What exactly is
fibromyalgia?
A quick way to find out the basics of something is to Google it, but if you want really understand its nature, its essence, then you might try to imagine what it would be like if it were a person. So, what would fibromyalgia be like as a person? Would it be a thief stealing your energy and your life? Would it demanding boss, always pushing you to work harder and harder? In the end, I couldn't come up with a character that would give me deeper insight into the illness, but I did find a phenomenon that I felt matched the condition pretty well, and that is fog.
Like fog, fibromyalgia envelops individuals, affecting nearly every aspect of their lives—physical, mental, and emotional.
Fog is elusive and pervasive covering everything in a blanket that can dampen sounds, reduce visibility, and give the world a surreal, dreamlike quality. It can appear without warning and may lift at times only to return, much like the unpredictable flares and remissions of fibromyalgia.
Fog affects everyone differently; some might find it simply a nuisance, while for others, it significantly alters their ability to function or navigate spaces. Similarly, fibromyalgia affects different people differently, with symptoms varying widely in intensity and impact.
Just as fog is not always immediately visible from a distance, the symptoms of fibromyalgia—such as pain, fatigue, and cognitive impairments—are often invisible to others. This invisibility can lead to misunderstandings and underestimation of the condition's impact by friends, family, and sometimes even medical professionals. People with fibromyalgia might hear that they "don't look sick," mirroring how one might underestimate the thickness of fog until actually stepping into it.
Fog varies in intensity; some days, it’s a thin veil that only slightly obscures the landscape, while other days, it’s so thick that it blankets everything, making it difficult to see even a few feet ahead. Similarly, fibromyalgia symptoms can fluctuate significantly, with some days being relatively manageable and others overwhelmingly debilitating. This variability can affect planning and daily activities, requiring individuals to adjust constantly—much like how drivers must slow down and use caution under heavy fog.
Fog distorts visual perception, often making the familiar look unfamiliar and unclear. This aspect of fog mirrors the cognitive symptoms associated with fibromyalgia, often referred to as "fibro fog," where memory lapses, difficulty in concentrating, and confusion can alter a person's mental landscape. Just as fog can make it hard to navigate physical spaces, cognitive symptoms can make it challenging to navigate mental tasks.
Fog can cast a gloomy or melancholy pall over normal activities. In fibromyalgia, the chronic pain and constant fatigue can similarly affect mood, leading to frustration, sadness, or anxiety about when symptoms might flare again.
Fog touches everything within its reach; it doesn’t localize to one area. Fibromyalgia is similarly comprehensive, impacting numerous systems within the body—from muscular and skeletal discomfort to sleep disturbances and gastrointestinal issues.
Just as people learn to adapt to driving or walking in fog, employing fog lights and moving cautiously, individuals with fibromyalgia develop coping mechanisms and strategies to manage their symptoms. They might adjust their schedules, prioritize activities based on their energy levels, and seek treatments that range from medication to physical therapy and mindfulness practices.
What exactly is
fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a condition that is characterized by chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain all over the body. Other symptoms include sleep problems, fatigue, and emotional and mental distress. People with fibromyalgia tend to be more sensitive to pain than others. Fibromyalgia has a worldwide presence affecting nearly 1 in 20 people globally. Although men are affected by this condition women are seven times more likely to develop fibromyalgia. The cause of fibromyalgia is not known, but it can be effectively treated and managed, especially with natural treatment methods.
When people ask what fibromyalgia is they are usually given a long list of the main symptoms. While this list gives us an overall picture of the illness it doesn’t tell us anything about the essence of the disease. There are however, two words that capture the essence of fibromyalgia and they are “sensitivity” and “stiffness.” Sensitivity to chemical, light, noises, and especially to pain. Stiff joints, tight muscles, and stiff body.
What are the
symptoms of
fibromyalgia?
chronic pain
Chronic, widespread pain throughout the body or at multiple sites. Pain is often felt in the arms, legs, head, chest, abdomen, back, and buttocks. People often describe it as aching, burning, or throbbing.
headaches and migraine
Migraine or tension headaches are fairly common. Regular headaches may be caused by pain in the neck and upper back, tight neck muscles, or by tender points in the back and neck. These can grow to be debilitating, and can greatly interfere with day-to-day living.
tenderness to touch
There are 18 tender points that tend to be symmetrical in the body. They are located both above and below the waist around the neck, chest, shoulders, hips, and knees. A tender point feels painful when pressed on it with just enough force to turn a fingernail white.
In the 1900s the American College of Rheumatology included counting tender points in their Fibromyalgia Diagnostic Criteria, but dropped this requirement in 2010. The reason being that many patients with fibromyalgia didn't have tender points. Another point is diagnosing tender points is very subjective; the way that one doctor applies pressure to a patient differs from other doctors.
Also, fibromyalgia pain tends to fluctuate in location and intensity, so one day, a patient could have severe pain in nearly all tender points, and the next day, they might have pain in only a few.
tingling and numbness
Numbness or tingling in the arms, hands, legs, feet, and sometimes face. Numbness and tingling tend to come and go. Sometimes they are triggered by stress, an infection, or an injury, and at other times, they appear without an apparent trigger.
sleep problems
Difficulty falling asleep, significantly more nighttime awakenings, non-restorative sleep and daytime fatigue are common symptoms of fibromyalgia. Sleep and fibromyalgia share a bidirectional relationship: pain can prevent patients from getting enough rest, and sleep deprivation can exacerbate feelings of pain and tenderness.
fatigue and overwhelming tiredness
Fatigue ranges from mild tiredness to complete exhaustion. Severe tiredness may come on suddenly and can drain the person of all their energy. In this state they are feel too tired to do anything at all. People with chronic fatigue have a limited supply of energy to complete the tasks of the day and need to pace themselves. Their energy supply is metaphorically represented as spoons, and this is know as spoon theory.
sensitivity
Heightened sensitivity to light, noise, odors, and temperature.
digestive issues
About two-thirds of those with fibromyalgia have stomach pain, bloating, gas, and nausea on a regular basis. Constipation or diarrhea can also occur regularly. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are not uncommon in patients with fibromyalgia.
brain fog
Research suggests more than half of people with fibromyalgia have problems with concentrating, thinking clearly, and memory. This is sometimes referred to as “fibro fog.”
depression and anxiety
Those living with fibromyalgia tend to feel rejected, isolated, or misunderstood by others. This often leads to depression and anxiety. The constant physical pain can also contribute to depression. Some researchers suggest that depression and fibromyalgia may be more than just a cause-and-effect relationship. A 2012 study cited that the similarities in the makeup of the two conditions, as well as treatment options, suggest they may be two symptoms of an underlying condition.