These people feel the terrible fatigue and the depressing feeling that they cannot do all of the things that are their responsibility. A chronic fatigue relapse often appears from out of the blue. There does not seem to be anything specific that triggers a chronic fatigue relapse. A chronic fatigue relapse could begin with the onset of a migraine headache or just a feeling of aches all over the body. A chronic fatigue relapse could begin with difficulty remembering simple things.

A Chronic Fatigue Relapse Should Be Treated Immediately

People should identify warning signs and should treat the chronic fatigue relapse as soon as possible for best results. Those that recognize and deal with the onset of symptoms of a chronic fatigue relapse will be better equipped to deal with the symptoms while they last. This condition returns in cycles so a chronic fatigue relapse is not unusual. People should be prepared for a chronic fatigue relapse at any time. People should try to change their diets and behavior as soon as they realize that they are experiencing a relapse. Patients might return to yoga or other exercise that helped them in the past.

Patients should do other things that helped them in the past. They should try to get plenty of rest and relaxation. They should also get a massage if this is something that helped in the past. Alcohol could contribute to this problem so when a chronic fatigue relapse seems to be approaching, the patient should cut back or eliminate alcohol consumption. Vitamins and dietary supplements often help with this condition so the patient should make sure that they do not forget to take these helpful supplements. Any patient who has suffered from this condition should expect a relapse so they should be ready to reduce the impact this can have on their daily lives.

Unfortunately, even the most solid vows to be different from other fibromyalgia sufferers and not let pain and tiredness ruin their lives goes by the wayside as the condition wears on, and the overall ability to push through and continue leading a normal life is greatly curtailed. To counteract these debilitations, physicians more often than not recommend the use of over the counter painkillers and also prescription drugs that are supposed to do away with the pains.

Unfortunately, the hazard of over the counter painkillers for fibromyalgia is causing sufferers to think twice before reaching for the package. Is it really safe to use painkillers for fibromyalgia?

* Aside from the condition known as fibromyalgia, the overall use of painkillers is one that is steeped in controversy. Granted, they will at least for the short term serve at limiting the pain associated with fibromyalgia, but the problem becomes obvious when you take a close look at the ingredients, drug interactions, and potential long term effects. Seeing warnings of potential for liver and kidney damage has now become par for the course, and it is not unheard of to have these drugs greatly restricted for anyone using alcohol.

* Another problem associated with over the counter painkillers are the ancillary ingredients that aid in the removal of pain, namely caffeine. Sure, the caffeine laced pain medication offers a bit of an energy helper to the fatigued fibromyalgia sufferer, but it also sets them up for the inevitable crash that comes from the use of this substance. Some patients report getting jittery, while others may notice that their stomachs responded to the drugs with extreme queasiness. Anyone who is particularly susceptible to the effects of caffeine may also experience an irregular heartbeat.

* On the other end of the painkiller ancillary ingredients list are the histamines. They are designed to help those feeling pain to sleep. A sufferer from fibromyalgia already contends with tiredness and fatigue, and these painkillers may actually have a bit of carryover, making the patient even more tired the following day. This is due to the fact that the sleep inducing substances are not purged from the fibromyalgia sufferer’s body at the same rate as they might be from the body of an individual who simply relied on the temporary sleep aid for a minor ache or pain.

This goes to show that while the use of painkillers during the treatment of bouts of fibromyalgia may indeed provide the desired pain lessening effect, the side effects are by far too extreme to warrant long term use.

Ways to cope:

Accept that the pain is real and take control of the health. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, but one can lead a fulfilling life by learning about the illness and finding the best ways to manage the symptoms.

1. Pace yourself to evade fatigue and eliminate as much stress as one can from the life. The person cannot do everything and some days will be better than others.

2. Find a support structure. Do not feel guilty about asking friends and family for help and work with the doctor to learn more about fibromyalgia and its treatments. Many communities have fibromyalgia support groups that can provide invaluable information as well as understanding and support.

