Fibromyalgia is basically a painful condition of the muscles and nerves with a lot of fatigue acute or chronic in nature for more than 3 to 6 months with dizziness, breathlessness, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, unrefreshing sleep, irritability, mood swings, depression, anxiety, inability to do work, fibro fog, lack of focus, forgetfulness absent-mindedness, sleep apnea and general exhausted feeling even with little exertion, irritable bladder, frequent urination, irregular periods at times, vague pains and aches in the pelvic, abdomen area, vision issues, etc. There is a state of hyperaesthesia and hypersensitivity towards any kind of stimuli in a person with fibromyalgia. Most of the time, patients are able to pinpoint the painful sore spots in specific limited or large areas that almost cover up the whole body. The patients are so exhausted even with little work and are just ready to hit the bed or rest at the drop of a hat.
Most of the patients affected are women and most of the women are in the age group of 25-60 years. It is a disability and a psychosomatic disorder as the physical challenges of coping up with lead to a lot of exhaustion and directly affect the brain, leading to both mental and physical fatigue. So the patient is in a vicious cycle of mental and physical fatigue. The triad of fibromyalgia are pain, fatigue and IBS symptoms
Clinically, the patient comes with pain all over the body, muscles aching-myalgia which has been going on for months or years together, fatigue, exhausted feeling and bowel disorders, IBS scenario. They have been neglecting themselves for a long time due to responsibilities at work, home.
The reasons for Fibromyalgia could be many:
- Stress
- Physical work
- Mental work
- Hereditary
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Electrolyte imbalance
Pre-existing diseases like Hypertension, Low bp, Diabetes, Obesity , PCOS, Hypothyroidism, Anemia, Arthritis, Spondylosis, Spondylitis, Renal disorders, Liver disorders, IBS, Psychosomatic disorders, etc
Lab testing is generally avoided in Fibromyalgia cases unless the doctor feels there's more than meets the eye and the case needs some testing and introspection in detail.
Hence, Arthritis profile, Hormonal profile, Multimineral and multivitamin profile, Hemogram, etc are done to diagnose this condition.
So, How do we got about managing it:
Improving one's lifestyle
Not rushing into things in a stipulated time-esp the rush hours in the morning.
Planning and executing the work , spreading it out is helpful.
Limited activities and hobbies that improve stamina and destress the patient are helpful.
Counseling to help deal with anxiety, depression, panic attacks do provide solace to the patient apart from meds.
Alternative therapies like Homeopathy, Yoga, Acupuncture, etc can help.
The constitutional approach in Homeopathy is the best in such cases because we need to understand the person as a whole and how about treating the patient in a Holistic manner.