Understanding Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Fibromyalgia

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New findings are helping doctors and patients to know the connection and connection between post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia. PTSD may come on at any time in life like a reaction to a multitude of situations.

Fibromyalgia may come on in anyone over the age of 18. They share most of the same symptoms, which can make cleanly diagnosing either difficult. Using the new awareness that many people with one will possess the other, there is an increased ability to make sure that there’s a proper diagnosis made which will lead to effective treatment. As the symptoms are similar, there are several core differences that has to be addressed.

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder only has recently been recognized as a mental illness. It is not like depression or schizophrenia as it is wholly accepted that the causes of developing the condition are external. Exposure to trauma can result in post-traumatic stress disorder.

That trauma will come on the battlefield, in an abusive relationship, a poor employment position and so forth C quite simply, because it is now recognized that a huge element of post-traumatic stress disorder comes from the body’s stress reaction in response to some stimulus the trauma that induce it’s viewed as anything.

Every person includes a different convenience of stress and will respond to varying trauma differently too. In PTSD, the person exists in a constant state of hyper-vigilance that leads to an imbalance in stress hormones and cortisol levels in your body. They might be susceptible to flashbacks, nightmare or general anxiety because of the initiating event.

Who is at risk?

Any one from the youngster to some senior adult can be cultivated PTSD. It’s not uncommon for individuals to develop and get over PTSD, however this then puts them at a higher risk of developing the disorder in response to a new event.

Anyone suffering a trauma C like a traumatic event, surgery, illness or high stress levels can also be at risk. Much like persons who live with chronic pain or who have an impaired immune system.

Those in high stress and emotion environments are also considered to be in danger. The new diagnostic criteria now recognizes that there are many levels of post-traumatic stress disorder and offers appropriate treatments for each degree of severity.

What is fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease that is characterized by a cluster of symptoms. The most common are chronic pain, stiffness, confusion, depression and disturbed sleep. There isn’t any specific known cause or cure for fibromyalgia, but there are very many treatments that have proved to be effective in controlling symptoms.

Fibromyalgia often sets the stage for other disorders to occur due to the way the defense mechanisms is affected. Irritable bowel syndrome and migraine syndromes are typical as well. Nowadays there are tests that can help determine if you’re suffering from fibromyalgia.

Who is at risk?

Originally considered a woman’s disease, there’s more awareness now that men develop fibromyalgia too. It may seriously whenever following the 18th year, but children happen to be identified as having it as well. The suspected causes of fibromyalgia are many.

There can be a gene component, which means if someone inside your family members have the disease you are at a higher risk. Traumatic injury to the brain continues to be associated with it, as has major illness, disease and surgery. Emotional and mental trauma can also be considered to play a vital role in activating fibromyalgia in the body too.

Which is the reason for what?

As more is becoming known about how fibromyalgia affects your sympathetic central nervous system, the easier it’s to see how it pertains to post traumatic stress disorder. It isn’t a lot that certain may cause the other, but the presence of one may increase the risk of another.

The action of PTSD around the immune system might easily setup the environment that welcomes fibromyalgia. Vice versa, fibromyalgia may create an amplified body syndrome that can then escalate into post-traumatic stress disorder because of the right circumstances.

One thing that the recent study in Israel might have identified is the fact that post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia could be very prevalent in males. This is key as though past thinking has held that fibromyalgia is usually a woman’s disease, new thinking is that we don’t recognize a mans cluster of symptoms as readily. This might mean more relief for males, and a better understanding for how to treat women too.

How to deal with both

If you look at each disorder separately and then compare their common recommended treatments, there’s a great deal of overlap. Both of them are given anti-depressants to assist control serotonin levels in your body, and they may also be treated with anti-anxiety agents.

Both also recommend life style changes like a long term management system for example diet, exercise, meditation and other habits. While for those who have one and suspect you will find the other you can be proactive in seeking control of your symptoms, there is something you should look out for.

What to take into consideration

The trouble with post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia is the fact that there symptoms are extremely similar. They’re different in an exceedingly important way C which is the post-traumatic psychiatric effect which can lead to flashbacks and anxiety.

You require a diagnosis, not just in self-treat, since the results of PTSD, and also the depression commonly brought on by fibromyalgia are two very different things that have to be addressed professionally that you should gain relief.

Treatment for both combine medication, alternative treatments and changes in lifestyle to give you probably the most relief. Remain available to trying new things as nobody solution works to alleviate all your symptoms. You should keep in mind that post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia are both disorders that can be successfully managed.

http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/news/20040610/posttraumatic-stress-fibromyalgia-linked?page=2

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23685006

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml