Fibromyalgia is a disorder that causes pain in your muscles and joints. It may also cause headaches, muscle stiffness, body aches and can disrupt your sleep. Stress or lack of sleep can make the symptoms of fibromyalgia worse. More women than men have fibromyalgia, and the disorder is common--it is seen in up to 5% of the population. However, it isn't life-threatening and it doesn't cause permanent damage.
The treatment for fibromyalgia is usually a combination of medicine to ease pain and self-care. One of the best things you can do if you have fibromyalgia is exercise. Begin with stretching exercises and gentle, low-impact activity, such as walking, swimming or bicycling. Start your exercise program slowly because at the beginning, exercise may make your pain worse. Some muscle soreness is normal when you're starting to exercise, but sharp pain may be a sign that you have overworked or injured your muscles.
As you progress with exercise, it will become more comfortable for you. For exercise to help, you must do it regularly. The goal is to get started and keep going, to gain relief from pain and to improve sleep. Below are some exercises you might want to try:
Walking: Start slowly by walking 5 minutes the first day. The next day, add a minute to this total. Keep adding 1 or 2 minutes a day until you are walking 60 minutes a day. When you reach this point, walk for at least 1 hour, 3 or 4 times a week. If you find yourself struggling as you're working your way up to walking for 60 minutes, go back to a length of time that was comfortable for you, and continue walking for this period of time for several days. Then continue to increase the minutes again until you reach the goal of 60 minutes. Try as many times as you need to reach the goal of walking for 60 minutes.
Walking/jogging: After you feel comfortable walking 3 or 4 times a week, you can alternate walking with slow jogging. Walk 2 blocks, then jog 1 block, walk 2 blocks, jog 1 block, and so on. Do this as often as it feels comfortable. Extend your exercise for longer periods if you feel comfortable.
Bicycling: Stationary bicycles (exercise bikes) offer the benefit of exercising indoors. Keep track of your mileage, or set a goal of bicycling for 60 minutes.
Swimming: Swimming is a great source of exercise that is very gentle on your joints. Try treading water for 1 to 2 minutes at a time, or swimming several laps. Try to work up to swimming laps for 30 total minutes.
The type of exercise you choose is up to you. It's important that you start exercising and keep doing it. Exercise relieves much of the pain fibromyalgia causes. Some people even find that exercise makes all their pain go away. You will also feel better if you have some control over your own care and well-being.
Treatment
Because the central cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, there is no one treatment that will make your symptoms go away. Therefore it is important to work closely with your doctor and other health professionals to develop a complete body and mind treatment plan that will help you feel better.
Recently the first medication was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically for treating the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Pregabalin (Lyrica) has been shown to reduce pain and improve sleep.
Other options for your treatment plan include:
Education: Understanding the nature of the condition and learning ways to manage your symptoms are the basis of any treatment program.
Medications: Some can diminish pain and others can improve sleep.
Analgesics: Different types of painkillers are available for people with fibromyalgia. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is available over the counter and is quite safe; tramadol (Ultram) is a stronger analgesic than acetaminophen rarely as addictive as narcotics. Narcotic analgesics rarely would be prescribed for fibromyalgia pain.
NSAIDs: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen sodium (Aleve), often are used for their pain-relieving effects rather than their anti-inflammatory effects. They may help ease the muscle aches, menstrual cramps and headaches often associated with fibromyalgia.
Tricyclic antidepressants: This class of antidepressants, including amitriptyline (Elavil), nortriptyline (Pamelor) and the newly approved duloxetine (Cymbalta), work by raising the levels of norepinephrine (formerly called adrenaline) in the brain. Given in doses lower than what is required for antidepressant effects, these drugs can improve the quality of your sleep. They also can relax painful muscles and heighten the effects of endorphin – the body’s natural painkiller.
SSRIs: The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft), that increase the amount of serotonin in your brain, reducing fatigue and possibly pain in people with fibromyalgia. SSRIs will often be prescribed in combination with a tricyclic antidepressant because SSRIs alone may interfere with sleep.
Mixed reuptake inhibitors: Some newer antidepressants raise levels of both serotonin and norepinephrine and are being studied for their use in treating fibromyalgia. These drugs include venlafaxine (Effexor) and nefazadone (Serzone).
Muscle relaxants: The muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine (Cycloflex, Flexeril) has proved useful for the treatment of fibromyalgia and is often prescribed to help ease muscle tension and improve sleep.
Other medications: Benzodiazepines (clonazepam [Klonopin] and diazepam [Valium]) may help relax painful muscles, improve sleep and relieve symptoms of restless legs syndrome (unpleasant sensations in the legs that force you to move them constantly), but they are addictive. Tegaserod (Zelnorm) and alosetron (Lotronex) are now available for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (alternating constipation and diarrhea with bloating). Gabapentin (Neurontin) is an anticonvulsant medication that is being studied for use in people with fibromyalgia.
Exercise: Studies have shown that exercising is essential for easing the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Because of the pain, fatigue and weakness felt by people with fibromyalgia, most have become physically unfit. Aerobic exercise, however, has analgesic and antidepressant effects, and it enhances your sense of well-being and control. If you start in an exercise program slowly and build gradually, you will reap the benefits of exercise without becoming more fatigued and having more pain.
Stretching: Giving your tight painful muscles a good stretch once a day or in short bouts several times a day will provide pain relief. Warming the muscles with gentle movements or with warm water before stretching will make the stretch more comfortable.
Coping skills: There are many techniques you can learn to help ease tension, anxiety and pain, including relaxation, visualization, meditation and biofeedback, as well as minimizing negative self talk, hopelessness and victimization.
Complementary therapies: Some people with fibromyalgia have gotten relief from such therapies as massage, movement therapies (such as Pilates), chiropractic manipulations and acupuncture, among others.
DON'T HAVE Rx COVERAGE?Click Here to print out your FREE OPTIMIZERx Card and instantly begin savings on your next prescriptions!