3. Develop an exercise program that works. Begin slowly under the supervision of a doctor or physical therapist and build up stamina over time. Water exercises are particularly helpful.

4. Treat well like eat right, drink plenty of water, avoid cigarettes, alcohol and caffeine and ask the doctor to recommend a good multivitamin supplement.

5. Improve the quality of the sleep. Make sure the bed and pillow are comfortable. Many fibromyalgia patients find that a heated waterbed provides the most comfort but others prefer a firm mattress or futon. Avoid sleeping directly under an air conditioning vent or fan, as cold drafts can cause the muscles to tense. Try eating a light snack before bedtime.

Tips:
Focus on the optimistic. Fibromyalgia is frustrating and painful but luckily, it is not life threatening and treatments are improving every day as doctors learn more about it.

Though it is rare for fibromyalgia to occur in men, it is possible. Fibromyalgia is often induced by severe trauma, such as that caused by whiplash or an auto accident. There are several things that make fibromyalgia different from other pain-related disorders.

Fibromyalgia patients have to fit a certain set of criteria before a doctor will diagnose them. First, the patient must have experienced diffuse, widespread pain for at least three months. Secondly, the patient must have at least eleven out of eighteen specified fibromyalgia pressure points-that is, tender areas that cause severe pain when pressed.

Because patients have to meet such specific criteria, many patients-especially men-are often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. If more people were aware of the eighteen specific fibromyalgia pressure points, then perhaps the likelihood of being diagnosed would increase, resulting in a wider recognition of this terrible condition.

About Fibromyalgia Pressure Points

When pressed, fibromyalgia pressure points do not cause severe pain all over the body. Rather, pain will only occur at that particular point on the body. Some describe the fibromyalgia pressure points as bruises in various stages. There are eighteen specific pressure points in the body, though to be diagnosed with the disease, you only have to have eleven of tem.

The first two fibromyalgia pressure points are located at the base of the skull. These are known as the Occiput pressure points. The next two pressure points are located at the lower vertebrae of the neck, and are referred to as Low Cervical pressure points. Next, one may discover pressure points throughout the neck, mid back and upper back muscles between the shoulder blades; any fibromyalgia pressure points falling in these areas are called Trapezius pressure points.

The Supraspinatus pressure points are located near the spins, and the Second Rib pressure points are located near the second rib. Two pressure points known as Lateral Epicondyle pressure points are located near the elbow. The Gluteal pressure points can be found in the muscles of the buttocks. Finally, the two pressure points located in the outer thigh are called Greater Trochanter pressure points, and there are two pressure points located at the knee as well.

Targeting Fibromyalgia Trigger Points

Many say that the worst part of this complex syndrome occurs when the trigger points associated with fibromyalgia are in a “flare up.” This is known to happen during times of stress, illness, sleep deprivation, changes in barometric pressure, and fatigue. When the trigger points “flare” in fibromyalgia patients, the pain can be so intense that it prevents the sufferer from working and doing the normal activities of life. A vicious cycle is created when pain from the trigger points creates inactivity, and this inactivity makes the pain even worse.

Although many other symptoms of fibromyalgia complete the diagnostic picture, it is most often the trigger point pain that brings the patient to the attention of a physician. In most cases, the patient presents with complaints of areas of intense pain that comes and goes, becoming worse under certain life circumstances or health crises. Patients are asked to show the physician where these areas of pain are located.

Fibromyalgia trigger points are often painful to the physician’s touch, especially those in the chest, neck and shoulders. A thorough diagnostic interview by the physician also identifies other classic symptoms of fibromyalgia such as sleep disturbance, oral thrush, irritable bowel, excessive dryness of the mucous membranes, and chronic fatigue.

