A detailed guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), including its symptoms, causes, and effective treatment strategies to improve energy and well-being.
A lesser-known condition, chronic fatigue syndrome, sometimes called CFS, is a condition that makes patients feel so tired that they can’t do all of their normal, daily activities. There are other symptoms too, but feeling very tired for at least 6 months is the main one.
Many people improve in a year or two and do not relapse. Some people continue to have severe fatigue and other symptoms for many years.
CFS is still not well understood. Most experts now believe that it is a separate illness with its own set of symptoms, but some doctors do not believe this.
Because there are no tests for CFS, many people have trouble accepting their disease or getting their friends and family to do so. It’s important for patients to have people in their life who believe their diagnosis and support them, along with having a doctor they can trust.
Doctors don’t know what causes CFS. Sometimes it begins after an illness like the flu, but there is no proof of any connection. It’s likely that a number of factors or triggers come together to cause CFS.
The main symptom of CFS is extreme tiredness or fatigue. Those who have CFS may feel exhausted all or much of the time, may have problems sleeping or may wake up feeling tired or not rested. CFS may also make it harder for patients to think clearly, concentrate, and remember things. Patients may have headaches, muscle and joint pain, a sore throat, and tender glands in the neck or armpits. Often symptoms may flare up after a mental or physical activity that used to be no problem. Depression is common with CFS, and it can make other symptoms worse, though antidepressant medicines can help.
As mentioned before, there are no tests for CFS. Doctors can diagnose it only by ruling out other possible causes of fatigue. Since many other health problems can cause fatigue, most people with fatigue have something other than chronic fatigue syndrome.
While there is no specific treatment for CFS itself, many of its symptoms can be treated. A good relationship between doctor and patient is important because working together to find a combination of medicines and behavior changes is the best way to help patients get better. Some trial and error may be needed because no single combination of treatments works for everyone.
Home treatment is very important. Patients may need to change their daily schedule, learn better sleep habits, and start getting regular gentle exercise.
Counseling and a gradual increase in exercise help people who have CFS get better.
Even though it may not be easy, keeping a good attitude really helps. Try not to get caught in a cycle of frustration, anger, and depression. Learning to cope with symptoms and talking to others who have the same illness can help patients keep a good attitude.
Here at The Chronicilness.co of the United States, we know that living with chronic pain can be stressful. But one of the best ways patients can help reduce the stress in their lives is by learning how to relax through breathing exercises.
Deep breathing helps lower stress in the body because breathing deeply sends a message to the brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to the body. Deep breathing also causes certain things that happen when stress occurs, such as increased heart rate, fast breathing, and high blood pressure, to decrease.
Another good thing about breathing exercises is that they are easy to learn. Patients can do them whenever they want, and they don’t need any special tools or equipment. Patients can also try out different exercises to see which works best.
The following methods focus only on breathing exercises, but there are other ways, such as combining breathing with things like yoga, imagery, and meditation.
The first exercise presented is called belly breathing and is simple to learn and easy to do. It’s best to start there, especially for patients who have never done breathing exercises before. The other exercises are more advanced, but all of these exercises can help patients relax and relieve stress.
Belly breathing is easy to do and very relaxing. Patients can try this basic exercise anytime they need to relax or relieve stress.
Sit in a comfortable position.
Put one hand on your belly just below your ribs and the other hand on your chest.
Take a deep breath in through your nose, and let your belly push your hand out. Your chest should not move.
Breathe out through pursed lips as if you were whistling. Feel the hand on your belly go in, and use it to push all the air out.
Do this breathing 3 to 10 times. Take your time with each breath.
After mastering belly breathing, patients may want to try one of the following more advanced breathing exercises.
4-7-8 breathing This exercise also uses belly breathing and can be done either sitting or lying down.
To start, put one hand on your belly and the other on your chest as in the belly breathing exercise.
Take a deep, slow breath from your belly, and silently count to 4 as you breathe in.
Breathe out completely as you silently count from 1 to 8. Try to get all the air out of your lungs by the time you count to 8.
