Does stress make fibromyalgia symptoms worse?

Fibromyalgia has many triggers that are different for each patient, but stress is one that affects many people. Family medicine physician Jennifer Caudle, DO, explains how stress can impact your condition and why stress management is important.

Transcript

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Fibromyalgia has many possible triggers, and these triggers are different for every patient with fibromyalgia. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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For some people, it could be a lack of sleep. For others, it could be too much exercise. But the question about stress, can

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stress make fibromyalgia worse? The answer is, yes, it absolutely can. It certainly depends on who you are

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and what your symptoms are like. But it's really important to keep stress in mind when you're thinking about your triggers, and also your fibromyalgia flare-ups.

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So if stress is one of your triggers for fibromyalgia, you really want to work to minimize the stress in your life. There are many possible ways to do this.

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Some things I recommend to my patients include physical activities, such as yoga and Tai chi. For some patients, therapy or counseling is really important.

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And for other people, it's simply just talking to their doctor or to the people in their lives about what's going on with them. So, if stress is a trigger for you,

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make sure you think about it, that you understand that it's a trigger, and that you speak with your physician. [MUSIC PLAYING]