Friday, May 23, 2008

Fibromyalgia flare up

Yet again I feel all these symptoms as described by Kirstie Quail including

"Like waking up every morning aching with the flu.

Like menstrual cramps and muscle soreness that never go away.

Like a 10-pound weight on her arm that hurts 10 times more than it should"

It all makes doing anything such a chore requiring huge mental and physical effort which in turn worsens the symptoms so now I lead a very small life without the enrgy to carry out work or leisure activities "normal" folk never think twice about. Could I have had Fibromyalgia all my life or am I just internalising my mothers idea that there has always been something wrong with me?

"Joan Hall, chairwoman of the Fibromyalgia Association of Rochester, said most women in her group weren't diagnosed until middle age, but many noticed pain since childhood.

"They might have called you a crybaby, but you didn't know that," said Hall, 67, who was diagnosed in her 30s but felt distinct pain since she was 17. "I just knew, when it hurt, it hurt bad."

The National Institutes of Health estimates as many as one in 50 Americans has fibromyalgia. Though statistics aren't clear, several studies suggest that the number of children diagnosed with the condition is rising."

Monday, May 19, 2008

Definition, classification and diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome

Article in German by

BACKGROUND: Interdisciplinary guidelines for the definition,
classification and diagnosis of chronic widespread pain (CWP) and
fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) were developed by collaboration of 10
German medical and psychological associations and 2 patient self-help
organizations.

METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in the Cochrane
Library (1993-12/2006), Medline (1980-2006), PsychInfo
(1966-12/2006), and Scopus (1980-12/2006). Levels of evidence were
assigned according to the classification system of the Oxford Centre
for Evidence-Based Medicine. Grading of the strength of
recommendation was done according to the German program for disease
management guidelines. Standardized procedures to reach a consensus
on recommendations were used.

RESULTS: CWP is defined by the criteria of the American College of
Rheumatology (ACR - strong consensus). FMS can be diagnosed for
clinical purposes by symptom-based criteria (without tender point
examination) as well as by the ACR criteria (strong consensus).