One of the key elements of fibromyalgia
is the staggering array of symptoms. There are three that are key:
widespread chronic but transitory pain, fatigue, and mental
fogginess. For the first three years, I only had the first two, and
then the fibrofog came in, which turned out to be the most
devastating of the symptoms and one I continue to battle on a daily
basis.
I have separate entries for these three
main symptoms, but there are also a lot of other commonly reported
symptoms. Here are some that I have direct experience with and that
are commonly reported:
IBS
One of the more common symptoms is
irritable bowel syndrome. Why is currently unknown, but there is a
strong clue. It is believed that fibromyalgia is linked to an
imbalance in serotonin levels. IBS is also linked to an imbalance of
serotonin, but in the gut, not in the brain. That may not be a
coincidence. IBS is painful, and this may one of the few symptoms
where actual “it hurts because something not good is going on
there” pain is involved.
Swelling, numbness, and tingling in
hands, arms, feet, and legs
My feet and legs are fine, but boy do
my hands swell and go numb. It is a painful kind of numb, a
combination of a loss of sensation and the pins and needles of
restored sensation. Sometimes they get so numb I can barely type or
pick things up.
Sleep problems
Sure, sleep can become difficult, but
usually that is because of pain. Sometimes I just can't sleep,
classic insomnia, and lack of sleep does make my other symptoms
worse. What many fibro sufferers have a problem with is not getting a
deep enough sleep. They wake up frequently during the night. I guess
I do as well, but I fall back to sleep immediately. What seems to be
happening according to sleep studies is that while sleeping, people
with FM have bursts of brain activity that disturb their sleep.
Because this interrupts deep sleep, you wind up not feeling as
rested. This is different from the chronic fatigue symptoms though,
which usually hit me in the afternoon. Most of those with disturbed
sleep tend to have these feelings of fatigue and tiredness when they
first wake up.
Depression
I am in the group of people, including
some researchers, who believe that depression is less a symptom than
a natural reaction to the difficulties of the condition. Who would
not be a little depressed? When I have deep fibrofog, I can't see any
future because my vision so narrows, and I do get depressed. That
seems reasonable to me under the circumstances. As soon as that clears up a little and I can think clearly the depression goes away. I have not experienced any long term, or chronic depression with FM. Anxiety is also
listed as a symptom, but there is a lot going on here to make you
anxious. Since I am upbeat most of the time, I am uncertain if
depression is a widespread symptom or simply a response to something
that is depressing. There is no clear consensus on this issue yet.
Headaches
I get terrible headaches, but here is
the interesting part. Taking Ibuprofen helps. It does not help with
any other type of fibromyalgia related pain, nor does any other type
of painkiller. I wonder if headaches, real headaches, are triggered
by pain or other stressors related to FM. In my experience, the
headaches I have are typical headaches and unlike the strange and
bizarre pain triggered by fibromyalgia. There does seem to be some
increase in intensity of the headache pain, but that might
be related to the hypersensitivity to so many things you have with
fibromyalgia. Real pain can sometimes seem magnified.
Morning stiffness
More than 75% of people with
fibromyalgia feel stiffness when they first get up in the morning. I
experience this as well but it tends to go away very quickly. For
some it can last hours, and has been compared to the stiffness that
people with arthritis experience.
Urinary Problems
Early on when I was first struggling to
get diagnosed, I had problems with needing to urinate frequently.
This can be a symptom of a lot of different things, many of them not
good, and was quite concerning to me. Doctors kept looking and found
nothing. This symptom has sort of faded away and does not seem to be
as much of an issue for me anymore.
Restless Leg Syndrome
What an innocuous name for such a
totally miserable condition. In general, it is a desire to move your
legs to lessen an uncomfortable sensation. It is a neurological
condition where the impulse to keep moving the legs is very very strong.
In my case, though, it is not just an unpleasant sensation but actual
pain. Moving my legs does seem to offer some relief, but it only
lasts for seconds at most. I am constantly tossing and turning
trying to find a comfortable position so that I can sleep. No matter
what I do, I never get comfortable. I had heard of restless leg
syndrome but did not know anything about it, so I did not relate it
at all to what was happening to me. I just considered it one of the
more unpleasant of the pain episodes with no idea that it had a
specific name. I finally read about it a bit more and realized how
well it described what was happening to me. I thought the constant
impulse to move my legs was a natural response to the pain, from
trying to find a way to get comfortable. Upon reflection, it is a bit
more complex than that.
This list only touches the surface. A
more extensive list developed by fibromyalgia experts lists over 60
known symptoms. I have experienced many of these lesser covered
symptoms and will discuss them in a future post.
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