Usually the patient does not associate these symptoms with the pain of the trigger points and may not understand why the physician is asking about symptoms other than muscle and joint pain. However, an astute physician who is acquainted with fibromyalgia trigger points and their connection to the syndrome as a whole “connects the dots” and makes the clinical diagnosis.

Since none of the symptoms of fibromyalgia are outwardly visible, including trigger points, even after 150 years of study this syndrome has mystified medical researchers. Since it cannot be seen in lab tests or any other type of definitive diagnostic method, the question as to whether or not fibromyalgia is “real,” is still open for debate among physicians. It is not at all debatable for those who endure it every day of their lives.

Whiplash is also referred to as neck strain or neck sprain, and it occurs when damage is done to the soft tissues of the neck. This, however, is only the beginning of whiplash injuries. Whiplash can be more severe; for example, damage could be done to nerve roots, ligaments, cervical muscles, discs, and non-vertebral joints. Before one can understand the correlation between fibromyalgia and whiplash, it is important to understand and recognize the symptoms and typical course of whiplash.

Symptoms Of Whiplash

The most common symptom of whiplash is pain in the neck. This can occur right after the accident, or perhaps several days later. There are other possible symptoms of whiplash as well; they may vary depending on the severity. Such symptoms include: neck stiffness, dizziness and headaches, back and shoulder pain, paresthesias, muscle and ligament injuries, and difficulty swallowing or chewing. In order to diagnose whiplash, physicians usually do an x-ray. This allows them to see the extent of the damage and the severity of the whiplash case.

Treatment Of Whiplash

Whiplash can be treated in many ways. At first, your physician will require you to wear a cervical collar for a few weeks. However, there are other treatments and ways of soothing a whiplash injury. Many doctors recommend heat therapy, and still other prescribe pain medications or muscle relaxants. Some patients even go through physical therapy or motion exercises to regain the use of their neck muscles. The treatment also depends on the severity of the whiplash case.

When Whiplash Just Won’t Go Away….The Relation Between Fibromyalgia And Whiplash

Whiplash typically goes away after two to four weeks. However, due to the correlation between fibromyalgia and whiplash, many people continue to suffer intense pain for many weeks because they have either developed fibromyalgia or because they were misdiagnosed to begin with. If you believe that you have fibromyalgia and whiplash, and the symptoms commonly associated with whiplash have not improved after six to eight weeks, then you should go see your doctor. The doctor may take more x-rays in order to determine if fibromyalgia and whiplash have played a dual role in your injury.

Influence of the chronic

Chronic pain is influenced by many factors, like ongoing pain signal input to the nervous system even without tissue damage, physical reconditioning due to lack of exercise, a person’s thoughts about the pain and emotional states like depression and anxiety. Chronic pain is much less well understood than acute pain.

Treatment options:

Treatment options for chronic pain can comprise a combination of medication, exercise, rest, weight-management, and nutrition. In some cases, surgery but there is still much to learn about the safety and effectiveness of many chronic pain treatments. Everyone should keep in mind that long-term use of many normal prescription and non-prescription pain relief medications can also have serious side effects. Aspirin, ibuprofen and COX-2 inhibitors are linked with damage to the stomach lining. Recent studies show that for arthritis, the nutritional supplements glucosamine and chondroitin may actually be as beneficial without the side effects.

Unlike pharmaceutical solutions to pain management, natural fibromyalgia pain reduction is devoid of the undesirable side effects which may build up over time. Depending on the severity of your bouts of fibromyalgia, you will be surprised to learn that in some cases dietary supplements and even low impact analgesics will not even be necessary!

* Probably the most powerful natural painkiller is the effective combination of diet and exercise. Do not be misled into thinking that fibromyalgia automatically makes any kind of exercise impossible! Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, working with your potential for pain, there are ways to focus on the overall health of your body and avoiding the onset of a secondary illness or disease simply by keeping a very watchful eye on what you eat and working out. The natural endorphins released during adequate exercise work to counteract pain, promote a bodily sense of wellbeing, and overall also help counteract little aches and pains you may have to put up.

