The National Institute of Psychiatry “Ramon de la Fuente Muñiz” of the Ministry of Health, cares for patients suffering from fibromyalgia, a rheumatological condition that causes chronic pain and fatigue, disabling, invisible, unpredictable and uncontrollable.
In the outpatient rehabilitation department of the Institute, the approach to this condition is comprehensive and multidisciplinary, aimed at improving the medical, psychological and psychiatric conditions in which the patient finds himself.
In an interview for World Fibromyalgia Day, María Isabel Barrera Villalpando, a specialist in this department, said that the disease is characterized by widespread pain in any part of the body, such as the head, joints, muscles or ligaments, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome. , concentration problems and high levels of depression and anxiety.
The person states that the pain is combined with a burning sensation and that they experience cramping and a sensation of electric shock; In addition, it causes sleep disturbances and morning stiffness, which makes it difficult to wake up. Oftentimes, fibromyalgia crises are exacerbated by heat, humidity and cold, and they are very sensitive to noise, light and certain odors, he explained.
“The typical pain of fibromyalgia is neuropathic; It refers to the malfunctioning of nerve fibers without causing damage to any organ or structure of the body. This neuropathic pain has also been shown in people with diabetic foot or herpes zoster; It is a nuisance that burns, because of which they cannot tolerate even the rubbing of clothes”, he explained.
The doctor of psychology indicated that other criteria to consider it fibromyalgia are hypersensitivity in specific points of the body that lasts for at least six months. There are also problems with concentration and anxiety.
He explained that there is no laboratory study to diagnose it, so it is important that rheumatology specialists exclude other diseases before confirming through a clinical interview. Appropriate pharmacological treatment avoids unnecessary or excessive supply of drugs.
Fibromyalgia has a strong genetic predisposition; it is common for members of a family to develop the condition.
He added that differential diagnosis should be made with diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, chronic fatigue syndrome (now called myalgic encephalomyelitis), Sjogren’s syndrome, polymyalgia rheumatica, and neuropathies.
He stresses that fibromyalgia affects two to five percent of the population worldwide, usually by the age of 40; For every 100 cases, 90 are females and 10 are males.
The expert highlighted that psychological treatments for better pain management are based on contextual cognitive behavioral therapy, a model that deals with the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, with an emphasis on triggering and maintenance factors. The patient who presents with a strong history of physical. Psychological and/or sexual abuse since childhood.
Therapy also considers working with mental disorders such as anxiety and depression that maintain or exacerbate fibromyalgia.
