At this time no one knows exactly how fibromyalgia develops. It can start very suddenly after a motor vehicle accident or other traumatic injury. Usually, however, it comes on gradually and becomes more severe with time. Research is beginning to recognize some people are more predisposed than others, especially if family members have fibromyalgia.

Basically, fibromyalgia is a disorder of pain recognition and handling. People with confirmed fibromyalgia have higher levels of Substance P and Nerve Growth Factor as well as lower levels of serotonin.

Substance P (SP)

Substance P is found in your brain and spinal cord. It plays an important role in how information about pain in your body gets to your brain and how it is then perceived. Increased levels of SP increase your sensitivity to pain. People with fibromyalgia feel pain more intensely.

Nerve Growth Factor (NGF)

Nerve Growth Factor circulates throughout your body and is critical for the survival and maintenance of sensory nerve cells. In other words it helps keep the nerve cells your body uses to sense pain, as one example, healthy and functioning optimally. With increased levels of NGF, people with fibromyalgia perceive pain more efficiently.

Serotonin

Serotonin is primarily found in your gastrointestinal tract (stomach and intestines), brain and spinal cord. It is well known for being associated with improving moods, thinking, memory and learning as well as helping regulate your appetite and proper sleep function. Because people with fibromyalgia have lower levels of serotonin, they frequently have problems with many or all of these.

The overall result of increased SP, increased NGF and decreased serotonin is hypersensitivity to discomfort, pain, noise, weather changes and stress. The pain of fibromyalgia is often described as burning, gnawing, throbbing, stabbing or aching.

To make things worse, difficulty sleeping, insomnia, or intermittent sleep interrupts the deep sleep your body requires for tissue regeneration and healing. Also, lack of deep sleep increases all sensations, especially pain.

The Thyroid/Fibromyalgia Connection

There is also a potential autoimmune connection between fibromyalgia and your thyroid gland. As you recall, problems with thyroid function are in the initial list of things to be ruled out before considering fibromyalgia as the diagnosis for your symptoms. Interestingly, the usual lab tests for thyroid function can be normal while symptoms of thyroid dysfunction persist. In addition, most doctors do not routinely test for thyroid antibodies when they order lab tests for thyroid function. The result is you cannot totally rule out a malfunctioning thyroid gland as a contributing factor in fibromyalgia.

There are two good sources for information on the relationship between these two conditions. The first is Dr. Stephen Langer's book titled Solved: The Riddle of Illness (link coming soon). The second is Dr. John Lowe's book titled The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia (link coming soon). Purchasing Dr. Lowe's extremely thorough book is quite expensive. He does, however, sell individual e-chapters online at his website www.drlowe.com. While you're at it, please feel free to review the very helpful information on my website about thyroid problems, which can be found here.