Repeat 3 to 7 times or until you feel calm.
Roll breathing The object of roll breathing is to develop full use of the lungs and to focus on the rhythm of breathing. It can be done in any position, but while learning, it is best to lie on the back with knees bent.
Put your left hand on your belly and your right hand on your chest. Notice how your hands move as you breathe in and out.
Practice filling your lower lungs by breathing so that your “belly” (left) hand goes up when you inhale and your “chest” (right) hand remains still. Always breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. Do this 8 to 10 times.
When you have filled and emptied your lower lungs 8 to 10 times, add the second step to your breathing: Inhale first into your lower lungs as before, and then continue inhaling into your upper chest. As you do so, your right hand will rise and your left hand will fall a little as your belly falls.
As you exhale slowly through your mouth, make a quiet, whooshing sound as first your left hand and then your right-hand fall. As you exhale, feel the tension leaving your body as you become more and more relaxed.
Practice breathing in and out in this way for 3 to 5 minutes. Notice that the movement of your belly and chest rises and falls like the motion of rolling waves.
Practice roll breathing daily for several weeks until you can do it almost anywhere. You can use it as an instant relaxation tool anytime you need it.
Caution: Some people get dizzy the first few times they try roll breathing. If this happens, slow breathing down and get up slowly.
We often get asked about Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis from our clients, because more often than not, they have been told numerous scary stories by consultants. Likewise, many of the people we speak to have read many articles online, that are laden with misinformation. Osteoarthritis as a whole, gest a bit of a bad reputation, despite being completely normal and inevitable.
In fact, even the name Osteoarthritis is somewhat of a misnomer, as “Osteo” means bone,”‘Arth” means joint, and “Itis” means inflammation. And when we realise that Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition, not an inflammatory one, we can start to see why there is likely so much misinformation around fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, especially considering it’s not even named correctly!
For those of you reading, we can appreciate that having more labels attached to you can be a scary thing. A lot of the time people have only just gotten used to and accepted the Fibromyalgia label, before being hit with another in the form of osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, for most people, a quick google of Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis brings up many horror stories and a tonne of misinformation. This misinformation has the potential to not only make your pain worse, but ultimately make your world smaller and smaller as you inevitably try to protect yourself more and more over time.
So, in the following article let’s take a look at a few things that we should know about when it comes to Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is defined as “Degeneration of the joint cartilage and underlying bones, usually accompanied by pain and stiffness, and most commonly found in the hips, knees and thumb joints.”
In a healthy joint, a coating of tough but smooth called cartilage covers and protects the surface of the bones, helping them to move freely against each other. However, when a joint develops osteoarthritis, part of the cartilage thins and the surface becomes rougher. This means the joint doesn’t move as smoothly as it should, causing the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones breaks down, potentially causing pain, swelling and problems moving the joint. When cartilage becomes worn or damaged, all the tissues within the joint become more active than normal, as the body tries to repair the damage. This can result in swelling and inflammation of the joint.
As we mentioned earlier, Osteoarthritis isn’t really properly named, because whilst there can be inflammation present, it’s the degeneration that defines it. After all. we already have a name for inflammatory arthritis which we call Rheumatoid arthritis.
There is a good chance you are reading this because you have Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis, and you want to know if they will affect one another. Well, having fibromyalgia does change a few things when it comes to osteoarthritis, but it’s mainly not anything to do with the actual tissues, and don’t worry, we will cover these other factors in this article. But, before we get into how Fibromyalgia may affect osteoarthritis, let’s start with a question that’s a little easier to answer for: why do we get Osteoarthritis in the first place?
As we age our bodies incur wear and tear from just being alive. Our hair grows thin and turns grey, our skin thins, and we developed wrinkles. It is essentially just part of the human condition, and just as we degenerate on the outside of our bodies, we also degenerate on the inside.
No, they don’t, well not physically anyway. Anti-wrinkle cream is a multi-million-pound industry, so it’s evident that wrinkles do cause some emotional distress for the majority of us!
