Wednesday 17 August 2016

There are two things on my mind about fibromyalgia:  Melatonin and Genetics.  So I've been investigating and looking.  Why?  

Well I'll start with Melatonin... recently I was collecting a prescription and had a chat with the pharmacist about natural remedies for sleep.  As we all know sleeplessness, or restless sleep, or disturbed sleep is a common symptom of fibro, and I haven't had the greatest experience with solutions for this.  I don't particularly like to take sleeping pills or muscle relaxants - the result is usually me taking half the day to come out of a funk, and not being 'all there', and quite often I can't be in that mode as I do a lot of driving in my work... and parenting... oh how our daughters LOVE to take advantage of that... ha ha!  Conducive to them getting all they want, and me ending up with empty pockets, rides to school, lunches with chocolate and so on and so forth.  I'm beginning to think they like having a fibro mum!!  Sometimes they do forget and punch buggy (the car spotting game) turns into a bit of a nightmare!  Poor me gets the double whammy, tears, and then "oh my mum, oh my God, I forgot"... you know how it goes.  They seriously do feel bad, and later we might laugh, but at the time - OUCH!!  Anyway, I digress, sorry!!  


So... I came home from the chemist and did a serious Google session on Melatonin, and this naturally occurring hormone is available, and it's all about the sleep, which is what I need.  Have a look, if you are in the same predicament as me... today I pick up my prescription, but the thing that gets me going is, HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN SUFFERING???  HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID I NEED SLEEP???  HOW MANY TIMES HAS MY DOCTOR NOT GIVEN THIS AS AN OPTION?!!!  He knows that I really don't want to take anything, and I would prefer the natural option... you'd think Melatonin would pop in to your head as a doctor dealing with a fibro patient!  It is seriously all over the chronic pain sites and fibro sites as an option.  Oh, by the way, thanks for letting me bleat!  I love having this outlet, but I also hope it helps before any of you get to this position, maybe it will help you before you have tried everything else under the sun like me!


I look forward to great nights of sleep over the next few days, and I will keep you posted.  It might be the answer for you!  This is just one of the sites I came across which links to other studies etc.:

http://nationalpainreport.com/fibromyalgia-does-melatonin-help-8827220.html

Next up: Genetics.  Wow.  Some seriously interesting reading here.  As you know from my previous blogs my sister has fibro (semi-diagnosed from her Doctor, she hasn't been able to get a referral to a Rheumotologist YET).  We think our mum may have had it too but it wasn't seen as a disorder in 'those days' and unfortunately she is no longer with us, so we can't quiz her about it... speaking of disorders, did you know that fibro is officially known as a medical disorder now due to the fact that they have found genetic factors in DNA!!  I read that during my search on info regarding genetics and fibro.

As taken from an excerpt from a link in the link below:
But now science proves them right. And it is that medical geneticists have discovered that fibromyalgia is a disease of neurological origin, the result of neurochemical imbalances in the central nervous system.

fibromyalgia + genetics

Here is an excerpt from one of the links in the link above:
Fibromyalgia & Genetic Research
In June 2015, a study was published (Inanir) that suggested a variant (called a polymorphism) of a particular gene may be related to the development of FMS.
It's called the ACE I/C polymorphism.
Multiple studies report that certain genetic abnormalities are linked with the condition. They'll often be linked to a symptom or cluster of symptoms, but we don't know whether the variants actually cause FMS.

So... what I gathered from it all is that there could be a genetic factor in family clusters, but here's the thing, it seems it can be passed on but there are other factors as well, like environmental etc, and you can pass it on but it may never be triggered.  So it may not turn into FMS.  Check the link above out, read it for yourself, it is very interesting and what I got from the studies is that it is more common in familial clusters ie. 41% chance of sisters (in one study) having it for example.  I gathered there was 26% passed to children (same study), but again it is all very complicated and I would take the time to read the studies in the links above to gather your opinion on it.   It makes a lot of sense to me in particular - there is a strong correlation to neck/spinal injury, PTSD, IBS as factors as well.

No matter what, it seems fibro is being taken a lot more seriously as time goes on.  It seems that scientists are really trying to find the answers and connecting the dots.  Who would have ever thought... before I was diagnosed I had never heard of it!!! Imagine 2% of America's population are diagnosed by 20, and another 8% by 70.  I feel more optimistic than ever now, reading the studies that are being done, and knowing that people are serious about this condition, now disorder, and that in time there will be more knowledge on how to make it easier, and possibly even have a test for it (which I have also read is a possibility now!)... so stay positive, stay enlightened, stay mindful, and remember we as chronic pain sufferers are all in this together!!