Category: Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain disorder that affects an estimated 4 million American adults every year. If left untreated, fibromyalgia can lead to severe physical impairment, psychological distress, and reduced quality of life.

But did you know that fibromyalgia can also cause neuropathic pain? In this blog post, we’ll explore the link between fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a complex condition that affects multiple parts of the body. It is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive issues (also known as “fibro fog”), headaches, and other symptoms.

While there is no single cause of fibromyalgia, genetics, as well as physical and psychological stress, are some of the leading culprits. Although the exact mechanism behind the development of fibromyalgia is still not fully understood, research suggests that it may be caused by changes in the way the brain processes pain signals from the body. 

What is Neuropathic Pain? 

Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain caused by nerve damage or dysfunction. It can result from disease, injury, infection, or physical trauma. The most common symptoms of neuropathic pain include burning sensations (often described as “pins and needles”), numbness or tingling sensations in the affected area, shooting pains or sharp jabs in extremities (such as legs or arms), and pain that comes from non-painful stimuli.

Does Fibromyalgia Cause Nerve Pain? 

Previously, fibromyalgia was considered a form of chronic pain. However, in 2011, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) excluded the condition from being a chronic pain diagnosis.

But still, fibromyalgia is often accompanied by neuropathy or pain with neuropathic characteristics. This is because fibromyalgia is associated with changes in the way the central nervous system processes pain signals from the body, leading to a heightened perception of pain. This can also result in pain with neuropathic characteristics.

Some experts also believe that psychological factors could contribute to neuropathic pain in fibromyalgia; the emotional distress that comes from living with chronic pain can interfere with brain chemistry and lead to over-sensitization of the nervous system to pain (central sensitization).

How is Fibromyalgia Treated?

There is no cure for fibromyalgia. However, there are some proven treatments that can help manage the symptoms and improve quality of life. Treatment plans are typically tailored to the needs of each individual patient and may include medications, such as anti-inflammatory drugs and antidepressants; exercise; physical therapy; psychological therapy; and stress reduction techniques.

Ketamine IV therapy is another promising alternative treatment for fibromyalgia, as well as neuropathic pain. This novel treatment involves the administration of low-dose ketamine infusions using an IV line and can help rapidly reduce pain and improve mood in fibromyalgia patients.

The Bottom Line

Fibromyalgia causes changes in the way the brain processes and perceives pain, which may result in neuropathic pain. While this can significantly worsen the symptoms of fibromyalgia, there are some effective treatment options available to help manage the pain and improve quality of life.

If you think you may be suffering from fibromyalgia or neuropathic pain, it’s important to seek professional help for proper diagnosis and treatment. With the right treatment and care, you can regain control of your life and find relief from your pain.

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The workplace is often a source of stress. For some people, this stress is manageable, and may even be what’s known as eustress – a positive health-promoting form of stress.

However, when the work environment is toxic or the demands exceed someone’s bandwidth, the added stress can be too much and lead to a persistent overabundance of cortisol in the body. This consistent stress can lead to nerve damage which can lead to chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia.

What Is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that affects the muscles and tissues.

The main symptoms of fibromyalgia are widespread pain, fatigue, and tenderness in the muscles.

According to CDC research, fibromyalgia affects over 4 million U.S. adults or 2% of Americans.

Fibromyalgia amplifies pain signals due to changes in the way that the brain processes pain.

It is not clear what causes fibromyalgia, but it is believed that the body’s pain threshold changes after physical trauma, emotional stress, or infection.

For some people, fibromyalgia is triggered by a single event, while others experience a gradual onset of symptoms.

Researchers have observed that it often coexists with other conditions like:

• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Migraine
• Temporomandibular joint disorders
• Chronic fatigue syndrome

There is no known cure for fibromyalgia, but there are a number of treatments that can help manage the symptoms.

How Work Stress Can Inflame Fibromyalgia Symptoms

There is a significant link between work stress and fibromyalgia symptoms.

Job-related stress is one of the most common triggers for fibromyalgia flare-ups.

The combination of physical and emotional stress can become too debilitating to handle, leading to increased pain, fatigue, and other symptoms.

Work stress can come from a number of different factors, such as:

• Demanding deadlines
• Unreasonable workloads
• Having little control over your work tasks or environment
• Conflict with co-workers or supervisors
• Bullying or harassment at work
• Financial concerns related to work
• The pressure to maintain a certain image or persona at work

All of these factors can contribute to emotional stress and tension. When this tension is left unchecked, it can lead to physical symptoms like fibromyalgia.

How to Manage Work-related Stress

If you are struggling with work-related stress and it is affecting your fibromyalgia symptoms, there are a number of things that you can do to manage the situation.

Here are a few tips:

Talk to Your Supervisor

Dealing with fibromyalgia is hard enough, but if your work doesn’t know you suffer from it, you can’t make positive changes to help. Talk to your supervisor about your condition and ask for accommodations that might help you to manage your work stress.

Some common accommodations for fibromyalgia include flexible hours, working from home, and taking breaks throughout the day.

If you are open and honest with your supervisor, they are more likely to be understanding and helpful.

