When you have a lifelong condition like fibromyalgia, it makes sense that you may want to know what causes it. Experts have a number of theories about what causes fibromyalgia, but they do not yet know its exact cause. It’s likely that a number of factors may trigger and contribute to fibromyalgia.
Heredity. Like many diseases, fibromyalgia may run in families. So it is likely that some people are born with genes that increase their risk of getting it. It can start at any time, but there may be some events that trigger fibromyalgia in those who are more likely to get it.
Accidents and injuries. Fibromyalgia may be triggered by an injury or trauma.
Infection. Some infections may present with similar symptoms as fibromyalgia. Some that may be linked to fibromyalgia include hepatitis C, Epstein-Barr virus, parvovirus, and Lyme disease.
Autoimmune disorders. These disorders occur when the body’s immune system sees its own tissues as foreign and attacks them. Rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are examples of autoimmune disorders.
People with fibromyalgia have muscle pain that is widespread. They also experience tenderness in certain places in their body. Other symptoms can commonly include sleep problems and tiredness.
Every part of the body receives electrical signals from the nerves in your brain. When something causes pain, your nerve endings pick up pain signals. They carry these messages along nerves to the spinal cord and then to the brain. Your brain processes these pain messages and sends the signals back to your body in the form of pain.
With fibromyalgia, changes may occur in the nerve and brain cells. Due to these changes, people with fibromyalgia may become very sensitive to touch and feel pain more strongly. In scientific studies, it was shown that people with fibromyalgia report more intense feelings of pain. It’s as though the "volume control" for pain is turned up. In several studies it was shown that people with fibromyalgia react more strongly to pain signals than people without the condition.
New research in brain imaging and neuroscience is being carried out by scientists all the time. People will keep working to better understand the causes of fibromyalgia and the role the central nervous system plays. Medical researchers are also working to know more about how fibromyalgia affects your body. As they do, hope for coping with this lifelong condition will grow.
Fibromyalgia is not a new illness. Fibromyalgia was once thought to be a mental disorder and was first described by doctors in the early 1800s. At that time, they wrote about a health condition called "muscular rheumatism." The symptoms were stiffness, aches, pains, tiredness, and difficulty sleeping.
The tender points that are common with fibromyalgia were first described by a doctor in Scotland in the early 1820s. Eighty years later, the term "fibrositis" was first used to describe the chronic and crippling pain of fibromyalgia. The ending "itis" was used as a part of its name because swelling was thought to be a cause of the pain. It took until 1976 for the name of the condition to be changed to "fibromyalgia." It was changed because swelling in the body was no longer thought to be the cause of pain. The term fibromyalgia is taken from three Latin and Greek words: fibra, which means fibrous tissue and has to do with painful tendons and ligaments; myos, which means muscles; and algos, which means pain.
In 1981, the first study confirmed that symptoms and tender points could actually be found in the body. The areas of the body where tender points are typically found include:
• The front and back of the neck
• Mid to upper back of the shoulders
• Upper chest
• Elbows
• Upper buttocks
• Hips
• Knees
Nine years later, in 1990, the American College of Rheumatology wrote the first set of guidelines to help diagnose the condition. While these guidelines have done a lot to help people get an accurate diagnosis of fibromyalgia, there is still much to be learned about its cause. One of the first theories to come out about fibromyalgia was that it was caused by a brain disorder. While there is still no clear-cut answer, there are theories that in some people with fibromyalgia, changes occur in the nerves and brain cells. Due to these changes, people with fibromyalgia become very sensitive to touch and feel pain more intensely.
Researchers have conducted studies to assess pain reactions in people with fibromyalgia while looking at images of their brain. In these studies, more activity in certain parts of the brain of people with fibromyalgia are activated under painful conditions. In addition, studies confirm that people with fibromyalgia feel pain more intensely at lower levels than people without the condition.
In 1997, the first national organization for fibromyalgia, the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA), was formed. It helps educate people with fibromyalgia about their condition. It also helps them manage their condition. By speaking out about fibromyalgia, NFA helped to create a greater awareness of the condition.
In 2005 the first guidelines for treating fibromyalgia pain were published by the American Pain Society.
Researchers continue to work to learn more about fibromyalgia. As they do, they may also find new tools to help manage the pain and other symptoms of the disorder. The outlook for people living with fibromyalgia has never been better.
The symptoms of fibromyalgia can vary from mild to severe and may go on for a long time and should be discussed with your health care professional. Fibromyalgia is not considered to be life-threatening, and its symptoms may not necessarily get worse with time. Although fibromyalgia cannot be cured, many people with fibromyalgia are able to manage their symptoms with proper treatment.
The main symptom of fibromyalgia is pain all over the body for more than 3 months. It is common for people to experience achy muscles that feel tender to the touch and morning stiffness. The pain of fibromyalgia is a "deep" muscle pain and may be felt as:
• Aching
• Radiating
• Shooting
• Gnawing
• Burning
• Exhausting
• Nagging
The pain may not always be the same. For some people with fibromyalgia, the pain and stiffness are worst when they wake up, improve during the day, and increase again at night. But others have all-day, non-stop pain. For many, the pain gets worse with physical activity, stress, or anxiety. Fibromyalgia patients may be more sensitive to light and temperature.
Along with overall pain, people with fibromyalgia have many specific parts of the body that are tender to the touch, also known as tender points. These include:
• Front and back of the neck
• Mid to upper back of the shoulders
• Upper chest
• Elbows
• Upper buttocks
• Hips
• Knees
Fibromyalgia "tender points" from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
• Disturbed sleep. People with fibromyalgia often sleep lightly and wake up during the night. They also often wake up feeling tired and unrefreshed
• Fatigue. People with fibromyalgia may often feel tired throughout the day
• Mood changes. Some people with fibromyalgia report that they feel "blue" or "down." Others report feeling anxious
• Problems with thinking. Some people with fibromyalgia say that they often feel confused, can’t concentrate, and have memory lapses. These problems have been referred to as "fibro fog"
