Hey everyone,
I am on disability, mydaughter is a teen and hubby retired/disabled, so I have plenty of time for research and have always been a rabid reader and believe knowledge IS power.
Her are a few theories I've found floating out there, and each has some validity to it.
!. My first pain management doc truly believed that it all stemmed from inflammation, of nerves of muscles of discs, all depending on where and when you hurt. Alas, after too many steroid shots, I ended up in roid rage and ended up in the psych ward, but, boy, I felt great_LOL!!! He was a very compassionate doc who ended up taking his own pain pills and has lost his career, facing charges from DEA. BUT, inflammation is still intriguing. It shows up in almost all AI disorders, CFS, EBV Lyme, connective tissue disorders, polymyositis, complex regional pain syndrome etc. Inflammation wreaks havoc on central nervous system, our 5 senses, of course movement, exercise, thus triggering all sorts of depression, anxiety, guilt, more pain etc. I call it the Hamster Wheel Theory.
2. My second theory is, at least with me, my 2 worst symptoms have been EXTREME fatigue and some pretty darn bad pain days. Some researchers have zeroed in on sleep disturbances of fibro patients. Apparently alot of us to not get enough deep-wave sleep. This is the stage at which growth hormones are released to repair the daily damage done to our muscles (pain) and it is the stage where serotonin is replenished (our feel good chemical ). Most of us take anti depressants which are ssris or snris, both of which attempt to boost serotonin levels. I have seen research on a sleep drug (xyrem-don't know if I can put that in) which shows promising results for fibro patients. BUT, it is schedule II, anywhere from 600-1100 per bottle, and is dispensed from 1 centralized pharmacy. Potent stuff. The other promising drug is flupirtine, which has been used in Europe for 10-15 years but is not in US. Someone correct me if I'm off-have not found too much on this one but small double-blind studies looked really good.
Finally, ultimately I have no idea where it comes from or why. My reasoning mind seeks a finite definite answer. Yet, great minds cannot even tell us what causes rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, we are all thrown into one boat - I cannot help thinking that all these come from autoimmune systems gone awry for whatever reason and our bodies are attacking themselves.
Boy, what a windbag!!!LOL!!! Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox.
Maggie/bayoub