Fibromyalgia And Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are a pair of disabling syndromes that cause the victim severe pain and the inability to maintain the lifestyles that they have been accustomed to. Both of these syndromes share one thing in common: they cause muscle and joint pain that often lasts a long time. Because of some of the similarities between fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, diagnosis of these two syndromes can be difficult at best.
If you go to the doctors with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms, you can expect to have to go through a lot of testing to confirm if you have either one of these illnesses. Unlike diseases such as cancer, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome do not have a single known pathogen or virus that can readily identify the issue. Due to this, diagnosis is done through elimination of other possible causes. Once the illness has been isolated to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndromes, then a more complex diagnosis can be made.
In addition to the common link of pain, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome also have a variety of other symptoms that are shared. Exhaustion is quite common in patients of both of these syndroms. Flu symptoms are also common. Depression is also present, although they differ slightly in the causes of the depression. In chronic fatigue syndrome, the depression is more founded on the consistent exhaustion, while fibromyalgia patients have depression founded on constant pain. Cognitive problems are more common in chronic fatigue syndrome patients, where memory loss and the inability to comprehend what is occurring around them is not uncommon. Fibromyalgia patients occasionally note this symptom, but not on the same scale as those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome.
If you are classed in a group of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers, it is important that you take advantage of the resources that are available to you. These syndromes are both very difficult to cope with, and both have low rates of recovery to a fully functional level. Because of this, it is important that sufferers offer each other support to help combat depression and improve a general quality of life. There are many organizations and associations dedicated to the cause of furthering research on fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. However, these groups need the help of the patients to participate in research studies and speak out in order to get the funding and aid necessary to improve quality of life.