Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue: Common Symptoms
One of the most common complaints that fibromyalgia patients have is chronic fatigue (CF). Other symptoms include widespread tender points all over the body, sleep disturbances, depression, headaches, osteoarthritis and irritable bowel syndrome. Chronic fatigue syndrome patients also feel tenderness in their lymph nodes, joints and muscles, although their primary problem is debilitating fatigue, unrefreshing sleep and post-exertion malaise. For both syndromes, there are currently no scientific tests used to diagnose patients, which makes treatment difficult.
Those who suffer from CF and severe fibromyalgia say that fatigue is the most debilitating component of their illness since they are overly sensitive to pain and are never fully alert, which can affect all of their day to day tasks. Consequently treatments for fibromyalgia and CF typically start with managing sleep patterns, states Mary Rose, behavioral sleep specialist and clinical psychologist at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine.
“We realize from studies that sleep improves disposition, pain, and the general way that folks feel throughout the day,” she says. “Regardless of the reasons for CF, if the quality of sleep can be controlled, you’re likely to notice positive benefits for mood, fatigue, concentration.”
“In fibromyalgia, all treatments are geared toward helping people sleep better,” agrees Temple University’s Steven Berney, MD. “If we can improve their sleep, patients will get better.” Chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia doctors say that often, it’s not that their patients aren’t sleeping — but rather, their quality of sleep is impaired. Somehow they’re not reaching that much-needed REM-cycle sleep and their circadian rhythms are slightly off. Yet patients with health questions need to be prepared to hear the honest answers. “A good deal is self-treatment,” says Martin Grabois MD of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Patients have to be active, not passive.”
When chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia patients hear the word “exercise,” they often panic. “How can I possibly go running, walk on a treadmill, ride a bike, or do anything? I feel too pooped to even do the dishes!” They also know the pain of relapsing or “crashing,” as it’s called. Often they’ll over-exert themselves on “a good day” and suffer for the next week, struggling to recover from the worsened signs and symptoms. However, exercise for a CFS and fibromyalgia patients is different. They should start small and pace themselves, doing just a few minutes of gentle exercises at a time. Yoga, water exercises and walking around the block are all safe exercises for beginners.
If you have been recently diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome you are going to need to research the condition as much as you can. While you can treat the symptoms, the chronic fatigue syndrome causes are still largely unknown. Find out what you can do at Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Help.
