Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The causes of Fibromyalgia

woman overwhelmed at work in office
The causes of Fibromyalgia are unknown, but many sufferers can trace it's onset to a significant increase in stress. Stress has both a mental and physical response in the body. The stress may be physical trauma to the body like a car accident, an illness or infection or surgery or emotional stress. Fibromyalgia often occurs together with other conditions including hypothyroidism, endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome and Lyme disease.

Stress is thought to play a significant role in the development of Fibromyalgia. Apparently there is a high connection (approximately 42%) between the development of Fibro and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Stress is often described as a feeling of being overwhelmed, worried or run-down.  By definition, stress is any uncomfortable “emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological and behavioral changes.”mental, emotional, or physical strain or tension.

The strange thing is that Fibromyalgia then impacts on a persons mental and physical health, but it is unclear what exactly defines stress and whether or not stress is a cause, an effect, or the process connecting the two.

Remember your SELF: Sleep, Exercise, Leisure (something fun), and Food. I found this little suggestion at The Story on Stress

SOURCES:  KidsHealth  Seeking Alpha


  1. I don't know what the actual cause of FM to be but I was one of the people who developed it 'just because' and quite young so no accident or illness... but I had profound insomnia... which causes stress to the body. Takes a toll over time. Mostly it took a toll when I graduated high school though and went into the real world and therefore needed to get up at a certain time and function... so FM got substantially worse then and so did the stress. Took me a bit to cope with that and to de-stress my life. We have to learn we can't live like other people do and when I figured that out, it was a great deal easier on me... for a time. But FM does progress and all those symptoms do accumulate. And when I was out of university and entered the workforce.. well that is another story. By then chronic migraines were in full force as well. Point is we are always trying to figure out ways to compensate for the stress to our bodies. Lately I have been doing yoga and meditation which is interesting as long as I am not working, but I have yet to be able to incorporate the yoga while working. Sleep is the largest battle for me, when I can establish a routine and manage at least a few solid hours a night it is decent, but the migraines can mess that up pretty bad which then messes up the FM. I am hoping the meditation will assist with that. There is good research to suggest it is beneficial and whatever works for us then... why not... sometimes it is our lifestyle changes that make the most differences.

  2. Chronic stress is exactly what caused my fibromyalgia, which developed during my last pregnancy. I learned the hard way that if you don't slow down on your own, your body will find a way to put you down.


Thanks for your input