Fibro-What?

    Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that causes pain in your muscles and joints. It makes you feel tired. Fibromyalgia is not currently curable. A variety of treatments are available such as acupuncture, chiropractic treatments, medicines and exercise.  A lot of doctors don't believe fibromyalgia is a real disorder. they believe that  it's all in the persons head. But in reality millions of people suffer from it every day. It can cause people to become depressed, have severe anxiety and develop stress disorders. Many people say that it feels like you have the flu everyday. It is not yet known what causes fibromyalgia. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia patients have a lower tolerance for pain than a generally healthy person because of the pain-sensitive nerves in the brain and spinal cord over processing pain signals. Basically your brain is constantly sending out pain to all the parts of your body because it thinks that everything is trying to hurt you. 

   Anyone can be affected by fibromyalgia. According to Dr. Mehmet Oz about 5 million people in the America are currently battling fibromyalgia. It is more common in women than in men. People who have family members with fibromyalgia are at a high risk for developing fibromyalgia. If you have experienced any trauma to the spinal cord or brain there is a possibility of inhibiting symptoms associated with the disorder.  Though uncommon children are at risk. 

    

   Fibromyalgia can be diagnosed by doing a physical examination by a Rheumatologist. It cannot be ruled out or confirmed with a simple blood test. The physical exam tests 18 test points but patients only need 11 out of the 18 along with other symptoms to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Other symptoms include: fatigue, insomnia, trouble sleeping, tension or migraines headaches, sensitivity to odor, lights and foods, numbness and tingling in various parts of the body and abdominal pain.  Doctors usually wait 3 months after a patient has had ongoing pain to consider fibromyalgia as a possible illness. Those who have all the symptoms should talk to their primary doctor about fibromyalgia and then their doctor might refer them to a rheumatologist if they deem it necessary

 There are many treatments and medications available for fibromyalgia but many don't work. Personally I have tried an extensive list of medication and I have tried acupuncture and the chiropractor but nothing has really worked or they only worked for a certain amount of time. After doing a lot of research the most effective drugs for treating fibromyalgia is marijuana and xanax.Most doctors prescribe xanax as a last resort for treatment because of the side effects of the drug.