Did You Know You Have a Functional Somatic Syndrome?
If you have any combination of fibromyalgia (FMS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), headaches, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), PMS, interstitial cystitis, food or chemical hypersensitivity, chronic back pain or chronic pelvic pain, now you have an umbrella term to place them all under - functional somatic syndrome.
That's apparently a new buzz word in holistic medicine and a relatively new field of study called "functional medicine."
Functional medicine takes an integrative approach, looking at how your physical and emotional environments, past health problems and lifestyle work together to create your current health. Functional medicine researchers and practitioners say that even very different disorders can share common roots.
What root do they say these conditions may stem from? You've likely heard this answer before - it's chronic stress.
When they say stress, they mean both psychological and physical (including infection, nutritional deficiency and inadequate sleep.) And these folks believe that stress, when it's chronic, can actually change the way your genes work.
They also say that examining our stressors may be the key to healing. This isn't too far off base from how a lot of people (not necessarily doctors) approach FMS - we work to reduce stress, and it usually helps. For me, quitting my full-time job was a big part of that, and it definitely helped.
What do you think about functional medicine? Do you think it sounds like a good approach? What's your opinion on the role of stress in FMS and other related conditions? Leave your comments here or in About.com's Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome forum
Suggested Reading
- Risk factors for fibromyalgia.
- Possible causes of fibromyalgia.
- More information on functional medicine.
- Learn how to manage your stress.
Comments
Well…I certainly feel that it couldn’t hurt. I do believe that stress plays a vital part in all of these symptoms and that chronic stress may change the way our genes work…so reducing stress in any fashion is a good idea. However, unless one joins a group who meets periodically; attends counseling regularly; does weekly yoga or something of that nature, it’s easy to slide back into the same patterns and habits as before. Getting rid of stress is a huge challenge in todays world.
I read this article once, continued looking at others and had to come back here. This new category that the powers are trying to fit fibro into just doesn’t set right with me. It seems to trivialize this plight. If you aren’t stressed you won’t get fibro? Am I just interpreting this wrong?
Melanie,
That was my first impression of this as well. When I realized they were including physical stressors in the definition, though, it made more sense to me. For instance, I’m certain that chronic sleep deprivation was a big contributing factor in my illness. Infection is also a physical stressor.
As far as treatment goes, it’ll definitely be interesting to see what kind of results they get from this approach.
In our current culture, for the most part, people who “succumb” to stress (or to stressors) are viewed as weak, defective and are subjected to stigmatized responses that tend to dismiss and blame.
I think this functional umbrella approach may bring new information and helpful treatment to people who suffer, but I
imagine the significant segment of our society that believes the weak and damaged among us should fend for themselves or die off will have a heyday with this. As may the insurance companies and others who are in the health care “industry” to get rich.
We see evidence that chronic pain destroys areas of the brain. Yet I have been told that prolonged pain itself, though screaming for attention in my body, will not hurt me. Truth becomes a tool for self-serving unless life in the broadest sense is highly valued.
Despite these observations, I hope for the best outcomes from this new nomenclature and view of interrelated symptoms.
It makes perfect sense to me. I have always felt that years and years of poor sleep - meaning that for some reason I do not deep sleep - has been a contributing factor in my Fibromyalgia. Plus, the fact that poor sleep will also affect the immune system may also be a contributing factor in my Rheumatoid Arthritis. I’m not sure about that one, but I know that the Functional Medicine approach might come up with more answers than I am getting now.
Well, I don’t think much about that. I feel that when the experts don’t know what causes a problem, its too easy to say that its a result of stress or a stressor. Do they say that about M.S. or cancer or heart disease, etc.???
I think not. However, they did before they learned the truth.
That doesn’t mean we should not all examine our priorities from time to time and learn how we might better live our lives and how we spend the precious few years we have when we are in good health before its not so good anymore.
But I’m afraid I have to say that more research is needed in so many areas to find the underlying cause of so many things. Our society as a whole spends way too much money on things of no consequence when there are people suffering in a supposedly affluent society.
The focus should be on how to determine the underlying cause of something and how to prevent as much suffering as possible. Nobody gets through this life without dying from something sometime. However, some of us spend far too much time suffering needlessly with the important people (our governemnt?) not caring that we are suffering needlessly.
We are pushed aside as if we don’t matter.
If I sound cynical, perhaps I am. But this comes from 25 years of suffering and more importantly watching others suffer even more than I am. Much of that suffering could be prevented and that is what gets my dander up.
Healthy people see the word stress and decide to judge us as people who can’t deal with stress rather than trying to understand we are sick!!!!
Grannycfs (Nancy)