Anxiety
Anxiety is a common problem that lots of people with Fibromyalgia suffer with. You not only have the standard stress and anxiety triggers that everyone deals with, but because the condition limits what you can and can’t do and is so unpredictable this impacts on all areas of your life, which in turn increases your stress and anxiety levels even further.
In someone with Fibro, anxiety is usually listed as a symptom, but it should also be considered as an overlapping condition in its own right. Either way it can be disabling and destructive and impact on a lot of the symptoms you already deal with. So, educating yourself about anxiety is really important, something we hope to help you with in this article.
Anxiety Symptoms
Because some of the symptoms of anxiety are similar to those of Fibro they are often overlooked as being related to anxiety. However, you need to learn to recognise them so you get a correct diagnosis and the right treatment that works for you.
Symptoms of Anxiety are broken down into 3 areas:
- Physical Symptoms
- Thought related symptoms
- Behaviour related symptoms
1. Physical symptoms include:
- Pounding rapid heartbeat
- Hyperventilating
- Aches and pains
- Difficulty concentrating
- Dizziness
- Sleep problems
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling weak
- Sweating
- Upset stomach
- Tremors and twitches
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Fatigue
The above conditions in red are all Fibro symptoms, which means they may get missed as symptoms of anxiety. The key to knowing the difference is to look for clusters of symptoms that come and go together.
2. Thought related symptoms include:
- Nervousness
- Irritability
- Being on edge
- Feelings of terror or impending doom
- Feeling out of control
- Restlessness
- Panic Attacks
The above symptoms are easier to distinguish from those of Fibro.
3. Behaviour related symptoms include:
- Avoiding things and situations
- Fear of increasing anxiety
These symptoms can be a problem with sensory overload which is common with Fibromyalgia and can have a severe impact on your daily life.
Causes
The exact cause of anxiety and panic attacks is not known at this time, but it is thought that there are many factors including brain chemistry, genetics, environment, and stress levels that have a role to play.
Anxiety and Fibro go side by side as they share several physiological abnormalities which include:
- Dysfunction of Neurotransmitters which includes Serotonin and Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA).
- Dysfunction of the Opioid and Endocannabinoid systems.
- Central sensitization.
Neurotransmitter Dysfunction
The chemical messengers of the brain are known as Neurotransmitters with Serotonin and GABA being the most important.
Low activity levels of both of these are linked to both Anxiety and Fibro.
Serotonin is known as the feel-good chemical and is linked to your mood, sleep cycle, perception of pain, digestion, sexual function, and concentration.
GABA main function is to calm the brain follow things such as anxiety, stress and excitement and is directly involved in regulating anxiety, relaxation, sleep, and muscle function.
Abnormal low activities of these chemicals not only leads to increased anxiety but to an increase in Fibro symptoms as well.
Opioid and Endocannabinoid Systems
Both anxiety and Fibro are shown to have abnormalities in these 2 systems which are named for the substances they react to, both those produced by your body and the ones you take.
The Opioid system processes and responds to opioid painkillers. It also responds to endorphins and enkephalins similar chemicals produced by the brain.
The Endocannabinoid System responds to and processes cannabinoids which are chemicals from the cannabis plant.
Central Sensitization
This involves your central nervous system which includes your brain, spinal cord and nerves being oversensitive to Stimuli.
In anxiety it is a response to stress or other triggers and in Fibro it is hypersensitivity to pain and the environment including smell, temperature, noise, and light.
Diagnosis and treatment
If you find you are experiencing anxiety symptoms regularly and they are impacting on your daily life that is the time when you need to speak to your doctor. They may tell you it is linked to Fibro but they should also do some tests to check for other medical conditions that could be causing the problems.
You may then be diagnosed with either generalized Anxiety Disorder or Panic Disorder.
There are lots of anxiety treatments available which can include a combination of the following:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Exposure Therapy
- Medication
- Supplements such as GABA, l-theanine, Kava Kava, Valerian root.
- Lifestyle changes such as adequate sleep, meditation and exercise.
- Finding support either from family and friends or a support group.
These not only will help you manage your anxiety but can also help your Fibromyalgia as well. So, it could be a win-win situation for you.
Remember, learning to deal with anxiety will also have an important impact on your Fibro as well, and that is why you should never just write the symptoms off as just another Fibro symptom to deal with.
It will take time to find out what works for you, but be patient while you work through that and remember your end goal is to be able to manage your anxiety and improve your quality of life if you can.
THE LINK TO OUR RESEARCH
https://www.verywellhealth.com/anxiety-in-fibromyalgia-5084611
THE LINK TO OUR SOURCES
THE REASON FOR USING THESE RESOURCES
To give you a better understand of how Anxiety and Fibromyalgia are linked and how one can impact on the other.