By Marika Nicoll I was diagnosed a few years ago with fibromyalgia, although I realised afterwards that I had had it for as long as I could remember, but had never heard of it before then. Then last year I was also diagnosed with second degree heart block of unknown origin. I got a…
By Keelin Nielsen Donohoe For a lot of people with fibromyalgia it can take years to find the real diagnosis. For me it took 6 years to even hear the word fibromyalgia, and a year and a half more to finally have it written in my notes as my official diagnosis. In most cases, people…
By Madeleine Sara ‘I decide to check my emails, but have to go in search of my spectacles. Maybe I left them in the hall? I notice FM magazine has arrived with the post, which I take into the study. Throwing junk mail in the waste basket, I see it’s full. Putting the rest of…
Fibromyalgia patients have 3 times the rate of depression compared with those without the condition and more than 50% of patients with fibromyalgia experience lifetime depression. Depression, an important modifiable factor in the management of fibromyalgia, was associated with poorer outcomes. Future guidelines should focus on the importance of both identifying and treating depression when…
There are many ways to manage fibromyalgia symptoms at home. Alternative therapies and home remedies such as massage, hot and cold therapy, vitamins and supplements, acupuncture, aromatherapy and meditation have been found to help many people with their chronic pain. In this article we will look at 12 ways you can try to manage your…
Understanding Pain Receptors and Their Effect on Fibromyalgia Treatment Experts have always suspected that the brain plays a big role in fibromyalgia pain, but the specific connection has remained a mystery. Unlike other chronic pain disorders, many fibromyalgia sufferers get little to no relief from powerful pain medication, including opioids, which suggests that the brain is…
Training Your Brain Can Relieve Mental and Physical Symptoms Memory loss can be annoying, frightening, or downright dangerous. In fibromyalgia sufferers, continuous memory impairment — or “fibro fog” as it’s sometimes called — is a part of life, and can wreak havoc on daily obligations. From difficulty finding words and staying focused to long-term memory lapses,…
By Norah Wickerson Our personality can increase our chances of developing an addiction to alcohol, drugs or gambling, or becoming an ‘adrenaline junkie’ for extreme sports or computer games. Could our personality also predispose us to develop Fibromyalgia? We often think of our personality as our ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ reinforced in the adage ‘finding our…
Fibromyalgia is defined as A condition which causes wide spread pain and tiredness Yet there is so much more to it So many things we wish you knew We wish you knew That we wish we could be happy and carefree again That the pain steals the lives we used to have What it…
When Lady Gaga announced she had fibromyalgia in 2017, it helped raise awareness on what is often a very misunderstood condition. “Very often fibromyalgia patients go from doctor to doctor searching for an answer,” says Dr. Elizabeth Volkmann, assistant professor of medicine in the division of Rheumatology at UCLA. “Doctors will look for lupus or rheumatoid…
