What is the difference between polymyalgia and fibromyalgia

Genetics : Certain genes and gene variations may increase your susceptibility. Environmental exposure: New cases of polymyalgia rheumatic have a tendency to come in cycles and might expand seasonally.

This indicates that an environmental trigger, inclusive of a pandemic, might play a function. However, no unique virus has been proven to cause polymyalgia rheumatic. There is not any specific test for testing fibromyalgia, but some doctors use a check list that has 18 particular trigger points often found in the patient who may be suffering from the fibromyalgia. Your physician might also ask you for some blood tests to determine the exact stage. Some of these tests incorporate physical exams and therapeutic history survey, blood tests for finish blood check and swelling parts, imaging tests to recognize polymyalgia from different conditions with comparable manifestations, and observing for giant cell arteritis by giving careful consideration to the nearness of cerebral pains, jaw ache, sentimental, blurred or double vision, and scalp tenderness.

To treat fibromyalgia, there are medications , elective cures, and way-of-life propensities that may help manage pain and enhance better sleep. Your clinician may prescribe pain medicine or antidepressants to help treat the ache, exhaustion, dejection, and tension that accompanies the sickness. Moreover, your specialist may prescribe physical workout, moist heat, daily aerobic workout, relaxation, and stretching to better manage your symptoms.

Polymyalgia rheumatica is caused by inflammation. Age is a big one — almost no one under age 50 gets PMR, and the likelihood of getting it increases with age, according to a BMJ review.

The average age when PMR symptoms start is Women also have a higher risk of polymyalgia rheumatica; about three quarters of PMR patients are female.

Genetics could also play a role. People of northern European descent have a higher risk than other ethnic groups. Here are fibromyalgia symptoms to be aware of. But there are some key differences between fibromyalgia and polymyalgia rheumatica. For one thing, the average onset age of fibromyalgia is 35 to 45, which is far younger than would be expected with PMR. The nature of the pain is also different — fibromyalgia develops when brain receptors start signaling pain without a trigger, while PMR is driven by inflammation.

This also sets it apart from wear-and-tear osteoarthritis. Meanwhile, the placement of the pain — the shoulders and pelvic area — sets it apart from other types of inflammatory arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis, which tends to show up in smaller joints like the hands, wrists, and feet, adds John Davis III, MD, a rheumatologist with Mayo Clinic.

American College of Rheumatology. Camellino D, et al. Update on treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica. Docken WP. Treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica. Dejaco C, et al. Giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica: Current challenges and opportunities.

Nature Reviews: Rheumatology. Arthritis Foundation. Vasculitis Foundation. Buckley L, et al. With medication, you may see a major improvement in your polymyalgia symptoms in just a few days.

Your doctor should find the lowest dose of the medication to manage your symptoms and most patients can stop taking corticosteroids after one to three years, depending on the severity of your symptoms 8.

Research suggests that patients who experience a relapse were more likely to have started treatment on higher doses of corticosteroids or faster medication tapers at the end of treatment Apart from their name and main symptom, fibromyalgia and polymyalgia have little in common. The way each condition affects your body is very distinct and the treatment methods are also very different 5, 13, The main difference is that polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory condition, and fibromyalgia is a non-inflammatory condition.

Because of this, polymyalgia rheumatica responds to treatment with anti-inflammatory medications. Fibromyalgia and statin induced myositis is associated with tenderness. In some cases, GCA affects the arteries going to the eyes, which can result in blindness. The reason that polymyalgia and GCA are linked is unclear, but some experts believe both illnesses could be related to similar genes and may be different ways the same disease process manifests 7.

You can develop GCA before, during or after your polymyalgia diagnosis