* Find an osteopath who can recommend a personal trainer well acquainted with fibromyalgia and patients who suffer with the disease. Such trainers may help you create the perfect workout that is adaptable to take into account the daily ups and downs of the illness, as well as the occasional fibromyalgia flare ups.

* The next appointment should be with a registered dietician to get help changing your dietetic intake and make it fit to your condition. In some cases the dietician will have information that can point you in the right direction to nutritional supplements that have the power to help counteract the symptoms of fibromyalgia most effectively.

It is important to remember that natural pain relief is not the same as a cure for fibromyalgia. Sadly, thus far there is no cure for the disease but only means for making sufferers feel more comfortable and enable them to live with the disease rather than letting it get the better of them. Another caveat with respect to herbal remedies and dietary supplements demands that prior to purchase, but at least before actually taking them, you discuss their use with your doctor first, and ask her or him to aggressively take a role in the management of your fibromyalgia without the reliance on over the counter medications.

Before long, you are most likely thinking of undergoing holistic treatments, if not for the fibromyalgia itself, then at least for the pain. Moreover, you might recognize that the side effects you have thus far encountered are adding a lot more serious health concerns that are actually triggering some episodes of fibromyalgia flare ups, in spite of your fervent hopes that they would not. It is noteworthy that natural healers are not as quick as doctors to provide you with tinctures, pills, and herbs to counteract your fibromyalgia.

Instead, they usually try to completely understand your disease and its symptoms, as the latter are completely different in each and every patient. This assists natural healers in understanding your personal trigger events, your individual way of dealing with the pain, and also how to help you – individually – to begin pushing past the exhaustion that seems to go together with any and all activities. Natural healers usually ask you to begin your holistic treatment with the keeping of a journal. It is a daily journal, much like a diary, in which you record how you feel.

Start out with waking up, how you feel, if there are aches and pains, and if there is pronounced tiredness. Next, keep track of how you feel during any major events and also in their aftermath. Record your physiological response to phone conversations, both at work and at home. Record the minor things that would normally go unnoticed. As you might have guessed, your holistic practitioner is looking for emotional and stress triggers that may send you straight into a painful episode within the framework of your fibromyalgia.

Next there will be an examination of the trigger events and the possibilities of avoiding them. Some that cause by emotional turmoil or stress may be unavoidable, but at least you might be able to cut back on them. Journaling also has the power of helping you learn how to deal with stress triggers and gauge the efficacy of your efforts. For example, if muscle relaxation techniques work but massage works better, then you know to schedule a massage therapy session when you know that a potentially stressful meeting or get together is on the horizon. In the same vein, if some pains can only be relieved by acupuncture, use the journaling to find out which situations warrant that kind of pain and begin to forearm and stave off the attacks of fibromyalgia.

Symptoms:

1. Pain – The pain of fibromyalgia has no limits. People explain the pain as deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting and stabbing. Intense burning may also be present. Quite often the pain and stiffness are poorer in the morning and one may hurt more in muscle groups that are used repetitively.

2. Fatigue – This symptom can be gentle in some fibromyalgia patients and yet unbearable in others. The fatigue has been described as brain fatigue in which patients feel totally drained of energy. Many patients portray this situation by saying that they feel as though their arms and legs are tied to concrete blocks and they have difficulty concentrating.

3. Sleep disorder – Most fibromyalgia patients have an associated sleep disorder called the alpha. This condition was uncovered in a sleep lab with the aid of a mechanism that recorded the brain waves of patients during sleep. Researchers establish that the majority of fibromyalgia patients could fall asleep without much trouble, but their deep level sleep was constantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activity. Patients appeared to use the night with one foot in sleep and the other one out of it.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

Constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40 to 70% of fibromyalgia patients. Acid reflux or gastro esophageal reflux disease also occurs with the same high frequency and may cause fatigue.