What are the complications of fibromyalgia

The Many Complications of Having Fibromyalgia

For those who are not familiar with fibromyalgia, then they are lucky. For those who are unfortunate enough to suffer with this, they often wonder what type of life that they are going to have?

Fibromyalgia patients are dealing with tenderness and pain in the muscles and bones that create fatigue. This fatigue can affect their sleep, which can affect their moods and daily life.

It is certainly an illness that takes a toll on the person and their loved ones. The reasons why a person may develop fibromyalgia are still being studied.

However, so far, many medication professionals narrow this down to:

  • The person’s genetics
  • Infections that the person may have or had at one point in their life
  • Physical trauma
  • Emotional trauma

There are also medical professionals who believe that the Central Nervous System is processing pain differently in those people who have this illness. In this scenario, it could be an imbalance of neurotransmitters that is causing the pain.

For those who do suffer with fibromyalgia, they often find that they have their good days, along with those bad days. While the illness is not one that gets worse as they age, they often find that it does disrupt their day-to-day life dramatically.

Those who do have this illness should know what complications to expect. Through knowing these complications, they can plan for these and learn how to deal so that their life is not turned upside down forever.

The Disruption of your Lifestyle

One of the biggest complications that a person is going to see is how this disrupts their lifestyle. This can be extremely hard for those who may have been super active before.

For example:

  1. The joint pain that is felt can limit a person’s mobility. For those who have a very physical life, this can mean cutting out those activities that you once loved, and it may even affect their work.
  2. They may find that they are in a constant fog. In these cases, a person may find that they cannot work at the productivity level that they once did. This is due to the constant pain that they are in, putting the person in what is called a “fibro fog”.
  3. Many people start to withdraw from their social life that they once had. Due to the pain and fatigue, a patient does not feel like doing those things that everyone else is doing, which can lead to even more changes in their lifestyle.

The lifestyle is something that hurts the most when dealing with fibromyalgia. These patients often must change what they once did, even though they may want to continue doing it, their bodies simply cannot handle the stress.

Due to the way that this illness affects their lives, many patients end up having to quit their jobs and receive disability for the pain and fatigue that they suffer with.

The Mental Changes

It comes as no surprise that those who suffer with fibromyalgia also experience some mental changes in their lives as well. Many patients are also dealing with depression.

And for those who understand the symptoms of depression, body aches and fatigue, can become even worse when dealing with both illnesses at the same time.

Due to isolating themselves as they are no longer able to keep up with the lifestyle they have before, a person becomes more and more depressed.

Anxiety may also become an issue for many fibromyalgia patients. They may become anxious of what their life is to become. Which is a constant worry for many patients with this illness.

The anxiety can add to the isolation as the person may feel that they are unable to leave the comfort and sanctuary of their home.

What are the complications of fibromyalgia

Related Illnesses

Many patients who have fibromyalgia are also going to be affected by related illnesses. It is still unclear whether these conditions were already present and fibromyalgia makes these illnesses act up, or if another explanation is there but has not been found yet.

Some of the other related illnesses that a person may develop include:

  1. Having constant migraines
  2. Tension headaches
  3. Chronic fatigue syndrome
  4. Irritable bowel syndrome
  5. Endometriosis in women
  6. Lupus
  7. Osteoarthritis
  8. Rheumatoid arthritis
  9. Restless leg syndrome

These are also the illnesses that the doctors check for before giving out a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, since they are all so similar in how they appear in the body.

There is Hope

The good news for patients with fibromyalgia is that there is hope. You do not have to let this illness rule your life.

While you may not be able to go back to being the same active person you were before, you can find help with dealing with these issues so you can have some semblance of your normal in your life.

A few of the treatment options recommended include:

  • Getting therapy for the mental issues that you may face
  • Medications to help ease the pain and suffering
  • Medications to treat the mental issues that may be present
  • Getting exercise to help with ensuring your pain levels are held down and it has been proven that many people find that if they exercise they actually end up feeling better mentally, which is something that can help with depression and anxiety.
  • Eating right and talking with a dietician can help, especially those who may be dealing with digestive issues on top of the fibromyalgia they are suffering with.
  • Group therapies can be great for getting you out and talking with others who may be going through the same things as you are going through.
  • Massage or physical therapy have both been proven to help those who suffer with fibromyalgia.

Finding a routine that works best for you, along with the right treatment plan, is going to be the best way to get your life to a degree of normal. Through working hand in hand with your doctor you can make it happen!

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2 Comments

  1. How can I check for GPs in my area who actually believe that fibromyalgia actually exists and is not just a figment of my imagination.

  2. If you find out please let me know. It’s so hard because doctors do not understand this “labeled” disease, or how to treat it. I feel your pain!!

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