"List of Fibromyalgia Symptoms and Associated Syndromes, Apart From General Pain and Fatigue"
Go to a Valued Guest's Article..."Living With Pain"
and also...
"Fibromyalgia...A Man's Perspective
Fibromyalgia is a complex, chronic disorder which causes widespread pain and fatigue usually accompanied by a variety of other symptoms. Few symptoms are outwardly visible, which has led to much confusion. Sometimes FM has been called "the invisible disability".
Fibromyalgia pain usually consists of diffuse aching or burning described as "head-to-toe". I know personally that many times I could only explain and describe my pain to my physicians as a feeling as if my entire body was 
[ON FIRE]! Not like a sunburn or surface irritation, but a deep down, in the muscles, bones and joints type burning! I feel it is very important that we be as descriptive as possible when discussing our pains and symptoms with our doctors. Doing this can help the physician to better ascertain our condition and possibly uncover any hidden serious illnesses that we have brushed off as fibromyalgia.
It is important to note that these fibromyalgia symptoms will and do vary in intensity and duration from person to person. As a result, the effect of fibromyalgia symptoms on our quality of life is also different for each of us who have to contend with this disorder.
Stiffness: Body stiffness may be particularly apparent upon awakening and after prolonged periods of sitting or standing in one position or coincide with changes in temperature or relative humidity
Increased Headaches Or Facial Pain: Fibromyalgia patients may experience frequent migraine, tension, or vascular headaches. Pain may also consist of referred pain to the temporal area (temples) or behind the eyes. Approximately one-third of patients with fibromyalgia are thought to have pain and dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, (located where the jaw meets the ear) which produces not only headaches but also jaw and facial pain.
Sleep Disturbances: Despite sufficient amounts of sleep, FMS patients may awaken feeling non-refreshed, as if they have barely slept. Alternatively, they may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Some also suffer from the condition, sleep apnea. The reasons for the non-restorative sleep and other sleep difficulties of fibromyalgia are unknown.
Gastrointestinal Complaints: Digestive disturbances, abdominal pain, and bloating are quite common in FMS as are constipation and/or diarrhea (also known as "irritable bowel syndrome" or IBS).
Genito-Urinary Problems: FMS patients may experience increased frequency of urination or increased urgency to urinate, typically in the absence of a bladder infection. Women with FMS may have more painful menstrual periods or experience worsening of their FMS symptoms during this time. Conditions such as vulvar vestibulitis or vulvodynia, characterized by a painful vulvar region and painful sexual intercourse, may also develop in women.
Paresthesia: Numbness or tingling, particularly, in the hands or feet, sometimes accompanies FMS. Also known as "paresthesia", the sensation can be described as prickling or burning.
Temperature Sensitivity: Persons with fibromyalgia tend to be highly sensitive to ambient temperature. Some often feel abnormally cold (compared to others around them) while others feel abnormally warm. An unusual sensitivity to cold in the hands and/or feet, accompanied by color changes in the skin, sometimes occurs in persons with fibromyalgia. This condition is known as "Raynaud's Phenomenon".
Skin Complaints: Nagging symptoms, such as itchy, dry, or blotchy skin, may accompany FMS. Dryness of the eyes and mouth is also not uncommon. Additionally, fibromyalgia patients may experience a sensation of swelling, particularly in extremities, like fingers. A common complaint is that a ring no longer fits on a finger. Such swelling, however, is not equivalent to the joint inflammation of arthritis; rather, it is a localized anomaly of FMS whose cause is currently unknown.
Chest Symptoms: Individuals with fibromyalgia who engage in activities involving continuous, forward body posture (i.e., typing, sitting at a desk, etc.) often have special problems with chest and upper body pain known as "thoracic pain and dysfunction".1. Often accompanying the pain is shallow breathing and postural problems. Patients may also develop a condition called "costochondralgia" which involves muscle pain where the ribs meet the chest bone. Such conditions may mimic heart disease and are therefore sometimes misdiagnosed. Note: Anyone experiencing chest pain should always consult a physician immediately. [Remember that persons with fibromyalgia can have other health problems!]
Dysequilibrium: FMS patients may be troubled by light-headedness and/or balance problems which manifest themselves in a number of ways.
Cognitive Disorders: Persons with FMS report a number of cognitive symptoms which tend to vary from day to day. These include difficulty concentrating, "spaciness," short-term memory lapses, and being overwhelmed easily. Many fibromyalgia patients refer to such symptoms as "fibro-fog".
Leg Sensations: Some FMS patients may develop a neurological disorder known as "restless legs syndrome" (RLS) which involves an irresistible urge to move the legs particularly when at rest or when lying down. One recent study reported that 31% of the fibromyalgia patients studied had RLS.6 The syndrome may also involve periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS) which can be very disruptive to both the patient and to his/her sleeping partner.
