A Guide for
Relatives and Companions
Taken from: Fibromyalgia/Myofascial Pain Syndrome Handout # 3
Devin Starlanyl, M.D.
What can we do for someone who has FM?
There is no cure for FM/MPS
but many researchers are working on it.There are medications that help some of the symptoms.
Trigger points can be relieved by some types of physical therapy.
It takes a commitment on the part of the patient to practice good nutrition, a program of gentle stretching and moderate exercise, and a recognition of both the patient and her/his companions in life that there are real limitations for people with fibromyalgia.
It isn’t easy to find the right balance to optimize the quality of life.
Be kind. Be patient. Be compassionate. Listen.
And ask if there isn’t something you can do to help.
How can someone know if they have FM?
Suspect it if you have a history of widespread pain, and wake up every morning feeling like you’ve been run over by a truck.
You may have headaches and loss of balance. Looking both ways when going into traffic can cause dizziness.
You can’t always find your car in a parking lot. On your best days you feel like you have the flu.
You usually develop esophageal reflux.
You put on weight.
Some objective signs are ridges on the fingernails, goose bumps behind the upper arms and thighs, and mottling of the skin.
Sometimes you get muscle twitches.
You are electro-magnetically sensitive.
Technically, you will have 11 of 18 specific "tender points". If these spots are pressed, you will have pain.
Fibromyalgia patients just about always have myofascial pain syndrome. That’s a related dysfunction that has "Trigger Points".
These TPs are incredibly painful areas that often feel like knots or hard lumps in the muscles.
Taut bands of fibers form in the muscles.
The TPs refer pain to other areas.
They can trigger gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome, grinding of teeth at night, pain when you put your hands in cold water, dizziness, chronic inversion sprains of the ankle, weak knees, weak ankles, pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and painful intercourse in women, impotence in men, etc.
The tightened and spasming of the muscles can entrap nerves, blood vessels, and ducts. You can have blurring of the eyes or double vision. Leg cramps, hypoglycemic-like symptoms, problems swallowing, immune dysfunction, allergies and sensitivities, sciatica, hives and rashes, numbness or tingling, mood swings, confusional states, loss of balance—the list goes on and on.
