Fibromyalgia & Pelvic Pain

Fibromyalgia can cause pain in many different parts of the body. One area where it can cause pain, especially in women, is in the pelvic region. And because there are many organs located in that area, it is sometimes hard to determine if the pain is coming from the bladder, the rectum, the reproductive organs or other places.

The Facts

• Fibromyalgia is not considered a disease; rather it is a combination of different symptoms and medical problems. Because of this, it is referred to as a syndrome.
  Unless a doctor is knowledgeable about fibromyalgia or is specifically looking for it, fibromyalgia is very hard to diagnose. It does not show up on tests; however, once doctors have ruled out other problems, fibromyalgia can be considered.
  A true diagnosis of fibromyalgia is made when a patient has experienced pain in four major areas of the body for more than 3 months and has tenderness in eleven or more specific places when they are pressed.
  There is no cure for fibromyalgia; rather, alleviation of symptoms and restoration of function to affected areas is the physician's goal.

Identification

• Pelvic pain can be caused by many things. These include fibroid tumors in the uterus, bladder prolapse and extremely painful menstrual cramps, to name a few. When all possible medical causes have been ruled out or identified and treatment has begun, then fibromyalgia may be the pinpointed as the cause.
  Interestingly, one of the usual causes of pelvic pain---interstitial cystitis---may actually cause a woman to suffer from fibromyalgia at some later time in her life.
  The pelvic pain associated with fibromyalgia may be no worse than any other pelvic pain; therefore, the level of pain is not necessarily a good indicator of fibromyalgia. Again, it is usually a case of ruling out or discovering many other things before focusing on the possibility of fibromyalgia.

Effects

• Left undiagnosed or untreated, pelvic pain, no matter what its cause, can lead to more serious problems. When the pain is a result of fibromyalgia, failure to diagnose or treat it can lead to depression and an overall decline in a woman's general health.

Benefits

• Most people can deal with what they know about. When pelvic pain is finally diagnosed as or considered to be fibromyalgia, just the fact that the patient has finally been able to convince a doctor that it's not all in her head is enough to cause an immediately improvement in the woman's mental and emotional health. From there, she will be more receptive to her doctor's orders on how to treat and manage the pain. Knowing that the diagnosis is fibromyalgia allows the doctor to chart a treatment course. Additionally, knowing what it is not is also helpful to both the doctor and the patient, because they now can concentrate on finding what works for symptom relief.

Considerations

• Treatment options include the use of drugs, pain management techniques, changes in diet (increase in fluid intake, for instance) and other options. Any and all possibilities should be considered so that relief can be obtained as soon as possible.