Set Boundaries 

When dealing with fibromyalgia, it is crucial to set boundaries for yourself. This includes setting limits on how much work you handle and saying no to requests when your day’s workload is already at capacity.

It is also important to make time for yourself outside of work! Make sure that you schedule time for rest, relaxation, and fun. This is essential for maintaining your mental and physical health.

Practice Self-care

One of the best ways to manage work stress is to practice self-care. This means taking care of yourself both physically and emotionally.

Some tips for practicing self-care include:

• Getting enough sleep
• Eating healthy foods
• Exercising regularly
• Spending time with friends and family
• Practicing meditation or yoga
• Taking breaks during the day

All of these things can help to reduce stress and tension. When you take care of yourself, you can better manage stress in your life.

Manage Your Fibromyalgia Symptoms With Ketamine Infusions

If you are struggling to manage your fibromyalgia symptoms, Southern Ketamine & Wellness can help.

While most fibromyalgia-related issues are treated with oral medication, many patients find that it doesn’t relieve them of pain fast enough or long-term and provides unsatisfactory results.

We offer ketamine infusions that can help to reduce pain and improve your quality of life in as little as one session.

Ketamine is a powerful medication that has been shown to be effective in treating fibromyalgia.

Low-dose IV infusions administer ketamine over a period of weeks directly into the bloodstream. These infusions help by blocking access to the pain receptors to reduce the effects of fibromyalgia.

While research on the long term effects and the effectiveness of ketamine infusion is still ongoing, it has shown huge benefits for helping those suffering from fibromyalgia, including:

• Reduced pain
• Less fatigue
• Better sleep
• Improved mood 
• Decreased anxiety

Southern Ketamine & Wellness Can Create a Plan That Works for You

At Southern Ketamine & Wellness, we want you to be able to manage your fibromyalgia 

symptoms and live a full, happy life. We offer ketamine infusions and many other treatments that can help many physical and mental health issues often overlooked by other health professionals. Contact us today, if you want to learn more about how we can help you or a loved one.

If you’re tired, have trouble sleeping or remembering, or struggle with high or low moods, it may not just be caused by stress at school, work or home. If these continue indefinitely and interfere with daily chores, you may be experiencing the first signs of a disorder known as fibromyalgia.

WHAT IS FIBROMYALGIA?

“Fibromyalgia is a common neurologic health problem that causes widespread pain and tenderness (sensitivity to touch). The pain and tenderness tend to come and go and move about the body. Most often, people with this chronic (long-term) illness are fatigued (very tired) and have sleep problems. The diagnosis can be made with a careful examination.”

Fibromyalgia is a condition most common in women, though it can happen in men. It mostly begins in middle adulthood.

WHO GETS FIBROMYALGIA?

Fibromyalgia impacts as many as four million Americans older than 18. The average age range when the condition is diagnosed is between 35 and 45 years old, but most people have experienced symptoms, particularly chronic pain, much earlier in their lives. Fibromyalgia is more widespread in women than in men. There’s no definitive relationship between specific hormones and the condition, but scientists have observed some possible solid connections with premenstrual syndrome and primary dysmenorrhea.

THE SYMPTOMS OF FIBROMYALGIA

People who suffer from fibromyalgia or another chronic pain condition can relieve symptoms in many ways. Certain kinds of therapy have been known to help, but research has also uncovered intriguing evidence that ketamine treatment may relieve symptoms, also.

The primary symptoms of fibromyalgia include:

• Pervasive discomfort. The pain related to fibromyalgia often is described as a dull ache that has persisted for a minimum of three months. To be deemed widespread, the pain must happen on both sides of the body and above and below the waistline.
• Tiredness. People experiencing fibromyalgia often wake up tired, even though they describe sleeping for long stretches of time. Sleep is frequently disrupted by pain, and many people with fibromyalgia suffer other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome.
• Cognitive problems. A symptom sometimes described as “fibro fog” weakens your means to focus, pay attention, and concentrate on cognitive tasks.

Fibromyalgia often is accompanied by conditions, such as:

• Anxiety
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Depression
• Interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome)
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Migraine and other kinds of headaches
• Postural tachycardia syndrome
• Temporomandibular joint ailments

It’s also important to understand what triggers a fibromyalgia attack. This can include certain things which trigger fibromyalgia symptoms, especially ones that boost the level of stress. These include:

• Adjustments in daily routines.
• Dietary adjustments or a poor diet.
• Hormone fluxes.
• Loss of sleep.
• Stressors like work, illness, emotional stress.
• Therapy changes.
• Change in sleep habits (like different shift work).
• Weather or temperature shifts.

POSSIBLE RISK FACTORS

Because it’s more common in women than men, women should be aware of certain risks. The condition is more likely in people who:

• Are overweight
• Smoke
• Have another rheumatic condition, like rheumatoid arthritis
• Have a close relative with fibromyalgia, indicating a gene or genes may trigger pain when it normally wouldn’t happen.
• Have or had trauma to the brain or spinal cord, caused by an emotional trauma, injury or repeated injuries, ailments, or an accident.