So then, if degeneration on the outside of the body doesn’t cause us any pain, then why would degeneration on the inside cause it?
Keep in mind also, that we are way more sensitive to changes on the outside of the body than we are on the inside. There are a great many people right now, with very severe degeneration, who have absolutely no pain. Likewise, there are also people with very little osteoarthritis, who are in a great deal of pain. Before we get into the complexities that is Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis, it’s important to remember that this wear and tear is a normal part of ageing. In fact, in the next section, let’s take a look at a few studies that show us that normal wear and tear can actually be painless or not correlate to damage.
As we mentioned before, there is a lot of misinformation around Osteoarthritis, and probably even more around Fibromyalgia. So, let’s take a look at some studies and start to break down those damaging narratives that you have likely been told or have read.
One study focusing on professional football players found that 92% of football players had at least 1 spinal degenerative condition, but in some cases, more than 6 were found. The interesting thing was that none of them reported any pain. This is a nice study that helps us look at the complexities of pain, as when it comes to chronic pain it isn’t always about the tissue.
There is a ridiculous amount of evidence that shows us that pain is not tightly linked to tissue damage. And when it comes to Osteoarthritis, there should also be evidence of people with severe degeneration shown on a scan, but who feel fine, and vice versa. This study of 113 people found exactly that, a huge disconnect between degeneration and pain. In which they found that the people with less degeneration had more pain, and those with more degeneration had less pain!
It kind of changes your opinion on some of the stuff you have been told doesn’t it.
Another study looking at the general population, wherein the focus was on the difference between structural changes in the knees and symptoms, found that there isn’t a great connection between the severity of the condition and pain. However, they did find that the symptomatic group had a slower walking speed, longer stride and standing times and reduced strength. Which, when you think about it, makes complete sense. If you are in pain it’s unlikely that you’re going to be moving quickly, but rather taking your time in an effort to not increase pain levels.
That was the only real difference that this study found between those with Osteoarthritis who had pain and those with it who had no pain. Keep in mind also, that another study found that cartilage defects were found in around 11% of those under the age of 40 who had no pain. This percentage jumped to 43% for those over the age of 40, but still without pain. As you can start to see, that actual amount of degeneration doesn’t really correlate with the amount of pain you would expect someone to have.
In this study, it wasn’t just the cartilage they focused on, but also tissue. There were instances of meniscal tears in up to 19% of the study, bone marrow lesions and even bone spurs were present in 12-24%. I think a good place to end this section is to look at a study from 20 years ago, that will really challenge your beliefs about osteoarthritis and pain.
This study showed that people who received a fake arthroscopic knee surgery for Osteoarthritis had results just as good as people who received the real surgery. And in 2008, the New England Journal of Medicine added more experimental evidence to the pile, reporting that “surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee provides no additional benefit to optimized physical and medical therapy.”
In the years to follow, there has been an exceptional level of evidence showing that arthroscopic debridement has no benefit, showing that it is no better than a placebo.
We have established that the amount of Osteoarthritis doesn’t really correlate with the amount of pain a person experiences. So what is going on then if it’s not about the actual degeneration? Well, this is where Fibromyalgia can start to make things a little bit more complicated.
When we look at the pain and symptom severity of Osteoarthritis, historically, cartilage damage was believed to be the hallmark of Osteoarthritis. However, since cartilage is an avascular, aneural tissue, the mechanisms of pain are likely to be way more complex than first thought, and most likely influenced by non-cartilaginous structures in the joint including the synovium. The current body of evidence points to pain sensitization, and molecular pathways, as the possible main driver of Osteoarthritis pain.
Like we said before, when it comes to chronic pain, it’s not always about the tissue. We know chronic pain changes the brain and nervous system, causing the brain to take note of inputs that it really shouldn’t be. Hence why so many with conditions like Fibromyalgia often developed other conditions such as allodynia.
The Simple answer is yes, it is more common than you think, in fact when you are going through all the tests to get your Fibromyalgia diagnosed, you’ll most likely be told about degeneration somewhere in the body.
