Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Fibromyalgia Depression

By Carly Murphy


Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic pain, sleep problems, fatigue, depression, migraines, bowel problems and many other problems. Fibromyalgia effects as much as 10 million Americans, with up to 90% of patients being female. There's no known cure for Fibromyalgia but numerous treatment options exist.

Depression is a very common symptom related to Fibromyalgia with research indicating 30% of affected individuals are afflicted by major Fibromyalgia and depression during the course of diagnosis with Fibromyalgia and 20% fighting generalized anxiety disorder. It is believed that around 80% of individuals told they have Fibromyalgia have problems with some degree of depression. Common depression related difficulties suffered by individuals with Fibromyalgia consist of worry, anxiety, irritability, sadness, and a general loss of interest in life.

Although no distinct causes have been verified relative to Fibromyalgia, presently there is research to suggest key causal factors that have an impact on both Fibromyalgia and the depression so common to it. Certain causes connected to Fibromyalgia include problems in brain chemicals linked with nerve signal transmission, specifically nerve signals having to do with pain. Trauma, both mental and physical, have also been revealed as potential causal factors linked to Fibromyalgia. Genetics also is suspected of playing a role.

Fibromyalgia is characterized by causal symptoms. This refers to the tendency for symptoms to feed on each other and build a continuing never-ending cycle of symptoms interacting in a downhill spiral. These "negative feedback loops" include causal symptoms contributing to other symptoms getting worse. For example, a Fibromyalgia affected person may go through ongoing severe pain. This type of pain may cause difficulty sleeping which leads to fatigue. The fatigue and pain can foster depression which feeds weight gain, stress and anxiety that all play a role in amplifying Fibromyalgia pain.

Treating despression symptoms in Fibromyalgia is a bit more complex than managing depression as a stand alone problem. It is important to establish how and when depression is presenting itself and work to recognize its relationship to other Fibromyalgia symptoms. This approach will allow a method of focusing treatment choices not merely at the depression itself but at the various other Fibromyalgia symptoms which may be feeding the depression.

Treatment options include drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Wellbutrin as well as various other potential pharmaceutical alternatives. There are numerous research proven alternative treatment selections for depression with St. Johns Wort and SAMe both having been demonstrated via multiple research studies as being equally as effective as depression drugs for many patients. Individuals must coordinate with their physician to make the best choice and ensure no undesirable drug interactions are encountered.

Fibromyalgia patients also are likely to exhibit noticeable improvement with their depression and its influence over their other Fibromyalgia symptoms when treatment therapies are employed. Among the many treatment therapy possibilities; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Behavioral Modification Therapy and traditional Psychological Therapy have demonstrated superior results.




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