Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes widespread pain and fatigue that affects about 3% of the population in South Africa. Although this disorder cannot be cured, some treatments can help relieve symptoms.
Fibromyalgia may cause:
Experts are not certain what causes fibromyalgia, although they believe that the condition develops because of changes in your nervous system. If you have fibromyalgia, your brain may process pain signals in an altered way, causing you to feel more pain than you typically would.
Fibromyalgia symptoms often appear after an illness, infection, injury, surgery, or major stressful event such as a car crash.
The older you get, the more likely you are to develop fibromyalgia. Additionally, women are slightly more likely than men to have this disorder.
Having lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) also increases your risk of fibromyalgia.
You may have a higher chance of developing this condition if you are obese or have a family history of fibromyalgia.
To be diagnosed with fibromyalgia, you need to have experienced pain in multiple areas, including on each side of your body and both above and below your waist. This pain needs to have lasted for three months or more.
There isn’t one test that can tell you for sure whether or not you have fibromyalgia. However, your doctor may recommend undergoing various tests such as blood tests to look for other medical conditions that cause similar symptoms.
Fibromyalgia can make it hard to carry out your usual activities, such as going to work or getting things done around the house.
Fibromyalgia can also make you more likely to need to be hospitalized. In some cases, it can increase your risk of early death from injury or suicide. Therefore, working with your healthcare team to manage fibromyalgia symptoms is important.
Fibromyalgia is typically treated by a specialist called a rheumatologist. Your treatment plan will most likely include medications to relieve pain, including both painkillers and anti-seizure drugs. Your doctor may also recommend antidepressants to treat pain, improve sleep, and boost your mental health.
Through physical therapy and occupational therapy, you can learn to perform exercises that lessen pain and help you complete daily activities more easily.
You can also manage your symptoms using strategies like:
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is also a very useful treatment. It can treat depression, which very commonly occurs along with fibromyalgia. CBT can also relieve pain and teach you how to more effectively deal with other fibromyalgia symptoms or issues.