Environmental Sensitivity: Hypersensitivity to light, noise, odors, and weather patterns is common and is usually explained as being a result of the hyper-vigilance seen in the nervous systems of patients with FMS. Allergic-like reactions to a variety of substances (i.e., medications, chemicals, food additives, pollutants, etc.) are common, and patients may also experience a form of non-allergic rhinitis consisting of nasal congestion/discharge and sinus pain, but in the absence of the immunologic reactions which the body experiences in allergic conditions.
Depression and Anxiety: Although FMS patients are frequently misdiagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders ["it's all in your head"], research has repeatedly shown that fibromyalgia is not a form of depression or hypochondriasis. However, where depression or anxiety exist concomitant to fibromyalgia, their treatment is important as both can exacerbate FMS and interfere with successful symptom management.
1. "Thoracic Pain and Dysfunction," Fibromyalgia Frontiers, Vol. 5, # 2, Spring 1997.
Note: This list condensed from FMS MONOGRAPH 1999. [National Fibromyalgia Partnership, Inc.]
What Are Some Possible Causes Of Fibromyalgia ?
Despite the fact that FM is a relatively common condition, and fibromyalgia symptoms affect millions, its diagnosis is often missed or misdiagnosed.
Today, because the syndrome mimics other soft tissue disorders, patients who have fibromyalgia symptoms but show no laboratory abnormality are often concluded to have fibromyalgia. Pain is FM's only identifiable factor and it does not cause swelling, heat or redness, nor does it produce traits visible in X-ray or blood tests.
Researchers are working to determine whether FM is caused by a hyperactive brain/body response to basically normal stimuli (allodynia) or a magnified response to real pain stimuli (hyperalgesia).
These triggering events probably don't cause FM, but rather, they may awaken a hidden genetic predisposition toward fibromyalgia symptoms.
One theory is that some people may inherit an anomaly in the way their brains regulate and produce certain neurotransmitters, including substance P, which notifies the body of pain experiences and is found in abnormally high levels in FM patients.
Perhaps compounding the problem, the neurotransmitter serotonin, which modifies the intensity of pain signals entering the brain, appears to be deficient.
Another theory links fibromyalgia with a deep sleep abnormality and deficiency among its patients.
Interestingly similar symptoms, such as muscle pain and tender points, can be produced in people who do not have FM simply by depriving them of deep sleep for a few days.
The correlation between the two may lie in the fact that the growth hormone responsible for maintaining good muscle and soft tissue health is secreted almost exclusively during deep sleep, and has been found to be deficient in people with FM.
Another possible cause of fibromyalgia symptoms that is supported by clinical studies is poor muscle oxygenation, which simply means that certain muscles are not getting enough oxygen.
This may seem like a pretty simple explanation for what for many is an agonizing condition, but muscles that are in a chronic state of contraction will not relax even with rest.
Stressed nerves can create weakness in affected muscles and restrict motion in nearby joints.
A muscle's constant state of contraction will cause it to shorten, limiting motion and causing muscle aches and stiffness.
What may cause FM patients to be especially vulnerable to muscle tension is unknown, but it seems apparent that sufferers of fibromyalgia symptoms need to take particular care to treat and help reduce this tension whenever possible.
I am a man with fibromyalgia and as such I am a part of the fibromyalgia minority. For reasons unknown, men usually constitute 20% or less of the total reported cases of fibromyalgia. Why this is so is not understood. There are some different ways the symptoms of fibromyalgia occur due to men's physical make up and social behaviors.
I came across this article in an issue of Fibromyalgia Frontiers© 2002 [Volume 10, Number 2] and it really struck home. I contacted the National Fibromyalgia Partnership, Inc. and got their permission to put a copy of the article on our Web site.
Fibromyalgia: A Man's Perspective
A new study performed by researchers from a Swedish hospital of rheumatology offers new insights on how men experience fibromyalgia. Fourteen men who were either married or living with a female partner were encouraged to tell their FM story. Clarifications were elicited as needed. Transcripts of the 14 interviews were reviewed extensively by the researchers, and a structural analysis performed which divided the interviews into meaningful units. Three themes and seven sub-themes were identified and are summarized below:
Experiencing the Body as an Obstruction
Living with a reluctant body: As a group, the men tended to feel that their body was sluggish as well as constantly achy, painful, and/or stiff. Of great concern was that they were no longer able to participate in the same level of activities as they had before, and they reported feeling restless and anxious. Most of the sample, who were unable to work full-time (if at all), felt especially anxious about finances. One man stated, "Sometimes I think about working full-time, but hell, it's not possible".
