subject: Why Is Fibromyalgia So Hard To Manage? [print this page] Fibromyalgia is a chronic illness currently with no cure. Treatment of patients with fibromyalgia therefore focuses on supportive care, including analgesics (anti-pain medicine), moderate physical activity, manual therapy and other types of complementary medicine that can ease chronic pain.
In order to properly understand this illness and the significant damage it can cause to the patient's daily life one should first acknowledge this disease. Up until 20 years ago fibromyalgia wasn't accepted as a "real" disease. Patients, often women, were treated as purely psychiatric patients even by their family physicians.
In recent years many studies have showed that this is in fact a physiological disorder. The exact mechanism of the pathology of this disease is not yet known, however it is clear that it involves damage to pain stimulation pathways and over-sensitivity of the body to regular touch stimuli.
A recent study held in France, aimed to better understand the subjective experience of a fibromyalgia patient, and the impact of the disease on their daily functioning, while working, sleeping and managing a family.
This research showed beyond doubt that fibromyalgia interfered with all aspects of life. The main issues observed in the study were the disease's impact on the patients' occupational life, their social and personal life and their future. Six females volunteered to participate in this study. All participants eventually had to stop working, due to growing lack of functioning and lack of sleep.
Most patients suffered from a feeling of uselessness and lost identity. Family relations were hurt, some even broken. These results correlate with the statement that fibromyalgia is a very disabling condition, and is unfortunately associated with poor quality of life. Current medical interventions include a more interdisciplinary approach, to assist most aspects of the disease- controlling pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances.
In the previously mentioned study, all women who participated had had problems dealing at work since the onset of their disease. Most of them stated that no matter how much they loved their jobs, it was very hard for them to both maintain it and handling their daily symptoms. Difficulties to continue working were usually due to the physical limitation- both severe muscle pain and exhaustion/ fatigue. Some patients even mention trouble concentrating on their work as the main reason for their quitting.
Stress also plays a role in fibromyalgia, and patients usually suffer high levels of stress, leading to greater sensation of failure. Treatment in these cases should focus on medications in combination with activities that can reduce stress levels, such as meditation, mellow physical activity, etc.
