What is Fibromyalgia?

Many times it is observed that middle aged ladies complain about lack of energy, tiredness, body pain, weakness and lethargy. These symptoms are ignored with a wave of the hand as they feel that it is due to age and other biological changes in the body. You might have heard older ladies saying that they do not find the same stamina and energy which they used to have few years back.

Mostly all these symptoms are ignored and thought of as normal ageing process but remember if the pain in the body continues for more than three months then immediate action should be taken as it can be fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia a Syndrome

What is fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia is a syndrome. What is a syndrome? Syndrome means when a person suffers from many types of symptoms at the same time. In fibromyalgia the person suffers from pain in all the joints of the body especially in the tender spots which are the fibrous tissues in the tender areas like shoulders, elbow, knees, buttocks, neck, thighs and rib cage, fatigue, weakness, lethargy, bowel problem, depression, anxiety and disturbed sleep.

The body pain is often confused with arthritis but it is not arthritis. How can we know the difference? It can be easily differentiated as in fibromyalgia no deformity occurs in the bones or the muscles whereas arthritis causes deformity. If a person suffers from body pain continuously for three months or more than it should not be taken lightly. The doctor should be consulted and proper check up should be done with all the tests to rule out other problems.



Causes of Fibromyalgia

What are the causes of fibromyalgia? It is true that in most of the diseases the causes for the occurrence of that disease is known but in fibromyalgia the real cause of developing the syndrome has not been found till date. From different studies doctors suggest that this syndrome can be caused due to some kind of physical or mental shock or trauma which may have occurred in the past. It is also said that those who have sleep disorder may develop this disease.

Some believe it is hereditary while some say that it can be caused by some bacteria or virus. Some studies have given the theory that these types of patients develop abnormality in the nerves which act as receptive transmitters of pain and these nerve endings pass on the message to the brain about the pain in the body and the pain is felt by the body even if there is no pain. Research is still going on to find out the actual cause of this syndrome.