usually diagnosed separately. These include things like gut dysbiosis, SIBO,
hypothyroidism, auto-immune disease, endometriosis, adrenal fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome.
As we understand more about the nervous system and the endocrine dysfunctions of fibromyalgia,
we can make more connections about how all these conditions are actually linked.
With the list of fibromyalgia symptoms being so long, it’s easy to see why many people
feel judged as hypochondriacs and sadly are often accused of making the symptoms up, something
I hope you will help change at the end of this video.
But here is my word of caution, so please listen carefully! Most people experiencing
fibromyalgia keep going back to their doctor with new symptoms, and have more tests, many
many more tests and it results in no additional diagnosis or treatments. And all of this can
take a lot of effort for a person that’s chronically ill. So, people experiencing fibromyalgia
syndrome, they often eventually just give up, chasing answers on new symptoms. They
conclude “it’s just another fibro symptom”. Now look, whilst this is understandable, the
danger of this, is that the symptoms could be due to something else, like food poisoning,
some severe infection or some other serious disease. So if symptoms are left unchecked,
you may be foregoing effective or even life-saving treatment for another serious condition. So
please don’t let negative feelings due to past experiences stop you getting help. Make
sure that you always report a change in symptoms, or any new symptoms, to your doctor!
It is unfortunate that fibromyalgia falls under the umbrella of ‘invisible illness’.
Sadly, many people suffer the injustice of having it suggested that their symptoms of
fibromyalgia may not be real, and that really adds to the difficulties that patients experience.
Please let me assure you, the symptoms of fibromyalgia are absolutely very real and
they can be quite severe. You can help change how the illness is perceived, by letting others
know about the symptoms of fibromyalgia and by simply sharing this webpage or video on
social media or posting a link or embedding the video on your blog or website. Because
fibromyalgia can be so confusing, people are often left wondering what fibromyalgia is,
how it is diagnosed, what are effective treatments and many more questions.
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