Few Major Symptoms and Treatments for Fibromyalgia
Over the past few years the disease known as fibromyalgia has been affecting increasing numbers of people, and the prevalence is getting worse.
Online, February 13, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Over the past few years the disease known as fibromyalgia has been affecting increasing numbers of people, and the prevalence is getting worse. The symptoms of the disease vary considerably among people, and the range of treatment is rapidly expanding. So, what is Fibromyalgia? It is a disease characterized by musculoskeletal pain over large parts of the body. A person suffering the disease is more sensitive to pain that people without the disease simply ignore. The disease seems to affect many more women than men.
The disease has a very complex nature, and symptoms vary from person to person and so are the treatments for fibromyalgia. Many patients experience flu-like symptoms that never entirely go away. Another common symptom is known as "fibro fog". This is where a person cannot think straight and may repeat themselves often. They have problems remembering, and this interferes with proper decision-making processes. Another common problem with people suffering from this disease is extreme tiredness. People wake up in the morning feeling fatigued. They feel as though they didn't get any sleep at all, and sometimes this is a problem as well. Having sleep problems is another manifestation of this disease. People feel as though they need to push themselves all the time to get even the simplest of tasks done. Because of the wide range of symptoms many treatment processes are available in traditional and nontraditional form.
Once properly diagnosed, a patient's doctor has a range of prescription medications that can be prescribed for Fibromyalgia treatment. Initially, most physicians emphasize a patient trying out over-the-counter pain medications. If these do not work a doctor can start prescribing stronger pain medications. Another class of prescription medications that have shown a lot of promise are antidepressants. Many drugs like Duloxetine have shown to reduce pain and fatigue. Then there are the anti-seizure medications such as Lyrica that help in reducing pain.
Other patients seek treatments for Fibromyalgia through alternative medicine. One common method is through acupuncture. Although not fully understood, acupuncture shows lots of present and future promise as an alternative treatment. Another popular alternative treatment is through massage therapy. Through massage, the muscles are relaxed; the heart rate is slowed down, joints become more flexible and the body's production of natural painkillers gets increased. Fibromyalgia is a very complicated disease with many facets. It's imperative that a sufferer seek a good specialist to discuss the disease. Many healthcare professionals simply do not have enough knowledge about the disease to give a patient and informed opinion about care.