Why does fibromyalgia cause fatigue

Yoga This flexibility-enhancing practice shows promise in the fight against fibromyalgia symptoms , including fatigue. Yee says. Start slowly, with just one or two simple poses every day, she says. For fibromyalgia poses, see Need Fibromyalgia Pain Relief? Teitelbaum suggests taking a melatonin supplement. However, he cautions that most supplements are sold in 3 mg doses, so you should divide the pill into pieces.

For more remedies, read Losing Sleep Over Fibromyalgia? If nothing else works, Dr. Teitelbaum recommends talking to your doctor about a prescription sleep aid. For more information, visit our Fibromyalgia Health Center. By subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Health Topics. Health Tools. By Gina Roberts-Grey. Reviewed: November 14, Clear your mind of all thoughts forget about your pain, kids, errands you need to run and let a sense of calm take over.

If you notice thoughts intruding, gently put them aside and refocus. There could be many possible causes for those symptoms and among them are mysterious, debilitating conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services.

People who have either condition may experience many of the same symptoms and it can be hard to pinpoint exactly which condition they may have. So how do you find out which one it is and how does the specific diagnosis affect your treatment? While fibromyalgia can cause fatigue, the dominant symptom is pain. For people with chronic fatigue syndrome, however, the dominant symptom is fatigue.

Many patients get their diagnosis between the ages of 20 and 50, but the incidence increases with age. Fibromyalgia sufferers say it feels like having the flu all the time. While techniques such as meditation or deep breathing may help manage stress, it is important that people with fibromyalgia do not avoid physical activity altogether. People with fibromyalgia who quit work or stop exercising do not do as well as those that stay active.

Options to assist with stress management are available and include cognitive behavioral therapy CBT , group therapy, and feedback from qualified health professionals. Fatigue is one of the main symptoms of fibromyalgia. It is essential that a person with fibromyalgia get enough sleep. Sleep hygiene practices that may help include going to bed and getting up at the same time every day and limiting napping during the day.

Sometimes, people with fibromyalgia experience restless legs syndrome and pain that can interfere with sleep. A doctor can recommend treatments for these problems, which may aid restful sleep. Regular physical activity can often decrease or improve symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Although exercise may increase symptoms of pain at first, it may help prevent pain over time. Activities that are recommended for people with fibromyalgia include walking, biking, swimming, and water aerobics. Maintaining good posture habits, stretching, and relaxation exercises may also help. For maximum effect, it is recommended that people with fibromyalgia begin with gentle exercise, such as walking, and build up endurance and intensity slowly.

Resistance and strengthening exercises may improve muscle strength, physical disability, depression, and quality of life. They can also improve tiredness, function, and boost mood in people with fibromyalgia. While regular physical activity is recommended to help manage fibromyalgia symptoms, it is crucial to limit overexertion not to do too much.

Moderation is the key. If a person with fibromyalgia does too much on days where their symptoms are good, they may end up having more bad days. However, on bad days, individuals should still try to be as active as they can. Keeping activity levels as even as possible provides the best outcome. Although there is no specific diet recommended for people with fibromyalgia, there are certain foods that appear to make fibromyalgia symptoms worse.

Try an elimination diet, in which you exclude certain food groups each week to see if symptoms improve. If symptoms get better after ruling out a certain type of food, they may well be connected to fibromyalgia symptoms.

Maintaining proper nutrition will help boost energy levels and help avoid other health problems. Many people with fibromyalgia find themselves unable to work or resume a normal standard of living. For such people, Social Security rulings in the United States dictate that so long as a medical or osteopathic doctor can determine that the disease causes medically determinable impairment MDI , the condition will qualify as a disability for Social Security payments.

The Social Security Administration SSA requires medical documentation dating back 12 months related to the disease, and may conducts interviews with relatives, friends, neighbors, and past employers to confirm the diagnosis. In some cases, the SSA may fund a consultation to confirm the debilitating nature of the disease. Treating fibromyalgia flares can be tricky.

Preventing a flare developing in the first place is less complicated than treating a flare. Fibromyalgia has several symptoms, which means that no one treatment will fix them all.