Fibromyalgia Syndrome Simplified

Fibromyalgia has been “trash can” labeled, just as another syndrome, simply because no one is sure what causes fibromyalgia.
It’s not any easy task; fibromyalgia represents a whole barrage of symptoms with groups or clusters of symptoms, which makes it hard to properly diagnose, treat or cure.
Fibromyalgia has been generally thought of as a type of “rheumatic” or inflammatory pain disorder, but instead of involving the joints it’s characterized by a painful tenderness around tendons, surrounding tissue and muscles.
Later in this article I will reveal how some leading researchers now suspect fibromyalgia may be more of a neurological disorder than inflammatory.
How Is Fibromyalgia Classified?
First, let’s look at the diagnostic criteria established more than two decades ago by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in 1990.
According to ACR guidelines, fibromyalgia symptoms must represent wide spread chronic pain in at least 11 of 18 defined “tender points” of the body.
Currently, these “tender points” are being reconsidered because after all these years of misdiagnosing people. Doctors have finally accepted the possibility that there is more to fibromyalgia then just inflammatory pain.
Other symptoms may include:
- Chronic fatigue
- Sleep disorders
- Mental issues
Fibromyalgia is like electricity: we can say we know a lot about it, but we still can’t explain exactly what it is.
The Adrenal Connection
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Common Adrenal Fatigue symptoms are: *Cravings for sugar, *Cravings for salt on food when you eat, *Feel dehydrated and thirsty and require plenty of water, *Difficulty falling asleep at night, sleep lightly or wake early or often, *Difficulty relaxing, nervous, anxious or hyperactive, *Often spacey, or foggy thinking, even memory loss,* Lack willpower to accomplish, *General exhaustion,*Hormone imbalances, *Low libido,*Weight gain, especially in abdomen and waist area, *Losing muscle tone, *Sagging skin, dry, yellow or pale in color, *Hair starting to gray, thin out and become dry, *Lips losing their color,*Loss of appetite, *Anorexia, *Weight loss,*High blood sugar
Fibromyalgia can also be related to a decreased adrenal function or adrenal fatigue. There are a few other diseases that also have an adrenal system component, such as: chronic fatigue syndrome, alcoholism, ischemic heart disease, hypoglycemia, rheumatoid arthritis and recurrent respiratory infections.
I am mentioning this because it’s important to identify where fibromyalgia and other disease patterns overlap in the hope of finding better solutions than what are typically offered.
It’s also interesting to note that researchers have found circulatory abnormalities in as many as 30% of fibromyalgia patients in preliminary studies (3).
Here’s another interesting piece of research from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):