What Causes Fibromyalgia?
Before discussing fibromyalgia, it’s helpful to first understand what it is—and what it isn’t. First and foremost, fibromyalgia is not a disease, as a disease usually has just one cause or trigger. Rather, fibromyalgia is as a collection of symptoms, classified as a syndrome with no single consistent cause.
I hope that someday, with continued research, fibromyalgia’s main trigger (if there is just one) is brought to light. Until then, researchers are looking at various factors, including:
Metabolic Dysfunction
This is when the body is unable to fully utilize certain substances in the body, or eliminate them from the body. Substances that are not eliminated from the body become toxic and can have adverse effects on the body’s systems. According to Dr. R. Paul St. Amand of UCLA, if phosphate ions are not excreted sufficiently, they accumulate in the cells of the body, wreaking havoc in the muscles, tendons, and bones.
Sometimes the body doesn’t produce enough of something it needs or reabsorbs it before it can really do its job. Serotonin is one such substance. The body needs serotonin to help regulate moods, emotions, appetite, and even sleep, so a lack of this hormone can cause mood swings, depression, as well as changes in eating and sleeping habits. Doctors will often prescribe SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) to try to counteract this dysfunction.
Stress
Many doctors will tell you that if you do not relieve stress yourself your body will find its own way to relieve stress. For instance, many sufferers of prolonged stress suffer from ulcers, heart problems, and anxiety attacks. Some people may also begin to exhibit symptoms of fibromyalgia as well.
When stress levels are high for an extended period of time the affect on the body can be very harsh. For example, the adrenal glands that produce the “fight or flight” hormone, adrenaline – can become overworked. When these glands are overworked this results in fatigue, trouble getting out of bed in the morning, feeling your best in the late evening, a feeling of being rundown and sometimes a feeling of being overwhelmed, this can also be accompanied by the inability to bounce back from illness or stressful situations. Researchers are still investigating the possible correlation between adrenal fatigue and fibromyalgia.
Nutritional Deficiencies
Research has discovered that fibromyalgia sufferers have common nutritional deficiencies. This is most likely a result of the modern diet of convenience, in which many foods are consumed of empty calories and little to no nutritional value.
The common deficiency is in the amino acid tryptophan. The body requires tryptophan to make niacin and serotonin. Serotonin helps us to get a good night’s sleep and maintain a positive mood. Although, tryptophan is no longer available as a supplement in the U.S. it can be found in a number of foods such as chicken, turkey, eggs, milk, cheese, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, and soy.
Try to keep the most balanced diets that you can and include lots of protein, as your muscles need them for growth and repair. Cut down on, or if you can eliminate refined sugars and carbohydrates from your diet. The body reacts to sugar by increasing adrenaline production, which can have a bad effect pain-wise in people with fibromyalgia. Make sure to eat lots of fresh vegetables as well as some fruit, just keep the fruit to a minimum as fruit contains sugar, natural or not, sugar is sugar.
Illness or Injury
One question that has been on researchers minds for quite some time is whether or not fibromyalgia is the body’s response to an illness or injury. This is because many sufferers of the syndrome claim to have experienced their first symptoms shortly after having a nasty virus or being in a car accident.
Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that causes mononucleosis is one the viruses that is undergoing careful scrutiny to determine the correlation to fibromyalgia. Although there is only a weak link amongst the two scientists still continue to look for other triggers.
Heredity
Heredity, may be a factor of Fibromyalgia as well, perhaps as a genetic malfunction within the central nervous system, scientists continue to investigate this avenue as well. Researchers believe that the syndrome “lies dormant” until it is triggered by either a single stressful event or several stressful events over time, or by being in a perpetual state of high stress.
Compromised Immune Function
Many of the fibromyalgia patients that participated in research studies were found to have inferior immune system function. Some factors that can negatively contribute to a person’s immune system include chronic pain, poor diet, and poor sleep quality (and quantity). Researchers are still pondering whether a compromised immune system contributes to fibromyalgia, or fibromyalgia contributes to a compromised immune system.
Regardless, the best weapon for the fibromyalgia sufferer is to live a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthy foods, take supportive supplements, exercising to your ability and doing whatever is necessary in order to get a good night’s sleep.