Fibromyalgia is a disorder that produces widespread body pain within your muscles and joints. You may be tired, have trouble sleeping, and experience mood changes. Other conditions have similar symptoms, so how can you be sure you have fibromyalgia?
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| by Madhavi Monteforte, MD, Anesthesiologist Associates of Lancaster |
Fibromyalgia is not an easy condition to live with or diagnose. In addition to the pain, you may have “fibrofog”—trouble with focusing and memory—as well as chronic headaches, irritable bowels, depression and/or anxiety.
No cause, no test, no cure
Although we don't know what causes fibromyalgia, it's felt that people who develop the condition are hypersensitive to pain, have lifestyle factors, and a genetic predisposition. If you're a woman, you're more likely to experience fibromyalgia by a 9 to 1 ratio over men. The typical fibromyalgia patient is between 20 and 50.
Unlike conditions that can easily be diagnosed with a simple laboratory test, there is no test to diagnose fibromyalgia. You doctor has to rely on your symptoms, although he or she may order blood work and other tests to rule out medical conditions with similar symptoms, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme disease and lupus.
To diagnose fibromyalgia, we use criteria established by the Amercian College of Rheumatology: widespread pain for more than three months and the presence of pain when pressure is applied to at least 11 of 18 so-called tender points in the body. Your doctor will do a physical exam, but usually that doesn't turn up anything specific.
There is no cure for fibromyalgia. Education is often a key factor at setting realistic expectations and empowering fibromyalgia sufferers to manage the chronic condition. Physical and behavioral therapies play an important role, along with a proper diet and other good health habits.
Sometimes, prescription medications may be needed to help with the sleep and mood disturbances associated with the condition. Two medications that have been approved specifically for fibromyalgia are Savella and Lyrica.
It may be hard to accept the fact that there is no cure for fibromyagia, but if you learn as much as you can about the condition and work with your doctor, you can develop strategies of coping that will work for you.
Lancaster General Health's Fibromyalgia Program can help with a combination of behavioral and physical therapies, as well as education.
Madhavi Monteforte, M.D., is a pain management specialist and anesthesiologist with Anesthesia Associates of Lancaster. She is the medical director of the Lancaster General Pain Management Center. She earned her medical degree at Temple University School of Medicine and completed her residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she also completed a fellowship in pain management. She has expertise in the use of various injection treatments for alleviating pain.