Featured Image Credit: Kinga Krzeminska/Getty
Topics: Health, Mental Health, NHS, Life
Tom Wood
There’s a ‘test’ that you can take in only around 60 seconds that might identify whether you’re one of a great number of people who suffer with fibromyalgia in the UK.
You can even do it at home too, if you want.
Of course – before we even get started with this – you should always get the advice and testing from your doctor for a proper diagnosis, but this could at least be an indicator or a first step to getting tested and getting to the bottom of a health problem that affects a load of people.
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There are millions of people living in the UK that suffer with fibromyalgia, which causes seriously bad pain all over the body, as well as a host of other symptoms including headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, muscle stiffness, fatigue, and depression or low mood.
Men can get fibromyalgia, but it’s a lot more common in women.
Sharing this indicative test on a website for Fibro Warriors, someone explained how you can start to work out whether you’re a fibromyalgia sufferer or not.
Designed by TV doctor Dr Oz, the quiz asks you to fill in four areas, which pertain to information about pain locations and other symptoms.
So, if you check off the boxes relating to where pain is coming from, as well as checking for ‘overlapping symptoms’ like chronic fatigue or cognitive issues, you might be able to build up a picture.
Section one asks about how widespread the pain is, showing the front and back of a person for you to cross off locations that you’ve felt pain in the past three months,
At the end of that you’ll have a number.
Then, the second section asks you to list any overlapping symptoms.
You can read these for yourself, but they include many of the things listed above, as well as things like bladder problems, heartburn, and waking up unrefreshed.
After that, you’ll have another number, this time for the other symptoms you experience.
The third thing to do is add those numbers together to see what they add up to.
If that number is seven or above, the fourth section advises you to ‘bring this sheet to your doctor to discuss fibromyalgia’.
The exact reasons behind fibromyalgia aren’t clear, but researchers reckon it pertains to chemicals in the brain and could possibly be hereditary.
There’s no cure, but there are ways that the illness can be treated, such as exercise – which is helpful for some – and lifestyle changes.
Relaxation techniques can be employed, as can mental health treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy or counselling. You can also take painkilling medication.
So, if you think that you might be amongst the millions who suffer with fibromyalgia, take the short test and then visit your doctor to discuss it further.