National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day is May 12th!

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia Syndrome is a cognitive disorder that affects the central nervous system. This is a disease, and there is no cure. This disease is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, chronic fatigue, depression, fibro fog, and fibro flares.

Fibromyalgia is a central nervous system disorder. The brain is continuously firing pain signals throughout the body. The entire nervous system fully reacts, becoming oversensitive to everything around us! Responding to this unpleasant stimulus, known as “noxious stimuli” is what a person with fibromyalgia feels. Lights are too bright, smells are overpowering, noises are too irritating, heat is too hot, cold is too cold, and touch is too painful.  Happy Birthday, Fibromyalgia…?

Chronic fatigue felt by a person with fibromyalgia is never-ending, even after a full night’s sleep. (Stay awake for three days, doctors report this is what the fatigue of fibromyalgia feels like every day.) Energy is fleeting. This is not just being tired and taking a nap to refresh yourself. It doesn’t matter how much sleep a person with fibromyalgia gets, exhaustion is felt throughout the day. Many individuals have sleep disorders that prevent them from obtaining a deep sleep, this adds to the fatigue already experienced by the individual with fibromyalgia. Should I Leave the Spoon Theory Behind?

Depression is common in people with fibromyalgia. It was found that a person with Fibromyalgia has lowered dopamine level production. Dopamine and the Fibro Brain.  Your sense of well-being is limited. Living with pain and fatigue, day-to-day, will also cause depression.

Fibro fog is a cognitive disorder. This is not like just forgetting someone’s name or where you put your keys, this is a dysfunction that occurs in the brain. The Fog of Fibromyalgia.

A Fibro flare is a temporary increase in pain and/or symptoms of fibromyalgia. This occurs when we over-do things, expending our energy, and at other times for no reason. This will pass, but you will experience flares throughout the entire time you have this disease. Fibromyalgia Flare! Again.

There is a full list of fibromyalgia symptoms listed on this site’s menu, I have only covered the basic ones. Fibromyalgia Symptoms.

~Kim