Fibromyalgia fatigue plagues over up to 90% of fibromyalgia patients. Not only do these patients often have intense pain, but they also suffer moderate to severe fatigue. This fatigue isn’t just ordinary sleepiness, rather this fatigue can last all of the time and for several months. Not all Fibromyalgia patients experience extreme fatigue. Some people seem to escape this fibromyalgia symptom, while others find they are able to adjust to their newly reduced energy levels. Yet others report that this ongoing fatigue really impacts negatively on their lives. The most frustrating thing is that Fibromyalgia fatigue never seems to improve, even with extended periods of rest and sleep.
Fibromyalgia fatigue negatively impacts on the symptoms of fibromyalgia, particularly on the pain. Fatigue and pain form a vicious cycle. The severe pain many people experience makes sleeping difficult and sometimes impossible. This leads to fatigue, which, consequently, makes the pain much harder to tolerate. Recent studies have shown that the amount of fibromyalgia fatigue that a sufferer experiences will directly correlate with the amount of pain they experience. For example, if you are feeling particularly tired one morning, you can pretty much count on having an increased amount of fibromyalgia pain during the day. For example, if you are feeling very tired one morning, you can more or less count on having more fibromyalgia pain during the day.
Fibromyalgia Fatigue also limits the amount of exercise that you can do. Fibromyalgia and exercise need to go together. People need to keep their muscles in shape in order to decrease their pain over the long term. However, many patients find they are just too tired to exercise. Therefore their pain actually increases. The vicious cycle continues.
Fibromyalgia fatigue also strongly effects the psychological well being of those suffering from fibromyalgia. Fatigue increases stress and negative emotions, which in turn increases the amount of pain that one experiences. Fatigue also has been linked to depression. In addition, fibromalgia fatigue possibly contributes to the memory loss and forgetfulness that often occurs with fibromyalgia.
Causes of Fibromyalgia Fatigue
Fibromyalgia fatigue often occurs after physical exercise and mental exertion. Many patients are unable to fall asleep, sleep very lightly, or wake up very suddenly from deep sleep. Could these be the causes of the fatigue or is something else causing fatigue? Fibromyalgia specialists are investigating the causes of fibromyalgia fatigue.
