Information on FM, CFS & related syndromes
As many people with FM & CFS know there are many people who do not think these are medical conditions. Many of the syndrome related symptoms many people experienced from time to time especially during times of stress. Also people entering middle age complain of poor memory which they say is due to "age". (At least these are my observations of people I come in contact with every day.) These other symptoms include intermittant periods of constipation to very loose stools, certain foods producing intestinal problems (bloating, cramps, diarrhea or loose stools, nausea ), stiffness after sitting for period of time ranging from as little as 10 minutes, sore or achy muscles even after what would normally be considered minimal physical exersion, and increase frequencies of colds as well as flue like symptoms which may go away in a day or two. Other symptoms include not recognizing faces as well as you use to, slower at doing math calculations, brain sometimes seem to get stalled (unable to think), sometimes unable to comprehend and grasp new information and unable to follow instructions involving more than 2 or 3 short steps without having to look back at the instructions. In other words you can only retain 2-4 steps or pieces of new information in your brain at a time. It is difficult to spell or do anything in your head without writing it down. (Ex. Try subtracting 7 from 900, keep subtracting 7 from your answer, do this for a few minutes. If you have difficulties then you can relate.) There are other symptoms such as the sore tight neck muscles, sore painful lower back (it seems many people have "bad backs"), migraine type headachs (painful headachs that hang around form 4 to 72 hours or longer, (if not treated with pain medication) accompanied by nausea and/or vomiting, sensitivity to sounds & light), post nasal drip (but no allergies), frequent muscle cramps, tender nipples, ect. The list goes on.
Many people may think "doesn't everyone have these idiosynchroncies from time to time?" Therefore many people think FM & CFS is all in the person's head. However their symptoms are no more "all in their head" than the common cold. Try going 4 or 5 days with half the sleep you normally get & see what happens. Chances are your body will have a physical complaint. New research seem to be showing stress, emotions and psychological factors effect conditions that normally had been viewed as having a pure medical cause and showing conditions that have normally been viewed as stress related have a physical cause (Ex. stomach ulcers now have been found to be caused by a bacteria). There have been some physical evidence found in people with FM & CFS in research. However not everyone who has FM or CFS has all of these signs & some people who are not bothered by these signs are diagnosed with FM or CFS.
Therefore I plan to focus on the prevalence of FM & CFS syndrome symptoms in the general population vs. these same symptoms in people with CFS & FM. There are certain diagnostic criterias for both FM & CFS.
I will provide some general information on FM.
Diagnostic criteria:
1. widespread pain for 3 months (includes upper & lower as well as right & left sides of body) which no other cause can be found.
2. 11 out of 18 tender points.
Your doctor should run various tests to rule out other conditions such as lupus & thyroid problems.
Other accompanying conditions:
Alpha-delta wave abnormality (awake brain waves intrude into stage 4 (restorative) sleep. You wake up in the morning in pain & feel as if you never got to sleep.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (many people have this- frequent diarrhea / loose stools and constipation)
Poor memory/ concentration: actually have difficulty remembering things and processing new information.
Myofascial Pain Disorder: pain radiates into other areas (trigger points)
TMJ
Nervous system appears overly sensitive to daily stimuli (Chemical /food / order sensitivies, skin may be overly sensitive to pain)
Depression /Anxiety: (Some researchers found these conditons are result of FM & others found some people with FM had preexisting depression / anxiety.)
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Severe chronic fatigue for longer than 6 months.)
Neuromediated Hypotension (NMH) The blood pressure will drop after standing for prolonged periods of time, in extreme heat and under certain circumstances. There is an apparent miscommunication between the brain and heart. Anyone can experience these symptoms but people with NMH experience symptoms at a much earlier stage than the "normal" person.
Mitral Valve Prolapse This seems to be a common condition in people with FM & CFS. You can hear what it sounds like on the linking site.
