Muscle spasms can be a source of considerable pain in people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Many times we fail our muscles relax, although several treatments.
I almost always have contracted the muscles, especially in the neck, entire back (from the shoulders to the buttocks) and thighs. Not to mention that I also have other muscle spasms in various parts of my body at different times of the day. And this is a situation that limits my physical activity relevant and often prevents me from falling asleep easily.
Apart from the fact that these muscle spasms can occur suddenly. At least in my case, they may come suddenly, with no way to predict; I feel pretty good, to be walking, sitting or lying down and suddenly occur, without my having done something special.
But what are the causes of these muscle spasms?
Although scientists do not yet have a definitive answer, some studies have shown a relationship between muscle spasms and trigger points (18 tender points in the body, used to diagnose fibromyalgia).
Trigger points are small areas of muscle and fibrous tissue are constantly spasm, but sometimes it can improve or worsen. An important feature of the trigger points that can cause pain refers; namely, that cause pain far from where they are, then an active trigger point in your neck can cause pain in the face around the eyes, or headaches. And when you refer to your doctor where it hurts, you do not notice anything wrong. Sound familiar?
In one study, researchers were able to recreate the fibromyalgia pain “seemingly random” by manipulating the trigger points, suggesting that at least some ‘of our pain can be caused by trigger points.
Another possible cause of muscle spasms, is that our nervous system is not working properly, and the nerves send wrong signals, causing contractions or spasms.
How to treat muscle spasms
The most common treatment for muscle cramps are muscle relaxants such as cyclobenzaprine. In my personal experience, when I had cramps or muscle pain, I take 10 mg of cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril or Tonalgen), and it also helps me to reduce the intensity of pain, not a complete solution.
It is believed that some supplements help with muscle spasms, including magnesium, malic acid, calcium, zinc, B complex, creatine. Some people seem to get relief from them, even though there is no concrete evidence of its effectiveness and there is little or no research on them specifically for fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Others do not get relief from traditional treatments such as acupuncture, massage (in particular myofascial release and lymphatic drainage), trigger point injections, physical therapy.
However, there are some things you can do at home to help improve muscle spasms (all of them use), such as:
use of massage devices in the affected areas
Apply heat with an electric buffer
Applying ice or frozen pad
features
Practicing yoga and / or Tai Chi
Apply creams or topical patch muscle
Some additional considerations ….
Did you know that more energy is needed to relax a muscle to contract to know? In fact, you need twice. When our energy is low, as is common in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, the body can not make this work and muscle remains contracted. So it seems to be a link between lack of energy at the cellular level and the inability to relax muscles.
According to some studies, supplements can increase the cellular energy include B-12, magnesium, carnitine, CoQ10, D-ribose, NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, known as Nicotin adenine dinucleotide). You can see that magnesium and vitamin B-12 is also included to aid in muscle spasms.
Living with muscle spasms
While muscle spasms can not be eliminated completely from our lives when suffering from fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, it is also true that we have a lot of treatment options that can help you feel better and work better.
As I always say, there is no exact formula for everyone, it is a matter of experience. Talk to your doctor about your options, and try some treatments that are safe for you, and when something works, just keep doing it.
