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How is fibromyalgia like being bipolar?

  • Writer: Christina Gleave
    Christina Gleave
  • Aug 23, 2022
  • 2 min read

So I was reading an article about how relatable fibromyalgia and being bi polar are similar.

Now do not get all defensive or excited about it. Hear me out.

Fibromyalgia pain comes and goes like bi-polar has its ups and downs. Sometimes you can feel the top of the world, like you were never sick. You can give and receive hugs without wincing in pain, (as much). You can clean the house. Do what "normal" people do on a regular basis. But then there are the nights and days where you start falling into a black hole. Your body starts to feel as if it is crumbling into nothing. Your tendons and muscles start to throb and sting as if they are being lit on fire. Then you remember why you are depressed. Why you have anxiety. Why you feel you are unable to make plans. Why you cant keep a job. Why you have trouble remembering things or learning something new. Why you feel you cant be the best "you".

Your brain is being overstimulated and used to fuel your central nervous system to essentially trick you into thinking your body is falling apart. In large ways it is... but in others it is just the pain receptors.

Research has found the following characteristics in both bipolar disorder and fibromyalgia:

  1. Abnormalities in central nervous system structures that regulate pain and emotional control

  2. Difficulty managing stress

  3. Alterations in monoamine neurotransmission pathways, which can affect concentration, pain, and sleep

  4. Impairment in how the brain adapts to experiences and changes

  5. Metabolic and cardiovascular issues

  6. Inflammation

A 2020 Study stated that environmental risk factors, such as trauma during childhood, affected people with bipolar disorder or fibromyalgia more frequently than the general population.

I know its exhausting. We are our own doctors most of us. We need to keep moving forward. Crossing my fingers new research will continue to enlighten us.

 
 
 

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