It Is a Real Disorder! What Brain Studies Tell Us About Fibromyalgia

April 25th, 2007 · 3 Comments

Have fibromyalgia? How many times have you been told:

it’s all in your head
you’re just complaining, exaggerating and whining
you’re really just depressed
you’re making it all up

or many other things that, one way or another, mean you really don’t have a disease??

Fibromyalgia is a rheumatologic disorder with pain, muscle aches and fatigue as symptoms. What’s new is that more and more studies are showing that people with fibromyalgia have abnormal pain processing in their brain and spinal cord.

Brain studies using SPECT and fMRI (2 ways to look at how the brain works) show that there are differences in what parts of the brain are active and how much they’re active in patients with fibromyalgia, compared to other people. There are problems in both too much pain being perceived (excitatory pathways) as well as not enough damping down of pain (inhibitory pathways).

There’s also evidence of pathology in:

levels of neurotransmitters (the compounds in the body that help nerves communicate)
levels of stress hormones such as cortisol
the balance between the sympathetic (activating) nervous sytem and the calming nervous system

Further pointing to biological problems as the cause of FM are studies showing specific gene mutations as well as family patterns supporting a genetic link.

So there is overwhelming - and growing - evidence showing that fibromyalgia is a medical disorder. Those who still don’t agree? It seems to increasingly be, well, all in their heads! But don’t spend your time and energy trying to convince others - that’s negative energy. Use your positive energy only to live your life!

More next week about a medication that helps in FM.

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3 responses so far ↓

jeisea // Apr 27, 2007 at 9:49 pm

Thanks for posting this. I’m going to post a link to this article in my Google Group crps/rsd taking control. One of our members recently asked about complex regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia. As the brain ultimately determines the message of pain, all pain is “in your head”. What it is not is in your imagination. Thank you for this.
jeisea
Cassy // Jul 29, 2007 at 1:06 pm

I was diagnosed wit Fibromyalgia 5 years ago. My mom,aunt,and 3 cousins all have it. Almost all fibro patients are women. There is a 50/50 genetic chance of fibro being passed on. Its hard and painful but life goes on. Its having friends, family and support that makes it easier to deal with. I have been out on medical leave from work due to a fibro flare up right now. Doc wants me off for 3 months. I will be back to work before then. Just never give up. No matter how much it hurts don’t quit. Life is too short for that!
Cassy // Jul 29, 2007 at 1:30 pm

Hi everyone! My sister just emailed me a fibro web site that is really cool. Its called FIBROHOPE.ORG.
I just checked it out and it really helps understand more and I think it would be a great web sire for family and friends to read to help understand what is going on with you and what is going on. I know its really hard for people to understand what you are going through. You can’t understand the pain of a broken arm unless you’ve broken your arm.
My other half told ” I can’t understand the concept of being in so much pain that you can’t move.” I told him that I wish he could without having to go through it. He has a very high pain tolerance. His appendix burst and he didn’t know it for 3 days. Don’t we all wish we had a tolerance like that!