Living day by day with a body in pain: The unpredictability of FM was a great frustration as it made the planning of daily life nearly impossible. Respondents reported that they now lived life one day at a time and sometimes minute-by-minute. During periods of severe pain, the men indicated that even the simplest tasks were difficult, and as a result they tended to avoid social contact--even if it was just answering the telephone or the door.
Being a Different Man
Not being the same man as before: The men had typically been very active before getting ill and had often been viewed by their peers as "cheerful and kind". After developing FM, however, they reported feeling "emptiness and shyness". Illness-related changes that caused them particular sadness were: difficulties concentrating on even the simplest tasks, meaningless (insulting) tasks that were given to those able to return to work, and difficulty controlling their temper during times of increased pain. Although the men were bothered early on by what other people thought of them and their situation, by the time of the interview they were much less concerned about others' demands on them.
Not being really understood: Although the men acknowledged that their friends and family members believed that they were experiencing pain, they felt that this was not the same thing as understanding what they were going through. What gave them particular grief, however, was knowing that their young children could not understand their illness and the reason why they could not play rough or noisy games with them.
Striving to Endure
Living as normally as possible: While the men felt it was important to maintain social contact with friends and relatives when symptoms weren't too severe, they were reluctant to allow others to see them ill and worried that they might be called "whiners". Stoic fathers or grandfathers who had "cheerfully" undergone suffering during their lives were often role models for the respondents. The men reported that they typically accompanied their families on holiday outings/trips, even when they knew it would be "torture" for them.
Searching for alleviation: The men felt they would be more cheerful and productive if only they could decrease their level of pain. They also felt that when pain was at its worst, they needed to be alone. Those who had been granted a disability pension described "feelings of finally gaining mental peace".
Having to nurture hope: While the men as a group were pessimistic about any chance of a life without pain, they did admit that they hoped their pain would not worsen. They spoke of the "necessity of never losing courage".
Meaning of Men's Lived Experiences of Living with Pain of Fibromyalgia Type, by Margareta Paulson, Ella Danielson, and Siv (Source: Struggling for a Tolerable Existence: The Soderberg, Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2002, 238-249.)
Dr. Mark Pellegrino has added via his book, Inside Fibromyalgia With Mark Pellegrino, M.D., Anadem Publishing 2001, the following insights. This book may be purchased by visiting Anadem Publishing at their Website: http://www.anadem.com.:
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The two main risk factors for men are hereditary and trauma. Men with a parent or parents with fibromyalgia are at greater risk. Because men are less likely to seek medical attention for pain problems, they who finally present themselves to a doctor and are diagnosed with fibromyalgia usually have a more severe form.
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On a men's exam there is nothing unique when compared to a woman. Outside of men having much lower estrogen levels, their tests give the same results.
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Many men admit to strained interpersonal and intimate relationships. Men are very apt to physically express [yelling, anger, irritability, throwing things, etc.] their frustration with constant pain.
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Many job skills require physical abilities, and if fibromyalgia interferes, job skills can not be performed forcing a man to highlight his inabilities and failures, instead of his abilities. This leads men to needing to pursue disability, because is usually is not possible or practical to simply find another job.
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It can be more challenging for men to get out of the disabled or victim mode once they have entered it.
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Affected men represent the "silent minority" in fibromyalgia.
Some of Mark Pellegrino's articles can be found and books also purchased through the "National Fibromyalgia Partnership, Inc".
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"To worry about what we cannot help is useless. To worry about what we can help is stupid.'
The Silent Minority-Check Out The Men With Fibro Resource Website
Our culture teaches that pain is bad, unnecessary and should be quickly eliminated. If we are not successful at eradicating our pain we are viewed as weak or malingering. If we are in pain, then we (or our doctors or medical science in general) have somehow failed.
The message in our society is that we should not feel. We are bombarded from advertising, media, medical authorities, etc. that we should never let ourselves feel any pain. The promise of pain relief is everywhere.
If we have a headache or stomach ache or muscle aches, or if we feel sad, lonely, anxious, depressed or shy we should take a pill that will fix the symptom or feeling. And then we wonder why one of our largest problems in society today is addiction. This attitude actively promotes addiction. We are obsessed in finding and providing quick fixes and quick relief from every little ache, twinge, pain, grief or discomfort.
For this category of pain, I found I must “go into it”. What does this mean? I allow myself to acknowledge and fully experience my frustration resentment, grief and outrage over my suffering. I also allow myself to feel and experience the physical pain in its entirety. I embrace it and become one with it. I surrender to it and I flow along with it and allow it to flow through me. I must come to accept it and learn to function within it.
I must make pain my companion rather than my enemy. I have found that if I fully accept, rather than resist, the pain in this way then it no longer has the same power over my life. Initially in my illnesses I did a lot of cure chasing which eventually led me to realize that I was wasting a lot of time, energy and money. I found that I made more progress when I focused on learning how to live with my illness and within my limits.
