Features Related to Fibromyalgia

1. Fibromyalgia and Medical Marijuana
   

   Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, is hard to treat and impossible to cure. With pain so debilitating, patients may wonder about trying medical marijuana to ease their discomfort. Still widely controversial, "medical marijuana" refers to the smoked form of the drug. It does not refer to the synt

   Read Full Article
2. Fibromyalgia: The Diet Connection
   

   The condition is called fibromyalgia. It consists of a complex array of symptoms that include widespread muscle and joint pain along with overwhelming fatigue. And none of it goes away, no matter how much rest you get. Fibromyalgia affects up to 4% of the population -- mostly women. And there is sti

   Read Full Article
3. Fibromyalgia Pain at Night
   

   Do you toss and turn at night because of fibromyalgia pain or discomfort? "People with fibromyalgia tend to have very disturbed sleep," says Doris Cope, MD, director of Pain Management at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Even if they sleep 10 hours a night, they still feel fatigued,

   Read Full Article
4. Water Exercise for Fibromyalgia: Easing Deep Muscle Pain
   

   If you have fibromyalgia pain, you're likely clenching right now. "Clenching is an involuntary reaction to stress," says Doris Cope, MD, director of Pain Management at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "People tense their muscles, and probably don't even realize they're doing it. That red

   Read Full Article
5. Finding Dr. Right for Your Fibromyalgia
   

   Not every doctor understands fibromyalgia well -- yet it's critical to find one who is up to date on the latest fibromyalgia treatment and research. Wherever you live, you'll have to do some research to find a health care provider who is the best fit for you. Here's the good news: "It's easier now t

   Read Full Article
6. Alternative Treatments for Fibromyalgia
   

   To get relief from fibromyalgia pain, more and more people are trying alternative treatments. It's often instinctive -- putting an icepack on a painful spot or reaching for the heating pad when muscles hurt. Or it feels good – like a massage. Even acupuncture is becoming a mainstream pain treatment,

   Read Full Article
7. Treating Fibromyalgia Pain: Medication Options
   

   If you have fibromyalgia pain, hang in there -- pain relief is possible. Today doctors have better insight into fibromyalgia, and are using many types of medications to treat its symptoms. Antidepressants, anticonvulsants, narcolepsy drugs, pain relievers, sleep aids -- all these medications work wi

   Read Full Article
8. Diagnosing Fibromyalgia: Common Misdiagnoses
   

   Jackie Yencha hit the wall at age 22. "I couldn't handle the pain any more," she says. "I was terribly fatigued, not feeling well, not sleeping well." But it took Yencha seven years to get an accurate diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Her first diagnosis -- reflex sympathetic dystrophy -- resulted in exper

   Read Full Article
9. Living With Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue
   

   Jackie Yencha is somebody who gets things done -- as much as possible. She has been coping with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue most of her life. But she pushed through college, got married, is raising two kids, and holds a top-level volunteer position with a fibromyalgia advocacy agency. She and h

   Read Full Article
10. Understanding Chronic Pain
    

    By Dr. Margaret Caudill-Slosberg Dr. Margaret Caudill-Slosberg is a board-certified internist and diplomat of pain medicine. She's currently an instructor in medicine at Dartmouth Medical School and a Quality Scholar at the V.A. Hospital in White River Junction, Vermont. Once largely ignored, unders

    Read Full Article