The word 'Fibromyalgia' is a combination of the Latin roots 'fibro'
(connective tissue fibres) 'my' (muscle) 'al' (pain) and 'gia' (condition
of).
Fibromyalgia is not 'all in your head'
On January 1st, 1993, the World Health Organization officially recognised Fibromyalgia as a real
syndrome, in the Copenhagen Declaration.
Symptoms
Fibromyalgia can affect many
different parts of the body which often clouds the diagnosis. Dr St Amand, in
his book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About
Fibromyalgia describes the symptoms
- some of them are listed below:
Musculoskeletal:
Widespread pain in the muscles, tendons and ligaments, numbness, tingling and
twitching.
Cerebral:
Impaired memory and concentration (often referred to as 'fibrofog'),
irritability, severe fatigue, non-restorative sleep, dizziness and headaches.
Dermal:
Itching and rashes.
Gastrointestinal:
Irritable bowel syndrome (gas, pain, bloating, constipation alternating with
diarrhea).
Genitourinary:
Vulvodynia (includes vulvitis, increased menstrual and uterine cramps,
bladder infections, chronic interstitial cystitis.)
Miscellaneous:
Brittle nails, eye irritations, ringing in the ears, dizziness and vertigo.
Increased sensitivity to sounds, bright lights, smells and some chemicals.
Depending on the predominant symptoms at
any time and the type of specialist seen, the patient may be diagnosed with any
of the following labels:
Dr St. Amand believe these conditions are
all part of FMS.
Click below to read two of Dr St. Amand's
research papers:
Fibromyalgia
and Chronic Fatigue: One Disease, Two Names
Genitourinary
Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
Treatments for Fibromyalgia
Traditionally, treating fibromyalgia has involved addressing individual
symptoms and often offers minimal relief. However, thanks to the pioneering
work of Dr St Amand, people with fibromyalgia now have a real hope with a
treatment that can reverse the disease - Guaifenesin.
Interested? Then read on...
