After the rollercoaster of emotions last week, this week has mostly been about sleeping. On top of recovering emotionally, I’m also dealing with the physical pain my body has caused. It’s frustrating, to say the least. I’m feeling pretty decent today as long as I stay still, but if I try to do something like walk through a store, I’m sweating and running out of energy. Thank goodness for a partner who understands chronic illness. The emotional toll of this condition is often overlooked. It’s not just about the physical pain, but also the mental strain of constantly managing symptoms and the uncertainty of the future.

This fatigue has given me time to wonder what causes fibromyalgia. Is it something we can control, or are we doomed by genetics or other factors? Based on my research, there are several reasons for developing fibromyalgia. One factor is genetics, while another is trauma—both mental and physical trauma can contribute to this condition. Personally, before I learned about fibromyalgia, it felt like my body was always in a state of fight or flight. I couldn’t relax, and most days, I struggled to get my heartbeat to slow down. Overall, it was not a pleasant experience.

Another possible trigger is a major illness. Conditions like Epstein-Barr and Lyme disease have been linked to the onset of fibromyalgia. There’s also a theory that part of the problem lies in our body’s abnormal pain signals. It’s believed that these faulty signals contribute to the pain and increase pain sensitivity associated with fibromyalgia. This thought concerns me because it suggests that our central nervous system is hypersensitive, which sounds problematic.

In conclusion, while our genetics didn’t doom us to develop fibromyalgia, multiple environmental factors likely contributed to the disease’s onset. However, understanding these factors and their potential influence on our health gives us hope for better management and treatment of fibromyalgia in the future.