Checked online and couldnt find what I was looking for, so I thought I would go to the biggest collection of docs and wanna be docs (like me :) ) that I know of. I am trying to find out if fibromylagia 1) has been shown to be hereditary and 2) if there are any links to smoking. This is not a school question, it is a family question. Thanks for any help anyone can offer. I am also curious about the pathophysiology (is that the word I am going for, had a brain dump) of this "disease" if anyone wants to take a shot at that one. Thanks.

Dave

Fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, stiffness, paresthesia, nonrestorative sleep and easy fatigability along with multiple tenderpoints which are widely and symmetrically distributed.

Osteopathic Physicians are thought the importance of the tenderpoint in diagnosis of Fibromyalgia:
1) suboccipital muscle
2) ant. aspect of intertransverse process spaces at C5-7
3) trapezius muscle
4) scapular spine
5) costochondral junction
6) lateral epicondyle
7) upper outer quadrant buttocks
8) Posterior aspect of trochanteric prominence
9) medial fat pad of knee

Those are bilateral tenderpoints so.... Basically you have to find 11 of the 18 tenderpoints

As for treatments: NSAIDS, glucocorticoids, and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine!!!

Pathophys.... is unfortunately, not be formulated....

Hi,

Well, I can give you a different approach.
Here is some info I have from one of my books...."although fibromyalgia has many facets, the central cause of the pain is a low level of serotonin, which causes the pain to be greatly exaggerated." These low levels also cause altered sleep patterns (well reduced REM sleep and increased non REM sleep) The severity of the pain correlates with sleep quality. (there is a study that shows this)
The use of 5-HTP has been proven helpful with this conditions since it helps raise serotonin levels. Also low magnesium levels are a common finding in these patients. St. John's wort used along 5HTP has produced better results than either one used alone.
So, the recommendation is: 5-HTP 50-100mg tid, Mg 150-250 mg tid and St.John's wort extract 300mg tid.
Hope that helps.

cecilia, where did you get this info?

I have seen myriad proposed mechanisms for fibro, seems to be an area of controversy.

Another area of controversy; diagnosing among
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Chronic lyme disease
Gulf war syndrome
Hypoglycemia
Candidiasis
Multiple chemical sensitivity

It appears that many of these present with fatigue, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, and memory loss. Common mechanism?

Karacter,

"Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine" by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.

I attended a seminar by Dr. Murray and he impressed me a lot. He is very knowledgeable.

Don't forget TCA's and AEROBIC EXERCISE!

Q

We didn't even get it taught to us in the first two years at Tulane.

One mention in the Somatoform lecture, but it was just listed under 'difficult diseases' for a pmr/rheumo doctor (e.g. for GI, IBS was listed ... )

Suddenly, on QBank, pre-test, etc. it starts showing up. It took me a while to be able to recognize the classical presentation.

Anyway, anyone have any personal experiences with it? I'm curious about it ... I guess all those types of diseases have interested me (IBS, CFS, etc.) and I was wondering if anyone could tell me more ...

Later,
Simul

Yeah, I have some personal experiences with it... easily half the FP patients I saw on my 5 months of FP rotations 3rd/4th year had Fibromyalgia OR Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It really grated on me, therefore it became personal.

Q