Both diagnoses have overlapping symptoms such as pain, stiffness, and limited range of motion. It’s also not just Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia, but other rheumatic conditions. One study showed that between 20-30% of those diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, also had co-morbid rheumatic conditions. When we look at the data for just Osteoarthritis, we find that between 10% – 17% of those living with Fibromyalgia also have Osteoarthritis
As we mentioned earlier, Fibromyalgia does indeed have the potential to complicate Osteoarthritis.
Those with Fibromyalgia suffer from abnormalities in the way that the brain deals with pain. Supraspinal processes have a top-down enhancing effect on nociceptive processing in the brain and spinal cord. Studies have begun to suggest that such influences occur in conditions such as fibromyalgia. This means that those who do have Fibromyalgia may be far more sensitive to noxious stimuli compared to the general population. Factoring in changes at the joint, those with Fibromyalgia may be more prone to reacting to these changes byways of producing pain.
There have been a few studies that have looked into how Fibromyalgia may affect Osteoarthritis. One such study published in the European Journal of Neuroscience, measured brainwaves in response to short painful laser pulses on the skin of patients suffering from osteoarthritic and fibromyalgia pain, as well as test subjects who had no underlying pain. Scientists discovered that the insula cortex part of the brain increased its activity when expecting a painful pulse, as it predicts the extent and intensity of the patients’ own chronic pain.
It is important to keep in mind, that increased activity in this brain area has been linked to a number of phenomena, including body perception and emotional processing, which might explain the greater pain perception in some patients.
In essence, there are a lot of factors that come with fibromyalgia that can make osteoarthritis worse, when compared to individuals without it. One such factor is sleep disturbances. It is well documented that with sleep disturbances and lack of sleep, comes an increase in pain. For those with Fibromyalgia, getting a good, restful night’s sleep can be somewhat of a challenge due to pain. Meaning that it has the potential to create a breeding ground for worsening the symptoms of not just fibromyalgia pain, but also the pain of Osteoarthritis.
With chronic pain, also comes the prevalence of mental health issues, which can also make symptoms worse. It is well established that mental health issues can be a large driving force behind chronic pain. And for those with Fibromyalgia, they may be more prone to experiencing pain with Osteoarthritis, whereas those without fibromyalgia may likely not even notice these degenerative changes.
We have taken a look at what Osteoarthritis is, how it’s caused, and how Fibromyalgia may affect it. All that is left now is to look at some of the things that can help you when it comes to Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis.
Massage It has been shown that massage can be particularly effective at lowering pain in osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia. An analysis of 9 studies found that massage helped to improve pain, anxiety, and depression associated with Fibromyalgia.
Stay hydrated It is estimated that around 70% of your cartilage is made up of water, and when we are dehydrated this is going to affect the joints, as the more lubricated a joint is, the less friction there will be. This is important when we remember the studies into those with Fibromyalgia being more sensitive to noxious stimuli. We want to reduce the amount of noxious stimulus coming into the nervous system.
Cold showers The benefits of cold showing with Fibromyalgia can be found in a comprehensive blog post we wrote, which you can find here. The benefits of cold showering with Osteoarthritis can help by reducing pain, decreasing swelling, and constricting blood vessels.
We hope the above has helped to answer the questions you have about Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis, and we wish you the best of luck on your journey.
Pain can be broken down into two categories: acute pain, such as a cut on the leg, a tension headache, or a bone fracture, and chronic pain, pain which lasts longer and can be more serious. Let’s take a look at the major differences between the two.
Acute pain is normal pain that lets the body know it’s been hurt. For example, breaking a leg, banging an elbow into a door, or putting a hand on a hot plate and feeling the burn are all considered good pain because the body is announcing that an injury has occurred.
Acute pain starts suddenly and usually doesn’t last long. When the injury heals, the pain stops. For example, a broken leg will hurt during recovery but will get better as time goes on.
With chronic pain, the pain itself actually becomes a disease. When the injury heals and the patient continues having pain beyond the time of expected recovery, that’s chronic pain.
