How I Differ From You - Awareness

How I Differ From You - Awareness

For anyone who suffers, or know someone who suffers, from Fibromyalgia:

1. My pain - My pain is not your pain. It is not caused by inflammation. Taking your arthritis medication will not help me. I can not work my pain out or shake it off. It is not even a pain that stays put. Today it is in my shoulder, but tomorrow it may be in my foot or gone. My pain is believed to be caused by improper signals sent to the brain , possibly due to sleep disorders. It is not well understood , but it is real.

2. My fatigue - I am not merely tired . I am often in a severe state of exhaustion . I may want to participate in physical activities , but I can' t. Please do not take this personally . If you saw me shopping in the mall yesterday, but I can' t help you with yard work today , it isn' t because I don' t want to. I am, most likely, paying the price for stressing my muscles beyond their capability .

3. My forgetfulness - Those of us who suffer from it call it fibro fog. I may not remember your name, but I do remember you. I may not remember what I promised to do for you, even though you told me just seconds ago. My problem has nothing to do with my age but may be related to sleep deprivation. I do not have a selective memory. On some days, I just don' t have any short - term memory at all.

4. My clumsiness - If I step on your toes or run into you five times in a crowd , I am not purposely targeting you. I do not have the muscle control for that. If you are behind me on the stairs, please be patient. These days, I take life and stair wells one step at a time.

5. My sensitivities - I just can' t stand it! "It" could be any number of things: bright sunlight, loud or high-pitched noises, odors . FMS has been called the "aggravating everything disorder."  So don' t make me open the drapes or listen to your child scream. I really can' t stand it.

6. My intolerance - I can' t stand heat, either. Or humidity. If I am a man, I sweat . . . profusely. If I am a lady, I perspire. Both are equally embarrassing, so please don' t feel compelled to point this short coming out to me. I know. And don' t be surprised if I shake uncontrollably when it's cold. I don' t tolerate cold, either. My internal thermostat is broken, and nobody knows how to fix it.

7. My depression - Yes, there are days when I would rather stay in bed or in the house or die. I have lost count of how many of Dr. Kevorkian' s patients suffered from FMS as well as other related illnesses. Severe, unrelenting pain can cause depression . Your sincere concern and understanding can pull me back from the brink . Your snide remarks can tip me over the edge.

8. My stress - My body does not handle stress well. If I have to give up my job, work part time, or handle my responsibilities from home, I'm not lazy. Every day stresses make my symptoms worse and can incapacitate me completely .

9. My weight - I may be fat or I may be skinny. Either way, it is not by choice. My body is not your body. My appetite is broken, and nobody can tell me how to fix it.

10. My need for therapy - If I get a massage every week, don' t envy me. My massage is not your massage. Consider how a massage would feel if that charley horse you had in your leg last week was all over your body. Massaging it out was very painful, but it had to be done. My body is knot-filled. If I can stand the pain, regular massage can help, at least temporarily.

11. My good days - If you see me smiling and functioning normally, don' t assume I am well or that I have been cured . I suffer from a chronic pain and fatigue illness with no cure. I can have my good days or weeks or even months. In fact, the good days are what keep me going .

12. My uniqueness - Even those who suffer from FMS are not alike . That means I may not have all of the problems mentioned above . I do have pain above and below the waist and on both sides of my body which has lasted for a very long time. I may have migraines or hip pain or shoulder pain or knee pain, but I do not have exactly the same pain as anyone else.


I hope that this helps you understand me, but if you still doubt my pain, your local bookstore, library and the internet have many good books and articles on fibromyalgia.


Author's note: This letter is based on communications with people throughout the world, males and females, who suffer from fibromyalgia. It does not represent any one of the over 10, 000, 000 people with FMS, but it can help the healthy person understand how devastating this illness can be. 

Please do not take these people and their pain lightly.  

You wouldn't want to spend even a day in their shoes . ..or their bodies!

 Do You??

~Author unknown

Abused Kids More Prone to Migraines in Adulthood

HealthDay News

Updated: 7:51 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

Posted: 4:07 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

 

Children who were physically or emotionally abused or neglected are more likely to develop migraines and other chronic pain conditions as adults, a new study finds.

According to the researchers, their study and others have found stress caused by abuse can alter children's brains, making them more likely to develop chronic pain from such conditions as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis and arthritis. 

"Stressful events in childhood, such as abuse, can alter the body's stress response permanently and predispose to a wide variety of medical and psychiatric conditions in adulthood," said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Gretchen E. Tietjen, professor and chairwoman of neurology and director of the Headache Treatment and Research Program at the University of Toledo Medical Center in Ohio.

It is not uncommon, she said, for people who've been abused to have a variety of debilitating conditions, including migraine. 

"The linking of these comorbidities may be through abuse-mediated brain changes occurring early in life," Tietjen said. "Understanding the physiology of abuse's effects on the brain over the life span may lead to prevention or more effective treatment of migraine and associated conditions."

She was quick to note, however, that not all abused children develop migraines and not everyone who suffers from migraines or any other chronic painful condition was abused.

But those with a history of abuse "are more likely to have the worst cases of migraine," she said. "They are the ones most likely to have a lot of the other pain conditions."

The findings are reported in the January issue of Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain.

For the study, Tietjen's group collected data on 1,348 people with migraines who were seen at 11 outpatient headache centers. About 58 percent reported being physically, sexually or emotionally abused or physically or emotionally neglected during childhood. Also, 61 percent reported having at least one painful condition other than migraine.

Those who had been abused or neglected as children were significantly more likely to suffer from other chronic pain conditions than were people who had not been abused as children, the researchers found.

"Childhood abuse, especially emotional abuse and neglect, is very common in the population of persons seeking help for headache," Tietjen said. "Childhood abuse is linked to high frequency of headache in adults, and to headache-related disability. Persons with migraine who have been abused are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and from chronic stress-related pain conditions."

The researchers noted that different types of abuse appeared to result in different conditions. For example, physical abuse was linked with arthritis, whereas emotional abuse was associated with irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and arthritis, Tietjen said. 

Physical neglect was linked to an increased likelihood of irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, interstitial cystitis and arthritis.

Women who suffered physical abuse or neglect as children were also more likely to have endometriosis and uterine fibroids. Emotional abuse was linked to both conditions as well, but emotional neglect was associated with uterine fibroids alone, the study found.

Dr. Walter Lambert, an associate professor and medical director of the child protection team at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that "adverse childhood events have significant long-term health risks in adulthood."

"It does not surprise me that people who reported emotional abuses would have more chronic headaches and migraines," he added.

Lambert also agreed that stress in childhood can change pathways in the brain, with neglect being the worst. Children can take only so much stress before it begins to affect their growing brain, he explained.

"As human beings," Lambert said, "we need nurturing -- both physical nurturing and emotional nurturing -- to flourish." Society needs to find ways to promote nurturing and stable environments for children to prevent maltreatment, he added.

Childhood abuse is a common problem, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In the United States, more than 3 million reports of abuse or neglect are investigated each year. Of these, more than 700,000 children are classified as victims of neglect or abuse. 

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