It has been accepted by many in the medical community for many years that fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome—not even a disease. And certainly not killing anyone. However, there have been sporadic reports in the literature of increased mortality due to cardiovascular disease and suicide. A study published last year in “Arthritis and Rheumatism” found disturbing trends in a cohort of fibromyalgia patients that may change the health care community’s approach to fibromyalgia. The main findings of this study of 1,269 Dansih female patients were the increased risks of death due to…
Read MoreFibromyalgia and Dental Issues
Do you hate your dentist? Well you are not alone, especially if you have FM symptoms. Get professional advice on surviving dental treatment with least FM pain. Some get a terrifying rush when seeing the words “dentist visit” on the calendar. But when you have FM, these appointments can be more than just frustrations – they can be quite scary, agonizing experiences that can cause you to ignore this vital health check. “As a dentist, I find people with FM usually ignore their dental condition because of other concerns in…
Read MoreDoes your jaw click? Do you grind your teeth? It could be this little-known condition
It seems like all of my friends are having jaw pain. As we trudged deeper into our 30s, I was prepared to hear about bad backs and tricky knees. But the mouth stuff was unexpected. Some were grinding their teeth at night and needed mouthguards. Others had doctors inject botulinum toxin, commonly referred to as Botox, into aching jaws. And we are all now extremely familiar with a new body part: the TMJ, or temporomandibular joint, which connects the jawbone to the skull. TMJ is a common, convenient shorthand for jaw…
Read More“I Wasted 20 Years Doing This”: Older Adults Are Sharing The Life-Changing Habits They Regret Not Starting Younger, And I’m Taking Notes
t’s never too late to start new habits, but it’s not uncommon to wish you’d started them when you were way younger. Recently, I asked the adults of the BuzzFeed Community to share a habit or routine they do now that they wish they’d started sooner, and I’m taking some mental notes: 1.”Constantly waking up at the same time every day. It sounded so hard and pointless in my 20s, but it really does give you better sleep, and I’m now used to being awake at a certain time. I enjoy my weekends more…
Read MoreI Have Chronic Pain. I Still Love the Olympics.
After a life-changing injury, I can’t compete like I used to. Watching the Olympics—the newest games starting tonight—brings I Have Chronic Pain. I Still Love the Olympics. Aberdeen Livingstone After a life-changing injury, I can’t compete like I used to. Watching the Olympics—the newest games starting tonight—brings me joy. IAM 9 years old, and I have just quit ballet classes because it’s become painfully apparent that I don’t have the basic sense of rhythm the other girls do. But it’s also the 2008 Olympics, and Shawn Johnson is flipping…
Read MoreIf I were to be dying in pain, this is what it feels like,’ Houston area woman educates others about fibromyalgia
Haley Hernandez, Health Reporter Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that includes widespread pain, fatigue, and other symptoms that can significantly impact a person’s quality of life. “The first time I had a flare, I told my husband, like, I feel like I’m dying. Like, I feel like there’s something very, very wrong with me,” Lory Valadez said. “Even with my most recent flare, it’s the same kind of pain where I’m like, if I were to be dying in pain, this is what it feels like.” Valadez was a healthy…
Read MoreA ‘Fibro Warriors’ journey to accessing medical cannabis
Andie Willis has been battling with the UK’s healthcare system since the age of 16. Andrea Willis, also known as Andie, has been battling with the UK’s healthcare system since the age of 16. Now in her 40’s she has found a treatment that works for controlling her pain and gives her a better quality of life. Andie Willis, 49, lives with constant pain due to the debilitating condition fibromyalgia, resulting in symptoms including muscle spasms, a dry mouth and constant fatigue. But fibromyalgia isn’t the only health condition Andie has…
Read MoreBrain structural differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy control subjects: a source-based morphometric study
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition that predominantly affects women. Evidence implies that FM is associated with dysfunction of the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we investigated the structural differences between FM patients and healthy control (HC) subjects using a multivariate approach. Source-based morphometry (SBM) was applied to structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data consisting of 20 FM patients (46.4 ± 12.5), and age and gender-matched 20 HC subjects (42.1 ± 12.5). SBM revealed greater grey matter volume (GMV) in the bilateral thalamus in FM patients. Conversely, lower GMV was found…
Read MoreFibromyalgia is a risk factor for opioid, cannabis, and alcohol use disorders.
Fibromyalgia, Pain, and Substance Use Disorders Key points Fibromyalgia affects between 4 and 10 million and 60 million people suffer from > 3months of pain Opioid, Cannabis, and Alcohol Use Is Particularly Risky Self-Medication in Pain This Is Especially True in FM’s nociplastic pain- brain pathways involved in FM are also involved in addiction. Fibromyalgia and chronic pain create a “fertile breeding ground” for self-medication and iatrogenic addiction. . Fibromyalgia involves abnormal pain processing; the brain struggles to turn off pain signals. Many brain pathways involved in fibromyalgia are also involved in addiction.…
Read MoreFirst new fibromyalgia drug in 15 years, Tonmya (cyclobenzaprine HCl) gains FDA approval and hits pharmacy shelves
In a milestone moment for chronic pain management, Tonix Pharmaceuticals announced on August 15, 2025, that its novel sublingual therapy Tonmya has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – marking the first new drug for Fibromyalgia in more than 15 years. The medication is now commercially available by prescription in U.S. pharmacies, offering new hope to the roughly 10 million American adults affected by this debilitating condition. A first-in-class, non-opioid approach Tonmya represents a new therapeutic class: a non-opioid, once-daily sublingual tablet designed for bedtime use.…
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