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Fibromyalgia Research Paper

Decent Essays

Abnormal Psychology
Research paper

Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) is a musculoskeletal illness (which causes chronic pain) and a chronic

Fatigue disorder. It can also change sleep patterns and cause the following: digestive disorders, chronic

headaches, painful menstrual periods, temperature sensitivity, morning stiffness, numbness or tingling

of extremities, and even cognitive memory problems. The name fibromyalgia comes from "fibro" in Latin

meaning tissue, "my" in Greek meaning muscle, and "algia" meaning pain. Because symptoms are wide –

ranged and studies for treatment of FMS did not begin until the 1980's, it is one of the most popularly

misdiagnosed conditions in the medical world. The main symptoms are …show more content…

Like many other chronic pain syndromes FM has no single specific feature, but represents a symptom complex of self-reported or elicited findings. (Clinical management of fibromyalgia: An update: page 109) The treatment of Fibromyalgia should be viewed as a “team approach”. Most chronic pain does not respond to drugs and may require an aggressive use of no pharmacological therapies or “the rehab approach”. This includes a lifestyle change, physically, mentally, and emotionally. This approach should include use of a physician, occupational therapist, physical therapist, massage therapist, chiropractor, an acupuncturist and any specialists, such as a Rheumatologist. (Mondell, D. L., &ump; Wright, P. (2005)) Psychological counseling is recommended early after receiving the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. Mainly because it takes many years of visiting doctors and having tests results come back negative that an individual will begin to think this is “all in their head”. Then when finally a diagnosis is given like Fibromyalgia and they are told that “the cause is unknown, the treatment is unknown and there is no cure” can be hard to accept. It is recommended that the patient’s loved ones attend sessions, because they, too, will find it hard to understand the diagnosis. In 2007 pregabalin became the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug for the treatment of FM. Pregabalin and its precursor gabapentin play an important

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