Are Migranes and Fibromyalgia Related?

One of my greater discomforts in life, more than what I experience with fibromyalgia, are the days that the migrane headaches begin to set in. I take 3-4 Advil, eat a few saltine crackers, turn out the lights, lay down on my left side, and go to sleep. I can still function with the fibro; I can't function with the migranes.

Some New Hope For Fibromyalgia

One of the things I like to do is read new research that is taking place with bringing relief to FMS. I came across an article that has the potential to not only help me with fibro myalgia, but also with my migranes. The article makes reference to research done by Dr. J. Wes Tanner. The summary of his article states that if you can control the migranes, or the migrane syndromes, you can also control the fibromyalgia — because there is a relationship. So, let's look at that relationship.

Going deeper into Dr. Tanner's article, he makes a relationship between the tender points (and all the other symptoms) of fibromyalgia and the tender points (or symptoms) of having problems with migrane headaches. While the general rule is that 11 of the 18 tender points are required to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Dr. Tanner has a completely different theory.

He theorizes that fibromyalgia is a neurological disorder, not an autoimmune disorder. Why? Because the tender points are actually points of allodynia (Condition in which ordinarily nonpainful stimuli evoke pain). Allodynia is typically under the "Pain Management" medical practices, many times treating people with pain from pressure applied to the skin where there might be nerve damage and headache disorders and neck pain.

The main disappointment with Dr. Tanner's article is that he does not take the article to the next logical step — offering some help and solutions. While I am certainly WAY out of my league when it comes to pain management, I do know that there are some natural and prescription ways to deal with migranes. Personally, I would rather go for the natural means. It can have the longer term affects, though it may offer a slower remedy. Drugs often are a quick fix, sometimes dependent fix.

Keep an eye out on our Blog for more information on what develops with this. It is actually rather exciting news.