Anyone with fibromyalgia is familiar with the chronic pain and fatigue that often accompany this disorder — which affects about 5 million Americans, primarily women.
But feelings of pain and exhaustion aren’t the only symptoms of fibromyalgia. Other signs that aren’t necessarily visible to others can affect the sufferer and make the condition even harder for those around them to understand.
Here are some of the lesser-known signs of fibromyalgia that may be experienced:
# 1 Allodynia
You might not give a second thought to rubbing a loved one’s shoulders or patting a friend on the back. But for someone with allodynia, being the recipient of these simple gestures can result in excruciating pain. Allodynia is a heightened sensitivity to touch, which results in pain from things that normally would not cause discomfort.
“This increased skin sensitivity and pain from touch is hypothesized to occur for a number of reasons,” says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, medical director of Fibromyalgia & Fatigue Centers. “Over one-third of people with fibromyalgia develop a small fiber neuropathy caused from the chronic pain. In addition, the chronic pain causes amplification of pain signals in the brain itself, as well as changes in three key neurotransmitters related to pain.” Dr. Teitelbaum says medications known as NMDA receptor antagonists — memantine (Namenda) is one — can help.
#2 Fibro Fog
Also called “brain fog,” this is a very serious fibromyalgia symptom that leaves many people in distress. “Brain fog or fibro fog is a classic component of the energy crisis we call fibromyalgia,” says Teitelbaum. Some of the common signs of fibro fog include a difficulty with word finding or substitution, loss of short-term memory, and occasionally even episodic disorientation that lasts for about 30 to 60 seconds. “With this disease, calling one’s husband by another man’s name is not a Freudian slip,” Teitelbaum notes. He explains that there is no single cause for fibro fog; rather, it can be caused by a combination of many factors including low thyroid levels, poor sleep, hidden infections such as Candida, and alterations in blood flow to the temporal lobes of the brain, which regulate speech.
Stephen Soloway, MD, a rheumatologist in private practice in Vineland, N.J., attributes much of the difficulties with fibro fog to sleep issues affecting people with fibromyalgia. Practicing good sleep hygiene and getting help from a sleep specialist may be useful.
#3 Paresthesia
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