Chronic pain lasts for weeks, months, and even years. Generally, it’s diagnosed after three to six months of pain. In some cases, the pain comes and goes. With chronic pain, one’s nervous system is sometimes altered, making it more sensitive to pain. As a result, painful sensations might feel more severe and last longer.
In some cases, certain chronic diseases cause chronic pain. Arthritis, for example, and cancer, diabetes, and fibromyalgia are other diseases that can cause continuing pain
Unfortunately, doctors cannot always find the cause of chronic pain. In a minority of cases, the cause is unclear. Patients should talk to their doctor about their pain if the pain lasts longer than reasonably expected. Some guidelines have defined “chronic pain” as pain that lasts longer than 3-6 months, but whenever pain lasts longer than reasonably expected, it’s crucial to treat it to keep it from worsening into chronic pain. An example of this would be a small cut or burn which normally wouldn’t cause pain after a month; if it does, a doctor should be called rather than waiting for three months.
People with disorders that cause chronic pain should also talk to their doctors about treatments that provide relief or help them to cope with pain. Treatments include pain relievers and other medications, acupuncture, biofeedback, relaxation training, hypnosis, distraction techniques, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. With this last method, patients use a TENS device to pass a mild electrical current through the skin to reduce pain.
Most patients with pain don’t need to see a pain specialist, but if the pain lasts much longer than expected, or a primary care doctor or specialist hasn’t been able to treat the chronic pain satisfactorily, asking for a referral to a pain specialist may help.
Patients should go to a physician specifically trained in pain so they’ll receive a medical exam to diagnose their problem, as well as proper pain management. Typically, these pain specialists come from the fields of neurology, anesthesia, psychiatry, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Then they undergo additional training in pain medicine.
People generally have some issues with the specific hypermobility knee exercises that are currently out there. They either don’t work or they yield very little results. This is largely due to the simple fact that the current treatment around exercises for those with hypermobility, are built on a false premise and simply do not take into account the nuances that come with this population.
The gold standard at the moment for hypermobile knee exercises, and indeed any exercise for those with hypermobility, seems to be the old “build muscle around the joint to help stabilise it” approach.
This old outdated approach that has seen many hypermobile people simply lose interest in, after seeing it return such little results, comes with 2 main issues. Issues that most people don’t really talk about.
Building muscle requires sufficient load and consistency to do so. How is anyone with unstable joints supposed to use such load required to build muscle and not get injured?
Muscle gains are slow. If we use women as an example, and whilst ensuring that training and diet are on point, we could expect to see around a 10lb gain in muscle mass over the course of a year. However, there are no studies that follow muscle gain in those with hypermobility. So how much muscle are we supposed to add to create stable joints: 5lb, 25lb? and how are we supposed to even add muscle tissue when we can’t handle the load required to build muscles in the first place?
There are also other issues, such as why do women with high muscle mass still dislocate, whilst others with less muscle mass dislocate less?
The current treatment seems to fall apart somewhat when we start to question it. No wonder this current treatment has caused so much distress and gaslighting to those with hypermobility when it doesn’t even make any sense. We have seen so many people in the studio who have all reported the same thing, they did their physio, it didn’t work, and they were blamed for not trying hard enough.
Many people have used many different forms of exercise to help stabilises hypermobile knees, and whilst we often see swimming or hydrotherapy as a form of great exercise, please remember there are issues with these.
We live on land and we need to be able to deal with the various forces that enact upon us. Whilst swimming can be a great form of cardiovascular exercise, it is not doing a great deal in the form of stabilising our joints, and it takes away the loading forces that will help up in the long run, which can decondition us further.
There is also an issue with the use of hydrotherapy, those 39-degree waters will vasodilate our blood vessels, forcing our hearts to work harder to pump blood around, as well as causing blood pooling, potentially making us dizzy and faint. Which is not want we want when we are in a large body of water.
Load is a crucial part of stabilising joints, however, it needs to be the right form of load. Open chain exercises such as the leg extension machine you would find at any gym, are a good example of bad load, putting large leverage forces through tissue, which those of us with hypermobility can not properly handle(yet).
