So today will be a more serious post. I haven't blogged a lot in the couple of weeks because I have been exhausted and sore from my Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Today, I decided that it might be a good idea to write about it so you can understand what it is.
What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalia is a chronic pain disorder. It cannot be diagnosed through x-rays or blood test or any other medical machinery. Doctors diagnose patients based on there symptoms and through a physical exam by touching and applying pressure on trigger points that are known to people with the disease ( although some people have widespread pain throughout the body). Women aged between 25 and 60 are the ones who are the most at risk to develop this disease then men are but no one knows why yet. There is also no known reason as to why people have this disease. Scientist think that the disease can be triggered by trauma to the body ( i.e.. infection, accident and child birth).
What are the symptoms?
Some of the symptoms that affect most patients are:
- Fatigue ( Patients can have a lot of fatigue due to many reasons. Living with pain is exhausting. There is also the fact that many of patients can't sleep through the night because they are sore. IT is a vicious cycle. Being tired makes you sore and being sore deprives you of sleep)
- Depression
- Pain and tenderness in certain areas ( there is at least 18 tender points, Some of them are located in between the shoulder blade, knees, neck and hips all carry tender points.
- Anxiety
- Fibro-Fog ( the inability to stay concentrated on a tasks)
- Head aches
Although some people may have all these symptoms some of them may not.
What is the impact on life?
Due to the pain that comes with living with Fibromyalgia many people become irritated and have trouble functioning. The motivation to do chores or even hobbies can become hard to do. Even parenting can become a hard thing to do.
Treatment
There is no treatment yet for Fibromyalgia. How ever there is many medications that can help with the pain. Keeping active can also help with the symptoms of the disease. Some scientist even think that diet can effect the person.
How does it affect me? Like any other diseases or medical conditions I have good days and bad days. Normally if I have what I call an attack ( a day when I am extremely sore) it is normally coupled with a bad day for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. Most of my pain from FM is in between my shoulder blades and in my calves although I have days where even parts of my skin hurts ( normally it is my forearms but sometimes it is everywhere).
Sometimes it is very hard for me to function. The pain can keep me up at night, so having a good nights sleep is often rare. Sometimes simple tasks are hard for me to accomplish because I just can't concentrate. Being a mother and a good person towards others in general is also hard sometimes. Being exhausted from the pain and lack of sleep often makes me short on patience but with that said I do remind myself that I am not frustrated at my children or others and that I have to find good ways to vent these frustrations and not let them out on my children and others around me.
To keep my mind off of my pain and to keep my irritability in check I do a lot of things. I read, exercise, knit and do rug hooking. These activities keep my mind going and my fingers nimble. I find that that more I become inactive the more I get sore. I do believe that staying active helps alleviate some of the symptoms from FM and RA but that it keeps me from falling apart both physically and emotionally.
For those of you who do follow me you may realize that sometimes my post may be scattered in topics or just down right not make sense and often it is because I am exhausted and I just can't think straight. I often blog as another way to cope with my daily pain and stresses.
That is about all for today though. I hope that this post has shed a bit of light on what FM is and how it affects a person.
How does it affect me? Like any other diseases or medical conditions I have good days and bad days. Normally if I have what I call an attack ( a day when I am extremely sore) it is normally coupled with a bad day for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. Most of my pain from FM is in between my shoulder blades and in my calves although I have days where even parts of my skin hurts ( normally it is my forearms but sometimes it is everywhere).
Sometimes it is very hard for me to function. The pain can keep me up at night, so having a good nights sleep is often rare. Sometimes simple tasks are hard for me to accomplish because I just can't concentrate. Being a mother and a good person towards others in general is also hard sometimes. Being exhausted from the pain and lack of sleep often makes me short on patience but with that said I do remind myself that I am not frustrated at my children or others and that I have to find good ways to vent these frustrations and not let them out on my children and others around me.
To keep my mind off of my pain and to keep my irritability in check I do a lot of things. I read, exercise, knit and do rug hooking. These activities keep my mind going and my fingers nimble. I find that that more I become inactive the more I get sore. I do believe that staying active helps alleviate some of the symptoms from FM and RA but that it keeps me from falling apart both physically and emotionally.
For those of you who do follow me you may realize that sometimes my post may be scattered in topics or just down right not make sense and often it is because I am exhausted and I just can't think straight. I often blog as another way to cope with my daily pain and stresses.
That is about all for today though. I hope that this post has shed a bit of light on what FM is and how it affects a person.
Sources
http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/ss/slideshow-index
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia
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