FMS known as Fibromyalgia syndrome is a condition in which the sufferer got pain in the whole body. The reasons include fatigue, disturbed sleep, high sensitivity to feel pain, muscle stiffness, and Fibro-fog.
The link between depression and fibromyalgia is very sturdy, many studies link them both. It is to be said that fibromyalgia patient is three times more depressed when one’s comes to diagnose it than a patient who does not have fibromyalgia.
In fibromyalgia, the chronic pain is the main symptom, it caused when the cells who transmits the pain sensors to the brain got damaged with end up in making the patient more sensitive to feel the pain. The high sensitivity to pain, the higher the pain gets feel by the person, hence, end up in feeling more depression.
Depression
When the self-esteem of a person is affected, one becomes sad. The sadness becomes a problem when a person is not able to boost oneself from it. It turns into a depression. People with depression usually suffers:
- Guilty
- Worthless
- Low and negative energy
- Imbalanced body weight
- Lack of pleasure in normal situations
- Want to end the life
1 out of 10 people is a victim of depression or takes antidepressants. In fibromyalgia, about 25% of the population suffers from depression. According to recent research, on a normal scale, depression is found in women twice of that of men; and in fibromyalgia, 95 percent of the suffers were women.
Types of Depression
- Clinical depression
- Chronic depression (dysthymia)
- Bipolar depression
- Seasonal depression or SAD (seasonal affective disorder)
Causes of Depression
Few of the factors which increases the chance of depression are as follows:
Genetics: some people have a family history that increases the risk to be caught in the trait. Psychiatric disorder is one of the genetics of depression.
Conflict: the biological vulnerability to intolerance develops the depression which causes disputes and conflicts between friends and family.
Medications: few medicines which have isotretinoin drug in them or interferon-alpha (antiviral drug) or corticosteroids can become a risk to cause depression.
Loss or a death: grief, sorrow or sadness after losing someone strikes a hard reason for getting depressed.
Abuse: emotional, sexual or physical abuse may also lead to an increase in the chance of depression in a person.
Fibromyalgia patients have a lot of reasons to get depressed. The pain in the whole body made them stay at their place which does not allow the patient to freely make presences in certain gatherings, hence, the person becomes socially isolated.
The fibromyalgia patient also did not get enough sleep, the tiredness and illness open the risk of depression even more.
The patient cannot do exercise due to physical pain, and exercise is as effective as the antidepressant. When a person can not do exercise, the person becomes more depressed.
How to treat fibromyalgia and depression
Treatment for fibromyalgia still does not exist. Self-care and individual treatment for other symptoms is the way out to counter the problem. Treating Fibromyalgia and depression includes the following tactics.
Medication
Milnacipran (Savella) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) are FDA approved anti-depressants which are suggested to the fibromyalgia’s patient for controlling depression. These medicines are also given to get relief from fatigue and helps with sleeping disorders. Paroxetine such as Paxil and Fluoxetine such as Prozac is also prescribed as antidepressants which helps in boosting bad mood and relieve pain.
Exercise
Regular workout, gym, yoga or even swimming can help to boost health. As the workout is like an antidepressant, doing it on a regular basis may help to counter the problem naturally.
Diet
If the fibromyalgia’s patient works on one’s diet and start a healthy intake, the depression and fatigue will be encountered. Good and healthy food eliminates the bad substance form the body and helps the body to work properly. A basic health chart can help you rather designing a particular diet plan for yourself.
Massage therapies
Massaging different parts of the body helps in relaxing and gives the brain a break from constant pain. By the help of different therapies, the body can be relaxing, hence, the depression controls and the patient can get relief.
Sleep
One of the symptoms is the sleeping disorder. If a person starts to take a proper nap without interruption, it will also help to cure the problem.
Cognitive- Behavioural Therapy
The therapy specifically focuses to teach how to handle the fibromyalgia signs. By working on your thoughts and recollecting the focus helps to deal with depression and cope up the pain.
Support group
Only a person can understand the other who has passed through from that phase. A fibromyalgia patient can help the other person, knowing that one is not suffering alone, can drag out the person from isolation and can reduce depression as well. so, such support groups can help in treating the patients effectively.
