Easing Fibromyalgia Pain

Symptoms and Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a soft tissue form of rheumatoid arthritis. When it strikes a person with a previously very active life will become plagued with constant pain and fatigue. Usually, a patient will complain of feeling achy all over and being tired constantly.

Criterion to classify the symptoms of fibromyalgia have been delineated by the American College of Rheumatology. These criterion are:

Chronic widespread pain for three months or more of the 18 defined tender points on the body, pain at 11 of these sites when a pressure of 9 pounds is applied, chronic fatigue, non-restfull sleep (sleeping and awakening feeling like you haven't slept at all).

Patients with fibromyalgia have an abnormal response to pain stimuli. They feel normal pain more intensely. This type of response is thought to be due to abnormal pain processing paths in the central nervous system.

Treatment of Fibromyalgia

The first step in the diagnosis procedure is performing a thorough medical history on the patient. No specific laboratory tests exist that verify the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. However, certain lab tests can eliminate conditions that have very similar symptoms to fibromyalgia, such as lupus, hypothyroidism, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Treatment of fibromyalgia involves educating the patient as to how to manage the condition. A rheumatologist can prescribe pain medications and muscle relaxants. Sometimes anti-seizure and anti-fatigue medications are needed. Lastly, a exercise routine of low impact aerobics can elevate endorphin levels in the brain and condition muscles. Text module Give your module a title. Titles can only be one line, so keep it short.

The first step in the diagnosis procedure is performing a thorough medical history on the patient. No specific laboratory tests exist that verify the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. However, certain lab tests can eliminate conditions that have very similar symptoms to fibromyalgia, such as lupus, hypothyroidism, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Treatments to Ease the Pain of Fibromyalgia
Consult your physician before following the below recommendations.

Diet
Change your diet to include raw fruits and vegetables. A juicer is a good investment so you can make fresh fruit and vegetable juice without the commercially added additives. Some holistic practitioners believe fibromyalgia is a rheumatic disease mainly caused by eating pork and pork products, Stay away from ingesting pork and pork products, or limit the amount you eat. Perform a mild detox bodily cleansing by ingesting a teaspoon of cold pressed olive oil at night and a cup of hot water every morning. Some fibromyalgia patients report reduced pain when they eliminated allergens from their diet. Common foods associated with fibromyalgia pain include corn, wheat, dairy, soy, citrus and nuts. Within a few weeks of eliminating the allergen foods patients reported a decrease in fatigue, breathing issues and pain.

Pharmaceuticals
The effects of antidepressants should be re-evaluated at regular intervals to determine whether benefits outweigh adverse effects. Older tricyclic antidepressants seemed to have a big impact in relieving pain, fatigue and restless sleep, while selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac had smaller effect on relieving pain. A newer class of treatments called serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) were tied to a reduction of pain, restless sleep and depression. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors appeared to help reduce pain. Mirapex has been shown to help patients with fibromyalgia live a more normal pain free life. As with all prescription medications, Mirapex has potential side effects you should ask your doctor about. Pregabalin is a newly approved drug that calms nerve cells, and has proved helpful to fibromyalgia patients. the brand name for pregabalin is Lyrica. Medical practitioners have analyzed 18 previously published studies and have found strong evidence antidepressants led to improved symptoms and quality of life. A dietary supplement called MSM or Methyl Sulfonyl Methane is an organic sulfur which eases the pain of arthritis and muscle soreness and aids in body detox. The usual starting dose are 1000 mg or 2000 mg daily (again, check with your doctor before starting the regime). As the detox effects of the MSM begin you may feel slight flu like symptoms which will dissapate after several days.

Infrared Heat Therapy
Home infrared saunas are extremely useful for relieving pain of all kinds. The following conditions' symptoms are relieved through the use of infrared saunas; relief from pain for forms of arthritis decrease in the stiffness of collagen tissues relief of muscle spasms and joint stiffness increased blood flow and circulation, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease, ear, nose and throat conditions, skin conditions.

Exercise
Brisk walking of up to an hour is helpful. Get a mini trampoline for exercise. Get a massage to ease fibromyalgia pain. Massage induces muscle relaxation. Some forms of massage are more aggressive than others. When using massage to relieve fibromyalgia pain have the masseuse use a moderate touch so as not to cause muscle soreness. For instance, deep tissue massage can be painful and would not be recommended for relief of fibromyalgia pain. Exercise to ease fibromyalgia pain. Stretching in a warm pool have been shown to help decrease pain. You must be careful not to overdo it, though. Very low impact exercise is recommended. Practicing yoga gently stretches and works the muscles and relieves pain.

Stress and Body Detox
The flushing of toxins from the lymph node areas and from the skin can provide improved health. With the elimination of these poisons from deep within the body, the organs can then do their job correctly. if you lead a stressful lifestyle cutting back on some activities to relieve stress can benefit fibromyalgia. Research has shown that in as many as 20% of fribromyalgia patients, life stress contributes to their pain. It is important to cultivate regular sleeping habits to encourage restful sleep.