Tips for managing fibromyalgia pain

Despite fibromyalgia's cause being unclear, there are a lot of options for management to explore. Some new medications work best in particular combinations and natural solutions like exercise and sleep can help.

Your muscles ache, you droop through the day, you have more stress than a taut rubber band, and you've lost your keys again.

• Like most fibromyalgia sufferers, you find this syndrome puzzling and painful.
• The pain can range from a persistent muscle ache to sharp shooting pain to tingling or burning, all at their worst in the morning.

You may have fibromyalgia if you have:

• pain for at least three months in 11 of 18 tender points, usually at spots where muscles and tendons join
• pain on both sides of your body
• pain both below and above your waist.

Although fibromyalgia is categorized as a form of arthritis, its pain centres in the muscles, not the joints. As if the aching and soreness weren't enough, fibromyalgia is often accompanied by fatigue, headaches, and a type of forgetfulness sometimes referred to as fibrofog.

Although no one is certain what causes fibromyalgia, scientists are beginning to piece together clues. For example, some scientists believe that fibromyalgia stems from a difference in the way the central nervous system processes pain, which leads to heightened sensitivity; even a light tap may hurt.

• People with fibromyalgia also appear to have more trouble processing the body's natural pain relievers, and their bodies remember pain long after the initial insult.
• Other theories suggest that trauma, infection, or a sleep disorder may trigger the syndrome. It's also possible that an overactive immune system lies behind the pain.

As researchers close in on fibromyalgia's secrets, they also get closer to managing its pain. Tools range from new drug options to acupuncture to exercise.

• Don't be disappointed if one isn't a magic bullet; a combination of remedies usually works better, so you'll have to experiment.
• It's worth the trouble; most people with fibromylagia do experience significant relief.

• Exercise may sound like a drag, but according to researchers, women with fibromyalgia who participated in a strength-training program twice a week for 16 weeks reduced their pain by 39 percent.
• Since blood tests and X-rays are useless for diagnosing fibromylagia, for years many doctors believed that it was a psychological condition.
• Thanks to advanced neuroimaging techniques, many researchers are now convinced that the syndrome reflects a malfunction of the central nervous system. The information has led to new drugs and therapies.

Pain is no lullaby. In fact, some scientists believe sleeplessness may be the trigger behind fibromyalgia pain. For one thing, when you sleep deeply you release a hormone called somatomedin-C, essential for nerve and muscle health.However, fibromyalgia patients, robbed of deep sleep, release much lower levels of the hormone.

Another hormone released during deep sleep is insulin growth factor (IGF). People with fibromyalgia produce much less of this hormone, too. The fact that poor sleep may cause or at least feed fibromyalgia makes better nights critical to feeling well. So, how do you improve your Zs?

• Establish and stick to a regular sleep schedule. Get up and go to sleep at the same time every day, even on weekends. Don't nap; it may hurt your chances of sleeping at night.
• Perfect your bedroom. Plump the pillows, buy a fan, invest in a more comfortable mattress (if yours is more than 10 years old, it's time), and move the computer, the TV, and the bonging grandfather clock elsewhere. Make your bedroom a shrine to sleep, not to extra office work or gruesome crime shows.
•  No caffeine after 11:00 a.m. It's a stimulant that keeps you awake, and its effects can last up to 10 hours.

With these tips, there's no reason to let fibromyalgia keep you back or chronically have you at anything less than your best.