A good hypermobile knee exercise needs to be transferable to everyday life, meaning the benefits of it cross over to other movements and other activities.
There seems to be much demand for a simple and effective hypermobility knee exercise. So, below you can find one of our favourite hypermobility knee exercises, which is aimed at helping those with hypermobility and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, by addressing some of the real issues that need to be addressed.
Keep in mind, that a large problem with hypermobility exercises, in general, is that individuals tend to have trouble contracting the right tissues or even feeling the muscle they are exercising in the first place. This is why a tactile cue, used with a closed chain exercise, is a great way to train the tissue and your brain, in an exercise that is transferable to everyday life.
For this type of exercise, it is far better to use time, rather than sets and repetitions. You can start off performing this exercise for up to 1 minute twice per day, and spend the next 3 weeks trying to get up to a total of 4 minutes.
Sciatica refers to pain, weakness, numbness, and/or tingling in the leg and it is caused by injury to or pressure on the sciatic nerve.
The sciatic nerve starts in the lower spine and runs down the back of each leg. Not only does it control the muscles of the back of the knee and lower leg, but it also provides sensation to the back of the thigh, the sole of the foot, and part of the lower leg. When there is pressure or damage to the sciatic nerve, sciatica occurs.
The most common causes of sciatica include pelvic injury or fracture, tumors, herniated discs, and piriformis syndrome (a pain disorder involving the narrow muscle in the buttocks).
When a herniated disc presses on nerve roots, it can cause pain, numbness, and weakness in the area of the body where the nerve travels. A herniated disc in the lower back can cause pain and numbness in the buttock and down the leg. Sciatica is the most common symptom of a herniated disc in the low back.
If a herniated disc is not pressing on a nerve, patients may have a backache or no pain at all.
Sciatica pain tends to vary from patient to patient. Some may feel a mild tingling, dull ache, or burning sensation, but in more severe cases, the pain is sometimes intense enough that a patient is unable to move. Though it usually only affects one side of the lower body, patients occasionally experience pain on both sides.
Symptoms of sciatica are burning or tingling down the leg, pain in the rear of the leg that is worse when sitting, shooting pain that makes it difficult to stand, and weakness, numbness, or difficulty moving the leg or foot. Pain may also extend to the foot or toes depending on where the nerve is affected.
Pain can also start slowly and get worse after standing or sitting for long periods of time, at night, when patients sneeze, cough, or laugh, and when patients bend backward or walk more than a few yards (this most often occurs with spinal stenosis patients).
After sciatica is diagnosed by a pain management specialist, the next step is determining and treating the underlying cause because sciatica is a symptom of another medical condition. In certain cases, recovery occurs on its own and no treatment is required.
The main objective of sciatica treatment is to calm the symptoms and reduce inflammation. Applying heat or ice to the painful area is a good idea, as well as taking over-the-counter pain medications such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) or acetaminophen (Tylenol). Patients should reduce their activity for several days, though bed rest is not recommended. Also, avoid heavy lifting or twisting of the back for the first six weeks after the pain begins.
If patients still feel pain, injections to reduce inflammation around the nerve may have to be given. Other prescription medications may also be prescribed, along with physical therapy exercises. Since nerve pain is typically difficult to treat, patients may want to see a neurologist or a pain specialist.
At Chronicillness.co Site, the pain management specialists know that managing the day-to-day symptoms of fibromyalgia can be exhausting and troublesome. Sometimes medication just isn’t enough. This is where alternative treatments, such as supplements and herbs, come in.
Because many people—not just those with fibromyalgia—are now using alternative therapies, Congress has formed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). It is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and it helps appraise alternative treatments, including supplements, and define their effectiveness. This organization is now creating safe guidelines to help people choose appropriate alternative therapies that may help their symptoms without making them ill.
