Symptoms of fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a disorder of pain. Unlike most other pain-related conditions, pain from fibromyalgia is characterized by being:
- Affecting all the body both above and below the waist, especially the backbone.
- Chronic, lasting for months.
- Associated with tenderness, where pain increases on pressing the affected part.
Other symptoms related to fibromyalgia include:
- Depression: Depression is one of the known symptoms of fibromyalgia. It is considered to be independent from the chronic pain. Patients suffer from depression owing to the decreased level of the hormone serotonin in the brain.
- Altered sleep pattern: Our sleep and wakefulness are controlled by different parts of the brain, and patients suffering from fibromyalgia tend to have abnormal sleep cycles and timing. The end result is chronic headache and fatigue.
- Anxiety: Anxiety is one of the complications of fibromyalgia which results from chronic pain, which activates our sympathetic nervous system.
- Cognitive problems: Fibromyalgia can affect memory and concentration. Patients often report defective short-term memory and ability to do tasks that require prolonged concentration. It is not clear whether this results from the altered sleep pattern or because of parallel affection of other sites in the brain.