Sometimes, it’s challenging to distinguish fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue symptoms (CFS) from each other. As a result, some patients have a difficult time finding a way to ease their symptoms. Some seek Spring Lake Park MN fibromyalgia relief when in fact, they have chronic fatigue syndrome. If you’re stuck in the same dilemma and haven’t gone to the doctor for a diagnosis, maybe our guide can help you.
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Defining Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia can affect people differently. Some have worse symptoms like brain fog, widespread muscle and joint pain, and sleep deprivation. On the one hand, others only experience mild problems, including nausea, vertigo, and body aches.
Most patients with fibromyalgia go in and out of hospitals, patiently waiting for an accurate diagnosis of their symptoms. Sadly, sometimes, it takes years or decades to get a precise diagnosis due to the absence of a standard and definitive testing procedure.
A large fraction of fibromyalgia patients also feel anxious and depressed because some people think that the symptoms aren’t real. In addition, due to the complexity of the disease, many associate its varying symptoms to other health conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.
While most think fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disease, studies and brain imaging tests prove that it mainly affects the central nervous system. It remains a puzzling condition that doesn’t go away even after taking medications. The only option for Spring Lake Park MN fibromyalgia relief is to resolve the symptoms, especially the most debilitating ones.
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Getting to Know Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
Chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS/ME is more than ordinary fatigue or tiredness. When you have this condition, it’s tough to do almost anything, including climbing out of your bed and completing usual day-to-day activities. Quality restorative sleep is also elusive when you have chronic fatigue syndrome, making you feel like you’re constantly on edge and more sensitive to pain.
It can also make you feel extremely dizzy, especially while standing for long periods. Sometimes, patients with CFS also note additional symptoms such as pain all over the body, including the throat and lymph nodes, and impaired cognitive function. Therefore, it’s crucial to get diagnosed as early as possible to eliminate other potential causes of your symptoms.
CFS and Fibromyalgia Similarities
- Diagnosis – Both CFS and fibromyalgia can be hard to diagnose due to the lack of standardized diagnostic tests. Doctors mainly assess the symptoms and retrace the possible causes until they can confirm that you have CFS or fibromyalgia.
- Fatigue – The two conditions share fatigue as a symptom. Because of this, most patients with either CFS or fibromyalgia also experience a lack of energy, poor sleep quality, and irritability.
- Depression & anxiety – It’s common for CFS and fibromyalgia patients to deal with anxiety and depression. That’s because it can be emotionally draining to think of an impending fibromyalgia flare-up or CFS crash constantly.
- Cognitive changes – Brain fog, confusion, slow brain function, and irritability are all usual mental changes observed in either fibromyalgia or CFS cases.
- Primarily causes severe impact on women – CFS tends to affect women 40 percent more than males. Meanwhile, about 80 to 90 percent of patients with fibromyalgia are females.
CFS and Fibromyalgia Differences
- Painful areas of the body – CFS can affect various parts of the body, and sometimes, the painful areas change for each episode. On the contrary, fibromyalgia mostly notices a well-defined pattern. In fact, the American College of Rheumatology endorses checking 18 crucial tender points in the body to determine if a person has fibromyalgia.
- Nervous system abnormalities – Only patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia display nervous system abnormalities. These issues might affect how well your body detects sources of pain. As a result, people with fibromyalgia often have higher pain sensitivity compared to those with CFS.
- Inflammation – Originally, researchers thought that fibromyalgia has something to do with inflammation. However, the most recent studies explain that the condition stems from a nervous system issue. As it turns out, only folks with CFS have inflammatory problems, especially in their lymph nodes.
Living a Pain-free Life with the Right Remedy
Whether you get diagnosed with fibromyalgia or CFS, finding a way to improve the quality of your life and reduce the symptoms you experience can make a lot of difference. Thankfully, you can potentially enjoy vast improvements in your tell-tale signs of CFS or fibromyalgia with upper cervical chiropractic.
This technique of chiropractic care aims to improve your cervical bone alignment. This way, you can reduce the bones’ impact on your brainstem, nerve fibers, and the surrounding muscles. In addition, by restoring your central nervous system’s functionalities, you can also enhance various body processes like hormone production, digestion, and sleeping pattern regulation.
Countless patients found immense relief after realigning their C1 and C2 vertebral bones. It’s a good idea to consult with us here at Hejny Chiropractic for Spring Lake Park MN fibromyalgia relief or CFS relief if other remedies failed to provide you with desirable results.
Your Next Decision Can Leave a Lasting Impact on Your Life
Surely enough, healing from CFS or fibromyalgia can be pretty challenging. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to get stuck in an endless loop of pain and discomfort. Experiencing long-term Spring Lake Park MN fibromyalgia relief or CFS recovery is possible with upper cervical chiropractic! It’s a promising approach that can redefine how you cope with fibromyalgia or CFS for the next few years.
Understand how you can relieve your CFS or fibromyalgia symptoms by booking an appointment with us at Hejny Chiropractic. You may also call us at 763-230-0116 for immediate concerns.
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Hejny, call our Spring Lake Park office at 763-230-0116. You can also click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.