Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

Fibromyalgia is an immobilizing, difficult to manage and not widely known disease which affects many men and women worldwide.

It’s a disease that is about seven times as likely to affect women than men, and although it usually is seen in people between the ages of 30 and 50 it can appear in sufferers of any age, whether elderly or child.

Fibromyalgia is a difficult disease to diagnose; there isn’t a specific set of testing that is able to find and diagnose it, and the symptoms that sufferers experience are often attributed to other diseases before fibromyalgia is presented as the culprit.

Fibromyalgia, which affects more than 12 million Americans, is a musculoskeletal syndrome that may cause some or all of the following: widespread pain, tender points, incapacitating fatigue, anxiety, depression, migraines/chronic headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bladder, insomnia, hypersensitivity to cold/hot, swelling, fibro fog (inability to concentrate/focus), difficulty remembering, numbness, stiffness, decreased energy, noise, light and odor sensitivity, and skin sensitivity.

Symptoms may come and go, lasting a few minutes, an hour, a day, a week, a month, or a year.

Resources:
National Fibromyalgia Association
Fibromyalgia News Today
Fibro Center