Fibromyalgia: the pain from nowhere

What is fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia. A word as incomprehensible as the disease itself. Translated it means as much as muscle fiber pain. FMS, fibromyalgia syndrome, as doctors say. An estimated 1.6 million people are affected two percent of the population in Germany, most often women after menopause.

Chronic pain

A disease on the muscles that is not that rare. Typical for fibromyalgia is a strong pressure pain in 18 points all over the body (you can find more fibromyalgia symptoms here!). Such tender points are for example in the neck, on the buttocks and on the knees. After seven years, the cut, the pain of fibromyalgia, which usually begins at 35, become chronic. But the pain is not the worst in fibromyalgia syndrome. "Many patients suffer from not being taken seriously," emphasizes Dr. med. Michael Späth, rheumatologist and specialist in internal medicine from Gräfelfing near Munich.

Fibromyalgia takes a long time to be diagnosed

So many sufferers have a long odyssey through medical practices behind them, until they finally find out the reason for their complaints. The disease is often misunderstood in diagnostics, because some doctors are not up to date in pain research, says Späth. Some doctors even deny that fibromyalgia exists. That's why there's a new guideline to diagnose the disease now? approved by important medical societies in Germany.

Symptoms: How do you recognize fibromyalgia?

However, even for experts, it is not easy to differentiate the complaints of fibromyalgia from other inflammatory diseases. "It's a complex disease," says Späth. In every patient, the pain is a little different. Most feel

chronically exhausted,
complain of back and lower abdominal pain,
suffer from constant fatigue
and sleep disorders.

If they are mainly concerned with the whole body pain, the doctors assume that the symptoms belong to fibromyalgia. For guidance experts of the American Rheumatologist Society published the following criteria for the first time in 1990: Muscular pain over at least three months in at least three body regions, above and below the waist, in the area of the spine and in the left or right half of the body.

Causes: How does the disease develop?

Nobody knows exactly how the symptoms develop. So far, there are only individual findings. Research today assumes that the pain itself is the main problem, more precisely: the processes of pain processing. Presumably in fibromyalgia patients also the body's pain barrier in the central nervous system is disturbed. Pain processing is a complicated biological mechanism that inhibits pain and prevents it from burning into memory over time. Probably the body's own substances that are similar to cannabis play a role.

One of the possible causes of fibromyalgia: serotonin deficiency

Also, the messenger serotonin, a happiness hormone that relieves pain and produced by the organism seems to be involved. "There is evidence that serotonin levels are too low in some fibromyalgia patients," says Späth. This assumption suggests that in some patients low-dose antidepressants work well, although they do not suffer from depression. The possible reason: Some antidepressants increase the serotonin concentration. But medications help only limited.

There are hardly any findings so far, why some people are more prone to fibromyalgia than others. Several factors come together in the disease:

heredity
environmental influences
possibly certain hormonal processes

After all, 80 percent of those affected by fibromyalgia are women. Why? Again, there are only assumptions. At the end of 2008, neuroscientists in the brains of female rats found that they have fewer docking points than males, to which endogenous pain-relieving messenger substances can bind. The number of these so-called opioid receptors was also dependent on the cycle.

What is certain, however, is that when constant stress at work or in the family mixes with other risks, the risk of contracting FMS increases. Persistent stress or traumatic events often have consequences for the organism: Hormonal control circuits can get out of hand in fibromyalgia sufferers especially when the body is constantly in alarm without recovering. Over time, the inner excitement swings almost automatically, presumably weakening the pain-relieving system.In stress, people also tighten their muscles, originally for the purpose of being able to fight or escape in the event of danger. Persistent pain can be the result.

That fibromyalgia is a serious disease, polls show among patients: a quarter is no longer workable or in early retirement. Most experience that persistent pain is frowned upon without visible signs such as bandages or crutches. They live like lepers among healthy people. Disappointed, many sufferers turn away from conventional medicine after they've already tried everything.

Therapy: What helps with fibromyalgia?

Many of those affected seek help with alternative medicine, which offers a holistic approach to treatment. "Patients come with physical ailments that cause psychological conflicts and social problems, and our experience shows that only a multi-pronged approach can be successful in fibromyalgia," emphasizes Professor Michael Stimpel, chief physician of the German Clinic for Naturopathy and Preventive Medicine (see interview). , Part of the therapy is training to deal with the pain better. This psychological program is offered in some cities, partly by the health insurance companies. The pain caused by fibromyalgia can be tamed with it.