COPING STRATEGIES

Here are some strategies for living with fibromyalgia:

• Ask your doctor or therapist about the benefits of ketamine treatment.
• Find time to relax every day. Meditation and deep-breathing exercises will help lower the stress which can trigger symptoms.
• Establish a consistent sleep pattern by going to bed and rising at the same time every day. Getting enough sleep allows your body to repair itself, mentally and physically. Also, resist daytime napping and limit caffeine, which can disturb sleep. Nicotine is a known stimulant, so patients with sleep trouble should quit smoking.
• Exercise regularly. This is an important component of therapy. While hard at first, regular exercise often lowers fatigue and pain symptoms. Patients should track the saying, “Start low, go slow.” Gradually add daily exercise to your schedule. For instance, use the stairs rather than the elevator, or use a far-away parking spot at the store. As your symptoms decline with therapy, start boosting your activity. Add in some walking, water aerobics, swimming, and/or stretching workouts, and start doing things that you avoided because of the pain and other symptoms. It takes time to build a comfortable routine.
• Educate yourself by checking in with organizations like the Arthritis Foundation and the National Fibromyalgia Association or elsewhere online for valuable information.
• Look to the future, not the past, rather than focusing on what caused your illness.

If you’re looking for more information on treatment options and coping methods for fibromyalgia, contact us today to learn more!

 

Fibromyalgia is a disorder known for whole-body musculoskeletal pain, often paired with tiredness, sleep, cognitive problems, and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia intensifies painful feelings by affecting how your central nervous system – the brain and spinal cord – processes painful and nonpainful messages.

Symptoms often start after something happens, like physical trauma, surgical procedure, infection, or substantial psychological pressure. In other cases, fibromyalgia symptoms slowly occur over time without an identifiable triggering event.

What Are The Symptoms?

Symptoms of fibromyalgia can be treated in many ways. Some healthcare providers recommend first trying therapy or certain antidepressants, but the evidence suggests that ketamine may be a good option. Common symptoms include:

• Pain and stiffness throughout your body
• Fatigue and tiredness
• Mental health issues
• Sleep troubles
• Problems with cognitive function
• Headaches, sometimes with migraines
• You may have tingling or numbness in your limbs
• Pain in the face or jaw
• You may experience digestive problems

Who Gets Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia can happen to anyone, regardless of age or gender. However, it usually begins in middle age and worsens as people get older. But it’s believed that certain diseases or health conditions can predispose someone to have fibromyalgia at some point in their lives. These include:

• Systemic lupus erythematosus (also called lupus).
• Ankylosing spondylitis.
• Osteoarthritis.
• According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, 90% of people with fibromyalgia will also experience depression symptoms during their lives.
• Chronic back pain.
• Irritable bowel syndrome.

Is Fibromyalgia a Kind Of Arthritis?

Fibromyalgia is often lumped together in plain language as a kind of arthritis, but it’s not. Some people, for instance, confuse fibromyalgia with rheumatoid arthritis or other pain conditions. However, one of the key differentiators to be aware of is that with fibromyalgia, there are problems with how a person’s nervous system, including the brain and spinal column, transmits and processes pain signals.

Would Ketamine Help?

Research has been ongoing for years as to whether medicine like ketamine can help ease the pain and discomfort associated with chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia. Evidence supports using ketamine as a pain reliever, but how exactly does it work? It’s thought that ketamine acts quickly to strengthen and repair faulty neurotransmitters in the brain like glutamate, which are essential in how brain signals are transported and perceived throughout the rest of the body.

Antidepressants and Fibromyalgia

Ketamine, originally solely used as a human or animal anesthetic, is now regularly employed to treat symptoms of mental illness like treatment-resistant depression and chronic pain conditions that are non-responsive to regular therapy. One of the benefits of working with a healthcare provider to learn about treatment options is a clinician understands how different medicine and treatment – not necessarily specific to one condition – can apply to the problem you’re facing. This is especially true when discussing the application of antidepressants outside the realm of treating mental health issues.

Numerous effective and frequently used medicines to treat chronic pain are compounds made to solve other conditions. Antidepressants are now a go-to medicine in a healthcare provider’s toolbelt for treating many chronic pain conditions, even when depression isn’t believed to be a contributing factor. However, the key point is that dispensing antidepressants to reduce fibromyalgia pain symptoms needs to happen in a controlled environment and in smaller doses than may be described to treat mental health issues.

As with ketamine, antidepressants may boost neurotransmitters in the spinal cord that lower pain signals. But the positive outcome isn’t realized immediately. Antidepressants may offer relief for a week after taking medicine, but you may not derive maximum relief for several weeks. Ketamine, on the other hand, works very quickly. And pain relief from antidepressants is normally considered moderate.

If you have any questions about the risks or benefits of taking antidepressants to relieve pain from fibromyalgia, contact your healthcare provider for more information.

Diagnosis & Treatment

To diagnose fibromyalgia, your healthcare provider will conduct a thorough physical examination and review 18 points on your body to determine pain levels when each of those spots is pressed firmly. The American College of Rheumatology says that diagnosis may be confirmed if you have pain in four of the following five areas. The exam may also include blood and other tests.

Treating fibromyalgia symptoms often include antidepressants, other medicine, therapy, and ketamine.