Fibromyalgia, a central nervous system disorder?

Lately I’ve been treating a lot of patients with Fibromyalgia.  Often I find patients arrive at my office as a last resort, and many of these patients have been to several GPs, rheumatologists, neurologists, internists, naturopaths, psychiatrists, physiatrists, physical therapists and even other chiropractors.  It’s not uncommon for these patients to have been to  over 10 doctors before arriving at my office.  All of these doctors have the best intentions, and want to help patients with fibromyalgia get better, but the fact is, fibromyalgia is a problem in the central nervous system (CNS).  If FMS is not treated as a CNS disorder, all that will be accomplished is more pain and frustration for these patients.  Dr. Jon Russell, editor of the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, used a functional MRI, which shows the brain in action, to demonstrate the connection between CNS dysfunction and fibromyalgia.  In a healthy individual, when a tender point was pressed, there was a minimal response, but in a patient with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), “the result was wild. The whole brain went crazy.”  Clearly, something is happening in the central nervous system of those who have FMS that is not happening in healthy people.1  In FMS, there is a generalized disturbance of the way in which pain is processed by the brain and nervous system.2,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14

With FMS, everything tends to be irritated.  Pain is amplified, muscles ache, and there are often coexisting conditions like: irritable bowel syndrome, ADD, Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Depression, Gulf War Syndrome, Hypermobility Syndrome, Hypometabolism, Interstitial Cystitis, Lupus, Lyme Disease, Migraines, MS, Neurally Mediated Hypotension, Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome, Raynaud’s Phenomenon, Restless Leg Syndrome, Seasonal Affective Disorder, (TMD) Temporomandibular Dysfunction, Vulvodynia, Yeast Infections, etc.1  Many, but not all of these coexisting conditions have a common connection with FMS, and that is the autonomic nervous system.  You see the autonomic nervous system is divided in to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.  This part of your nervous system (autonomic) controls involuntary functions that go haywire in FMS.  Trying to correct the loss of autonomic nervous system regulation is the focus of our treatment, and is what differentiates us from everyone else.  “It is firmly established that a central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction is primarily responsible for the increased pain sensitivity of fibromyalgia.”3

If you suffer with fibromyalgia you need to know that it is NOT a musculoskeletal disorder.4  Fibromyalgia is a disorder of the central nervous system that changes your biochemistry, and those biochemicals affect your whole body.  The most specific example I can give you is the disruption of the normal feedback loop between three glands in your body: Hypothalamus, Pituitary and Adrenals.  See these glands work together, and are all controlled by your autonomic nervous system.  Basically, when your nervous system fails to properly regulate them, you have a hormonal imbalance of excess adrenaline and other chemicals. When this loss of CNS regulation happens, your body stays in “fight or flight” mode.  Your body cannot maintain this state of heightened readiness for a long period of time, or it will break down.1

I could go on about FMS, possible ties to cell function, specifically mitochondria, or IGF-1 levels, and I will, but in a later post.  I want you to understand that my care is based on chiropractic neurology.  The treatments are neurologically based, meaning they focus on normalizing and regulating brain activity using external stimulation of your nervous system.  The treatment is clinically proven, and it’s effective because of neural plasticity (basically the  brains ability to change and rewire itself).

If you would like more information call (828) 324-0800 or email me drshook@alliancechiropracticcenter.com, and I’ll send you a DVD on my treatment.  I hope this has been helpful.  I will continue to post more information in the following days.

1. Starlanyl, Devin and Copeland, Mary Ellen. 2001. Fibromyalgia & Chronic Myofascial Pain, A Survival Manual 2nd Edition.  Oakland: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
2. Morris, V., S. Cruwys, and B. Kidd. 1998. Increased capsaicin-induced secondary hyperalgesia as a marker of abnormal sensory activity in patients with fibromyalgia. Neurosci Lett 250(3):205-207.
3. Simons, D. G., J.G. Travell, and L.S. Simons, 1999. Travell and Simons’ Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, Second Edition. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, p. 17.
4. Simms, R. W. 1998. Fibromyalgia is not a muscle disorder. Am J Med Sci 315(6):346-350;
5. Russell IJ, Larson AA. 2009. Neurophysiopathogenesis of fibromyalgia syndrome: a unified hypothesis. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. May;35(2):421-35.
6. Wood PB. 2004. Stress and dopamine: implications for the pathophysiology of chronic widespread pain. Med Hypotheses. 62(3):420-4.
7. Martinez-Lavin M. 2004. Fibromyalgia as a sympathetically maintained pain syndrome. Curr Pain Headache Rep.Oct;8(5):385-9.
8. Martinez-Lavin M, Solano C. 2009. Dorsal root ganglia, sodium channels, and fibromyalgia sympathetic pain. Med Hypotheses. Jan;72(1):64-6.
9. Martinez-Lavin M, Vidal M, Barbosa RE, Pineda C, Casanova JM, Nava A. 2002. Norepinephrine-evoked pain in fibromyalgia. A randomized pilot study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2002;3:2.
10. Martinez-Lavin M. 2007. Biology and therapy of fibromyalgia. Stress, the stress response system, and fibromyalgia.Arthritis Res Ther. 9(4):216.
11. Martínez-Lavín M. 2001. Is fibromyalgia a generalized reflex sympathetic dystrophy? Clin Exp Rheumatol. Jan-Feb;19(1):1-3.
12. Cohen H, Neumann L, Alhosshle A, Kotler M, Abu-Shakra M, Buskila D. 2001. Abnormal sympathovagal balance in men with fibromyalgia. J Rheumatol. Mar;28(3):581-9.
13. Martínez-Lavín M, Hermosillo AG, Mendoza C, Ortiz R, Cajigas JC, Pineda C, Nava A, Vallejo M. 1997. Orthostatic sympathetic derangement in subjects with fibromyalgia. J Rheumatol. Apr;24(4):714-8.
14. Arias M. 2008. Is fibromyalgia a neurological disease? Neurologia. Nov;23(9):593-601.

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