Some preliminary studies indicate that some medicinal herbs and natural supplements may help treat symptoms of fibromyalgia. Other studies of herbs and natural supplements, however, are less positive. For patients who want to take a natural approach to treat fibromyalgia, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the therapies to consider. The herbs and natural supplements described in this article are just some of the alternative therapies that may have an impact on fibromyalgia.
5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan) is a building block of serotonin. Serotonin is a powerful brain chemical, and serotonin levels play a significant role in fibromyalgia pain. Serotonin levels are also associated with depression and sleep.
For those with fibromyalgia, 5-HTP may help to increase deep sleep and reduce pain. In one study published in the Alternative Medicine Review, researchers reported that supplementation with 5-HTP may improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and fibromyalgia pains. However, there are some contradictory studies that show no benefit of 5-HTP.
5-HTP is usually well tolerated. But in the late 1980s, the supplement was associated with a serious condition called eosinophilia–myalgia syndrome. It’s thought that a contaminant in 5-HTP led to the condition, which causes flu-like symptoms, severe muscle pain, and burning rashes.
Melatonin is a natural hormone that’s available as an over-the-counter supplement. It is sometimes used to induce drowsiness and improve sleep patterns. Some preliminary findings show that melatonin may be effective in treating fibromyalgia pain. Most patients with fibromyalgia have sleep problems and fatigue, and it’s thought that melatonin may help relieve these symptoms.
Melatonin is generally regarded as safe with few to no side effects. Due to the risk of daytime sleepiness, though, anyone taking melatonin should use caution when driving until they know how it affects them.
There’s no specific evidence that St. John’s wort is helpful in treating fibromyalgia. However, this herb is often used in treating depression, and depression is commonly associated with fibromyalgia.
There are several studies that show St. John’s wort is more effective than a placebo and as effective as older antidepressants called tricyclics in the short-term treatment of mild or moderate depression. Other studies show St. John’s wort is as effective as selective SSRI antidepressants such as Prozac or Zoloft in treating depression.
St John’s wort is usually well tolerated. The most common side effects are stomach upset, skin reactions, and fatigue. St. John’s wort should not be mixed with antidepressants as can cause interactions with many types of drugs.
It’s not known exactly how SAM-e works in the body, but some feel this natural supplement increases levels of serotonin and dopamine, two brain neurotransmitters. Although some researchers believe that SAM-e may alter mood and increase restful sleep, current studies do not appear to show any benefit of SAM-e over placebo in reducing the number of tender points or in alleviating depression with fibromyalgia. Additional study is needed to confirm these findings.
While the studies are limited, it’s thought that L-carnitine may give some pain relief and treat other symptoms in people with fibromyalgia. In one study, researchers evaluated the effectiveness of L-carnitine in 102 patients with fibromyalgia. Results showed significantly greater symptom improvements in the group that took L-carnitine than in the group that took a placebo. The researchers concluded that while more studies are warranted, L-carnitine may provide pain relief and improvement in the general and mental health of patients with fibromyalgia.
Before taking any herb or supplement for fibromyalgia, talk to your pain management doctor at Chronicillness.co Site or pharmacist about possible side effects or herb-drug interactions. Herbal therapies are not recommended for pregnant women, children, the elderly, or those with weakened immune systems. In addition, some herbs have a sedative or blood-thinning qualities, which may dangerously interact with anti-inflammatory painkillers or other pain medications. Others may cause stomach upset if taken in large doses.
With so much attention focused on the dangers of opioid painkillers, it’s easy to forget that even “safe” over-the-counter products carry some dangers.
If you don’t think twice about reaching for a pill to relieve aches and pains, especially medicines called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, you need to know about the wide-ranging cautions surrounding their use, especially if you take them on a regular basis and over a long period of time.
NSAIDs can also increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke, even within just the first few weeks of using one, and the risk can rise over time. Your risk for heart issues is greater if you have high blood pressure or heart disease or recently had a heart attack or bypass surgery. Aspirin is the one NSAID this warning doesn’t apply to. However, NSAIDs, including aspirin, can damage the stomach lining and cause gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding and ulcers.
