Article in the telegraph

[desquinn]

Article is behind a paywall unfortunately but can be found here: telegraph.co.uk/health-fitn...

‘My long Covid symptoms overlap with my fibromyalgia’

Fibromyalgia is a little-understood condition that can result in chronic pain, IBS andcognitive impairment – and it’s hard to diagnose

By

Lauren Libbert

5 April 2021 • 10:00am

Milena Georgieva had Covid more than three months ago but she still wakes up everymorning exhausted and in pain, having to pace herself to get through the day.

While these symptoms are now familiar as the ones associated with long Covid, livingwith low energy and constant joint ache is something Georgieva has experienced for thepast 15 years, having been diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2007.

“Many of the Covid symptoms I have overlap with fibromyalgia so it’s hard to know whereone condition begins and the other one ends,” says Georgieva, 52, an arts and designteacher from Worthing, West Sussex. “I was so anxious about getting Covid because anytime I catch a cold or injure myself, it takes ages for me to recover and I was right. It did make the fibro so much worse. But having lived with fibromyalgia for so long, at least I know how to manage it. It’s like being given £20 for a week and knowing you have to make it last. I have to rest and pace myself so I have enough energy to get me through every day.”

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterised by widespread and chronic musculoskeletal pain and other frequent syndromes such as chronic fatigue, sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment, irritable bowel disease, depression and anxiety. It affects around 2 million people in the UK of all ages, but mostly those aged between 30 and 50, and women are much more likely to develop the condition than men.

According to new research by money.co.uk , fibromyalgia was also the UK’s most searched condition on Google since January 2020, revealing the nation’s concerns for its mental and physical health during this pandemic year.

“We’ve seen a 20-30 per cent increase in enquiries, too, and the crossover of symptoms with Covid is likely to be the reason,” explains Des Quinn, chair of Fibromyalgia Action UK

. “Fibromyalgia is often triggered by a stressful life event, such as a car crash or atraumatic childbirth, and Covid is clearly a stressful event that could not only trigger fibromyalgia in those who have a predisposition to getting it but can amplify the symptoms in those who already have it.” ......

[JayCeon]

Bit more of the text here on msn news 'provided by The Telegraph' (strangely dated a few days earlier) ;-): msn.com/en-gb/health/mindan...