Fibromyalgia is Real! A Battle That Should Not Have To Be Fought Again

Fibromyalgia is a chronic, widespread pain in muscles and soft tissues accompanied by fatigue, it is a fairly common condition, affecting 3% to 6% of the general population, and is most commonly diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50, though onset can occur in
childhood. The disease is not life-threatening, though the degree of
symptoms may vary greatly from day to day with periods of flares
(severe worsening of symptoms) or remission. The syndrome is generally
perceived as non-progressive, yet that issue is still a matter of debate.

The cardinal symptoms of fibromyalgia are chronic, widespread pain and
tenderness to light touch together with moderate to severe fatigue.
Those affected may also experience heightened sensitivity of the skin (“allodynia“),
tingling of the skin that is often needle-like, a deep ache in the muscle and , less often, the tendons, prolonged muscle spasms, weakness in the limbs, and nerve pain.
Chronic sleep disturbances are also characteristic of fibromyalgia, and
some studies suggest that these sleep disturbances are the result of a
sleep disorder called alpha-delta sleep , a condition in which
deep sleep (associated with delta EEG waves) is frequently interrupted
by bursts of brain activity similar to wakefulness (i.e. alpha waves).
Deeper stages of sleep (stages 3 & 4) are often dramatically
reduced, and that is the likely cause of the cognitive problems that so often accompany fibromyalgia.

There is not any structural damage in an organ, though it may sometimes start after trauma, such as a motor vehicle accident.

It is that last fact, that there is s often no obvious physical pathology, that has lead so many people to claim that fibromyalgia is “nothing more than” pain associated with depression. I have has some interesting “discussions” with health care professionals convinced that people wit fibromyalgia do not have a “real” illness, and that they need psychotherapy or antidepressants. Yet pain is pain, and the false dichotomy: “Is the pain my mind or in my body?” helps nobody.

Twenty-five years ago, Muhammad B. Yunus and his collaborators published the first controlled study of the clinical characteristics of fibromyalgia syndrome. That seminal article, published in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, led directly to formal recognition of this disease by the medical community. Last month, again in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, Muhammed makes another enormous contribution to the field of chronic pain and fatigue by meticulously synthesizing and interpreting the extensive body of scientific literature on fibromyalgia and his own insights into the concept of central sensitivity syndromes (CSS) that include irritable bowel syndrome, migraine and restless legs syndrome.

In fact there are at least 13 separate conditions that are related to central sensitization (CS), where the central nervous system becomes extremely sensitized with respect to certain parts of the body, so that even mild pressure or touch would cause much pain. This hypersensitivity may also be associated with other symptoms such as poor sleep and fatigue.

Muhammed took a rather more biological approach to fibromyalgia in the past, now emphasizes a biopsychosocial perspective:

“In my view, this is tremendously important because it is the only way to synthesize the disparate contributions of such variables as genes and adverse childhood experiences, life stress and distress, posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, self-efficacy for pain control, catastrophizing, coping style, and social support into the evolving picture of central nervous system dysfunction vis-à-vis chronic pain and fatigue. Science and medicine now have rational scaffolding for understanding and treating chronic pain syndromes previously considered to be ‘functional’ or ‘unexplained.’ Neuroscience research will continue to reveal the mechanisms of CS, but only if informed through a biopsychosocial perspective and with the interdisciplinary collaboration of basic scientists, psychologists, sociologists, epidemiologists, and clinicians.”

One of the reasons that I so like this new version of his model is because it fits so well with the concept of “Salience Disruption Syndrome.” A fancy name for a common problem that I talk about in Healing, Meaning and Purpose.

So very many people are super-sensitive to the environment and also have trouble in filtering out and deciding what is important. As a result pain, attentional problems, impulse control disorders, addictions and several other things tend to cluster together.

Happily we now have an array of novel techniques for dealing with these problems, and I plan to put out more books and papers on ways in which we can help.