Are also taking blood-thinners, steroids or certain other medications
If you’re considering acetaminophen, commonly known by the brand name Tylenol, as an alternative to NSAIDs, know that acetaminophen can also cause severe liver damage, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Like NSAIDs, it’s also in hundreds of other products, so as with all drugs, read medication ingredient labels to avoid taking too much of the same active ingredient and potentially overdosing.
In general, always take the lowest effective dose for the shortest amount of time possible, and only after talking to your doctor if you already have high blood pressure or any other chronic condition.
Methadone is often used in the fight against opioid addiction, but long travel times in rural areas may be hampering efforts to get more people treated, a new study finds.
If methadone for opioid addiction was available in primary care clinics, more people would have better access to treatment, researchers suggest.
In the United States, methadone is only available at clinics certified by the federal government as Opioid Treatment Programs, or OTPs. This restriction, along with state and local laws, limits the number of clinics that offer methadone for opioid addiction.
For the study, researchers looked at drive times to OTPs in rural and urban counties in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. These states are among those hardest hit by the opioid epidemic.
Drive time is important because methadone treatment requires six visits a week to an OTP, the study authors noted.
Except in the largest cities, average drive times to OTPs were longer than to other clinics, the study found.
The average drive time to a methadone clinic was 37 minutes, compared with 16 minutes to other medical clinics and 15 minutes to kidney dialysis centers. In rural areas, the drive time can be close to two hours, the researchers found.
“This study makes clear how poorly accessible methadone is for rural communities harmed by the opioid epidemic,” study author Dr. Paul Joudrey, a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University, said in a university news release.
Joudrey noted that another drug, buprenorphine, is used in primary care settings to treat opioid addiction, but it doesn’t help everyone. Addiction experts recommend that methadone should be available in all communities to improve health and reduce death among people who are addicted to opioids.
The report was published Oct. 1 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
One of the most common complaints Chronicillness.co Site of United States sees amongst dancers knee pain following an injury. Dancers are hyper-mobile, meaning the joints move in a larger range of motion than normal. Typically, this is desirable for dancers, however, it can cause other body parts to control movements and lead to painful problems. Knee pain is common because dancers are usually back on their feet and performing at high levels following an injury.
At Chronicillness.co Site of United States, our team of board-certified pain specialists helps patients overcome chronic pain every day. With the most advanced treatments and management strategies available, Chronicillness.co Site is the leading pain relief facility in the entire state of the United States. If you or someone you know suffers from knee or thigh pain as a result of a dancing injury, contact Chronicillness.co Site today for a full evaluation.
The knee commonly referred to as the hinge joint, is the largest joint in the human body, responsible for supporting bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage, and ligaments. The knees can bear weight up to four times of a person’s body and are consistently bending, moving, and moving to keep us mobile. For dancers, proper and capable knee function is imperative. If you have suffered an injury from dancing or need to prevent an injury from occurring, please review these 5 common dancing injuries that lead to chronic pain complications if left undertreated.
Adolescent Anterior Knee Pain. The patella, kneecap, is a common place for healthy young athletes to endure pain—especially females. Excessive stress to the knee is common in dancers who are required to train hard. Dancers often go through early growth spurts, which decreases flexibility. Bones grow more rapidly than muscles during this time putting more stress on the kneecap.
Hyperextension.Locking the knee joint or using extreme flexibility to the knee joint often places excess stress on the knee joint and lower leg.
Patellar Misalignment. When the patella slips out of its place, it will generally relocate back. When this happens repeatedly, it can be very painful in the future and lead to dislocation and inflammation.
Meniscus Tears. The “C” shaped cartilage of the knee joint helps protect the femur and tibia from grinding against one another. Landing a high jump, twisting a knee, or other dancing injuries can cause a tear in the meniscus. Range of motion, walking, and gait are affected when this injury occurs.
Osteoarthritis. Inflammation and degeneration of cartilage within the bones of the knee joint cause osteoarthritis. Pain, swelling, and stiffness often result, in limiting capable activities and dance abilities if untreated.
