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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women: Fibromyalgia

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Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia

Help for a Painful Malady

Feel like you've gone ten rounds with the heavyweight champ--and lost--every day for the past few months? You know--you hurt all over and feel too tired to perform the most basic daily activities. In fact, specific spots are exquisitely tender to the touch, and you are unable to sleep at night. That's the hallmark of fibromyalgia.

Medically, fibromyalgia is described as a pain syndrome. Textbooks call it a painful, non-joint-related condition that predominantly involves the muscles and connective tissue called fascia. Fibromyalgia puzzled doctors for years. But Susan Ward, M.D., clinical assistant professor of medicine and associate director of the Jefferson Osteoporosis Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, believes that fibromyalgia is related to not sleeping well.

"Normally, when people sleep, they enter the stage-four sleep, which produces deep relaxation, and their muscles naturally 'turn off,'" says Dr. Ward. "But people with fibromyalgia don't enter stage-four sleep. As a result, their muscles don't rest properly and they ache."

Doctors can treat fibromyalgia with antidepressant medications that normalize sleep patterns, says Dr. Ward. So if you think that you might have fibromyalgia, see your doctor.

When To See A Doctor

"The women who do best with fibromyalgia are those who have had the symptoms for less than six months and who have received immediate care," says Elizabeth Tindall, M.D., clinical associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. So she urges anyone who has symptoms to see a doctor promptly.

According to Dr. Tindall, the classic symptoms of fibromyalgia are:

* Chronic pain

* Profound fatigue

* General debilitation

EASING THE ACHE

If in fact you do have fibromyalgia and not a similar condition such as chronic fatigue syndrome, these at-home strategies can enhance comfort.

Get moving, even if you hurt. "It's hard to tell a patient who's hurting all over that the most effective treatment is exercise, but it's true," says Elizabeth Tindall, M.D., clinical associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. "The good news about the pain of fibromyalgia is that the pain has no purpose. That means that even though you hurt, exercise won't do any damage. Exercise can significantly control the pain of fibromyalgia."

Start slowly and set realistic goals, says Dr. Tindall. Try for a brisk five-minute walk, then gradually increase the time and intensity until you're walking briskly for 20 minutes three times a week.

Try warm-water exercise. "Many women avoid aquatic exercise because the thought of getting into a cold pool is too much. Check with your local Y or with the health clubs in your area about special therapeutic 'aqua-cize' programs held in heated pools," says Dr. Tindall. Water at body temperature--that is, between 90° and 100°F--is best.

Hop into a hot tub. "Heat can soothe the pain of fibromyalgia," says Sharon Clark, R.N., Ph.D., a family nurse practitioner and associate professor of nursing at the School of Nursing and assistant professor of medicine at the School of Medicine Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases at Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine in Portland. "Try a long soak in a hot bath, or use a hot tub with a gentle whirlpool if one is accessible. This would also be a good time to do some gentle stretching."

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