Fibromyalgia has been impacting my life for quite some time. If any of you have FMS, CFS, etc. you'll find this article interesting and informative.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic and often debilitating condition. It affects around 3 percent of the world’s population, mostly women, and has vexed physicians for centuries. The syndrome is characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, cognitive fog, and insomnia. Which begets which is unclear. Comorbid maladies may include irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, anxiety, depression, and nondescript bodily sensations … or not. Variable presentation makes fibromyalgia difficult to distinguish from better-understood conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. There are no reliable tests for diagnosis — no elevated serum marker, no betraying shadow on a radiograph, no telltale defect of the fingernail.
There is also no cure. This article provides an overview of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of fibromyalgia, such as we understand them today.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Do those with FMS/CFS notice a correlation between pain/fatigue levels and the barometric pressure? I swear, I'm a human barometer.
I can predict incoming storms much more accurately than any meteorologist. When the pressure is up I'm so tired I can't function, and when it drops my pain levels shoot up and I know there's some impending weather event
TheoryNumber3
Level 8
Oct 11, 2019
0
Oh mercy, yes! And the faster it occurs, the harder it hits me.
@Lauren I usually feel it 12-36 hours in advance of a storm
@TheoryNumber3 Wow, 36 hours makes it a long stretch of misery. Depending on what type of weather, I think I'm more 6 to 20 hours. It hits me harder if it's cold coming in.
@Lauren And do you feel better once it hits? I do. It's the pressure changes that affect us, I believe... because the pressure is low when a storm is approaching and high once it hits
@TheoryNumber3 So sorry I missed your question! Yes, once it breaks or moves away, all of my symptoms start dissipating as well.
I have never really understood what it was. I am truly sorry you are suffering with this.
Sticks48
Level 9
Oct 11, 2019
3
Thank you. It is limiting but as I said I'm doing much better after making some lifestyle changes
@TheoryNumber3 Are there certain triggers you avoid?
@Sticks48 stress seems to be a big factor. My career was a killer... But also, as several of us mentioned, food additives and chemicals seem to exacerbate it.
I never felt well my entire life. I always felt like there was something wrong but Doctors never found anything. I felt like a hypochondriac. Getting that diagnosis was almost a relief, because I finally had an explanation for it.
@Sticks48 Thanks. I needed that hug 
Their ability to describe some of the symptoms has improved but, sadly, they're still kind of shooting in the dark about treatment. I've been battling FMS for 30+ years and mostly depended on British and Canadian sites for research. The American sites were very "blame the patient".
Lauren
Level 8
Oct 10, 2019
4
You're right, there's still a lot of naysayers here among the medical professionals
@TheoryNumber3 In a positive spin of that, it's a reminder that we have to trust our bodies, and how we feel, even if it contradicts the current thinking.
Diagnosed with fibromyalgia over 20 years ago after a disc injury I used ritalin to get out of bed for years. Only way I could manage the chronic fatigue. Then diagnosis 7 years ago with aml-acute myloid leukemia and 3 years later - heart failure. They took me off ritalin. - 6 years in remission I survive without the ritalin and I'm going back to work part-time. Used medical cannabis for pain. Now doing without.
sassygirl3869
Level 9
Oct 10, 2019
4
I have been helped Immensely by eliminating aspartame from my diet.....and adding CBD oil. Hope it lasts!
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Oct 10, 2019
2
I agree - I can't pinpoint it, but I think I function better without artificial sweeteners.
I found my symptoms improved dramatically when I cut out all artificial sweeteners and chemical-laden products. I try to eat mainly an organic plant-based diet and it has helped me a lot. Particularly giving up diet sodas made a difference
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