I helped a patient who once sought my advice for being sleepy all the time. He needed, 13-14 hours of sleep daily and still needed naps during the day. On further evaluation I noticed that he is in an alcohol rehab program, and although sober has not gained his energy back. He had pains over his body and stiffness of muscles. Prior to seeing me he was initiated on medication for narcolepsy, depression, anxiety, neuropathic pain, and muscle spasm. Most of the medication he was tried on either had effects that lasted months or had minimal or no effect on his condition.
I reviewed all his laboratory results, and although very complete, there was no record of testing for Lyme disease or Epstein Barr Virus. As part of my evaluation of his condition, we did some blood work including the infectious organisms. I remember the moment I was reviewing the results with him. We concluded that he had a previous infection, which had started his problems. He had tears in his eyes, seemed like he had a moment of clarity, a revelation. Much to my surprise, he was so happy he could not stop thanking me.
As the story unfolded, he started drinking at a young age because he was being abused by his mother, physically and verbally-emotionally. He was addressed by two words at home all the time: “lazy” and “retard”. Little did anyone know that he had an illness that had caused his symptoms. He was tired all the time, would fall asleep in school, could not concentrate, could not memorize, did not want to play with his friends. He was evaluated by doctors, but none ran any serological tests to figure out if there was an infection. Basically, there was no documented reason for him having those symptoms. Yet he was bullied, misjudged, and abused. He felt odd and wronged. To forget his issues he started drinking, which gotten worse as time went by. Drinking had changed his whole life. A previous addict in a sober living, he was promised that as he stops drinking, his fatigue and body aches will be resolved. Not only that promise did not come to fruition, he started having more pain in his body. After a few months he found me.
Not well understood by the medical society and a chronic, debilitating issue, fibromyalgia affects 2% of the population, three times more in women than in men.
A patient diagnosed with fibromyalgia may complain of severe fatigue, stiffness in muscles and joints, sleep problems, headaches, depressed or anxious mood, problem concentrating and remembering.
To understand fibromyalgia better imagine having the symptoms of flu for many years.
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