The Emotional Rollercoaster of Fibromyalgia

Getting sick is a huge burden, not only physically but also emotionally. The emotional rollercoaster of fibromyalgia is shared by almost all of its patients, with the mood swings and depressive episodes, as well as the debilitating pain.

A person dealing with this pain might be reading this article to help them understand as much as they can about the disease, or even to just understand what they can do to deal with the pain a bit better.

Whoever it may be, the key to understanding fibromyalgia is to accept the fact that it affects the patient both physically and mentally, no matter who they are.

What is fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by muscle pain and fatigue. A feeling of pain and tenderness all over the body may also be experienced by people diagnosed with fibromyalgia, other symptoms may include morning stiffness, difficulty in sleeping, headaches, and tingling numbness in certain parts of the body. 

Other chronic ailments may also affect a fibromyalgia patient down the road.  Researchers are still studying whether these diseases are connected or whether they share a common cause. Some of these may include endometriosis, inflammatory bowel movements, interstitial cystitis, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and vulvodynia. Fibromyalgia is often diagnosed in women with an average age of 45 years old, which is approximately 90 percent of the population with it. 

Depression and anxiety are disorders that are most likely to occur together with fibromyalgia. According to studies, this may be because of pathophysiologic links of the two mental ailments to fibromyalgia. It is also noted that those who are diagnosed with it need to be evaluated mentally as well.

The evaluation of mental disorders could help in the overall treatment process of the patient, but this also depends on the severity of a patient's symptoms.

Read on to understand the up and downs fibromyalgia patients go through.