What is Fibromyalgia?

Man 1: Knock Knock

Man 2: Who's there?

Man 1: Fibro

Man 2: Fibro who?

Man 1: EXACTLY!!

For those of you who don't already know, I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in December 2008. The biggest problem I have had with this diagnosis is the lack of knowledge about this "Syndrome!" It was a long LONG LONG road of 3 and a half years before I finally, through God alone, found a Doctor here in Dallas that was known for his experience dealing with Fibromyalgia patients. To make a long story short...or shorter shall I say.....not many people, including Doctors know much about this "Syndrome" much less about its long term affects or how to treat it.

With all of this being said I would personally like to take a few moments to let you in on what I have found out since the diagnosis, through other Fibro patients, Internet Dr.'s, and books!!

Fibromyalgia is characterized by an extreme sensitization of the central nervous system (don't worry I will explain it in smaller words in just a second)! As a Fibromyalgia patient we have an imbalance of neurochemicals in the central nervous system. Our bodies have high levels, or over produce, the chemical "Substance P," which is what transmits pain signals to the rest of the body, therefore makes the body believe it is in more pain than it actually is. This also means that if we really do have pain that a "normal (or non-fibro)" person would experience, then the body can overstimulate the problem which is called "wind up." This just means that after a initial pain stimulus and response a second response will result and be much greater and last longer than the first one! A common misconception of Fibro is that it is an auto-immune disease, whereas it is very similar to things such as Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, and Lyme disease, it is not an auto-immune disease. However, Fibromyalgia is similar in many ways to the above listed diseases.
The easy way to explain it and what I usually tell people when they ask is it is characterized by "Chronic and widespread muscle pain and weakness"

Fibromyalgia has a HUGE variety of random and seemingly un-related symptoms
that include:
Fatigue
Sleep Disturbances
Headaches
IBS, Abdominal pain
Unable to regulate one's body temperature
Brain Fog
Sensory Overload
Pain
Morning Stiffness
Muscle Weakness
Parasthesia (numbness or tingling)
Flare-ups (sxs rapidly increase unexpectedly)
18 points on the body that have a heightened sensitivity

Although I could go on for another year or so about Fibro, I will give you a few examples of ways that it has affected me, then let you go for now. One example of one of the most annoying symptoms I experience is randomly my lymph nodes on either side on my neck just below my jaw will swell so big my neck is even with my jaw line. When it gets to that point I will be in so much pain that I can't even talk or turn my head from side to side, cough drops of course do not help because its not a "throat" problem. Ice cream gives me very brief relief, but lets be honest if I really ate ice cream every time my lymph nodes swell up I would be HUGE!! haha....

Another example would be if I'm sitting in our house and the thermostat is on 74 or something not too cold and I am not moving around a lot my body will get so cold that my limbs will start to turn blue/purple and go numb....at this point nothing works to get my body temp back to normal except a HOT bath (which is my favorite therapy right now)!!

Last example, if I decide to sit down for a bit "Indian Style" (shout out to all my "Indian Friends" for making such a GREAT sitting style that we named it after them...Dr. Ahmad) I will not be able to walk for several minutes after getting out of that position. Seriously, I can sit like that for 2 min (this is not a typical Micaela exaggeration....really 2 min) .....and be stuck on the floor trying to stretch my legs back out to walk for 15 minutes. I look like an 80 year old woman when I have to stand up at work after I have been sitting in a normal chair for more than 15 minutes!

Ok, well I probably bored you all enough with my problems. Thank you very much to all who took the time to read this, just knowing that I might have helped someone slightly understand something more about this "Syndrome" makes me try to sleep better at night.

I would appreciate you guys letting me know your opinion on this, if you would to hear more about Fibro or more specifically what we go through....or just funny stories of me looking like an idiot because of something that I have developed from Fibro...let me know!! I would be more than happy to tell you how I got Fibro or give you more examples!! Just give me your feedback! Thanks guys.....Love ya God Bless