First I will give you the standard rundown on fibromyalgia, then for
those who want to recover from this symptom (and it a symptom, not
a disease), I will point you to another article to read.
Standard Rundown on Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia has only recently gained recognition as a distinct clinical
entity, with the establishment of diagnostic criteria in 1990. It superficially
resembles other disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, and has often
been dismissed as an imaginary or psychiatric problem or a form of
malingering.
Patients complain of widespread pain and tenderness, fatigue, and
exhaustion after minimal effort. They feel unrested after sleep, yet
sleep laboratory tests are usually normal. A diagnosis can be confirmed
by a characteristic pattern of specific points on the body that are
exquisitely tender to palpitation.
Fibromyalgia is characterized by the constant presence of widespread
pain so severe that it is often incapacitating; it is also by the total
absence of any definable patho-physiologic or laboratory abnormality,
even under that most intense scrutiny.
Conventional treatment involves the use of analgesics such as ibuprofen,
aspirin, acetaminophen, etc. While this provides some relief, it in
no way goes to the root of the problem. Conventional treatment also
sometimes includes anti-depressants, and while depression may also
be present, fibromyalgia is in no way caused by depression.
The root of the problem is mitochondrial damage with deficient levels
of oxidative phosphorylation and low ATP levels.
For Those Who Want To Recover
The specific areas of the body which are painful are the areas where
ATP levels are low. When this happens in the brain it causes fatigue
and we know this as the chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS. Often CFS
and fibromyalgia are both present, but in fact fibromyalgia is a symptom
of CFS. The immune system is always involved and the proper term for
this illness of which fibromyalgia is a symptom is the Chronic
Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome or CFIDS. To
reiterate: fibromyalgia is a symptom of CFIDS,
and the treatment approach should be identical to that of CFIDS. So,
if you have not yet clicked on CFIDS,
time to do so now and read that article carefully, for therein lies
your salvation. If you are not yet fatigued, all that means
is that the process has not yet affected your nervous system..
By the way, an old term for this illness was myalgic encephalopathy and
also myalgic encephalomyelitis, These terms are still
in use in Europe.
