Sick and Tired: Understanding and Managing Sleep Difficulties in ...
Sick and Tired: Understanding and Managing Sleep Difficulties in ...
Sick and Tired: Understanding and Managing Sleep Difficulties in ...
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widely applied <strong>in</strong> cl<strong>in</strong>ical practice <strong>and</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>ues to be subject to similar criticisms of the<br />
ACR criteria, such as not be<strong>in</strong>g sensitive to the high variability <strong>in</strong> symptoms <strong>and</strong> be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
reliant on patient self-report. Consequently, despite the known limitations, the ACR<br />
criteria is the current recommended diagnostic criteria for FMS <strong>and</strong> is the most<br />
commonly applied criteria <strong>in</strong> cl<strong>in</strong>ical practice.<br />
Despite the fact that the ACR criteria has been the recognised diagnostic criteria for two<br />
decades, <strong>in</strong> view of its critique it is perhaps not surpris<strong>in</strong>g that recognition <strong>and</strong> diagnosis<br />
of FMS rema<strong>in</strong>s highly variable between cl<strong>in</strong>icians (Hughes, Mart<strong>in</strong>ez, Myon, Taieb, &<br />
Wessely, 2006). The high co-morbidity observed with other conditions such as chronic<br />
fatigue syndrome (CFS), irritable bowel syndrome (Hudson, Goldenberg, Pope, Keck,<br />
& Schles<strong>in</strong>ger, 1992) systematic lupus erythematosus (Gladman, Urowitz, Gough, &<br />
MacK<strong>in</strong>non, 1997) <strong>and</strong> rheumatoid arthritis (Weir et al., 2006) makes diagnosis<br />
difficult. The most common confusion occurs between CFS <strong>and</strong> FMS which have many<br />
overlapp<strong>in</strong>g symptoms. Based on comparison of the two diagnostic criteria (ACR,<br />
Wolfe et al., 1990), <strong>and</strong> the US Centers for disease control criteria for CFS, it appears<br />
that the ma<strong>in</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ction relates to the most prom<strong>in</strong>ent symptom experienced by the<br />
patient; pa<strong>in</strong> is a core criteria for FMS with the possible co-occurrence of fatigue, while<br />
fatigue is the essential criteria for CFS with the possible co-occurrence of pa<strong>in</strong>. The<br />
high degree of overlap between symptoms of these two conditions, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>deed others,<br />
has led some cl<strong>in</strong>icians to argue that FMS may not be a dist<strong>in</strong>ct medical condition but<br />
rather that these conditions may lie on a spectrum of pa<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> fatigue. This has resulted<br />
<strong>in</strong> some cl<strong>in</strong>icians question<strong>in</strong>g the legitimacy of FMS (Schaefer, 2003). In light of the<br />
recent evidence, described at the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of this chapter, implicat<strong>in</strong>g the central<br />
nervous system for the symptoms experienced by people with FMS, it appears that FMS<br />
may be a dist<strong>in</strong>ct cl<strong>in</strong>ical entity from CFS (which is believed to l<strong>in</strong>ked to a hyper-<br />
reactive immune system <strong>and</strong> triggered by viral or other <strong>in</strong>fectious agents) <strong>and</strong> that the<br />
two conditions should therefore be studied separately to avoid possible contam<strong>in</strong>ation of<br />
the f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs.<br />
In recent qualitative studies, many FMS patients have described that the diagnosis of<br />
FMS appears „empty‟ due to the lack of recognition, respect, knowledge <strong>and</strong> effective<br />
treatment options for the condition (Madden & Sim, 2006; Sim & Madden, 2008;<br />
Undel<strong>and</strong> & Malterud, 2007). This has important implications for patients for whom it<br />
may take several years to receive a diagnosis to expla<strong>in</strong> the symptoms that they are<br />
experienc<strong>in</strong>g (which will be discussed further <strong>in</strong> the explor<strong>in</strong>g the impact of FMS<br />
8