sleep apnea causing fibromyalgia?

I am beginning to wonder if my fibromyalgia and maybe even my brain lesions diagnosed as MS aren't the result of my sleep apnea. How common is fibromyalgia or ms in people with severe sleep apnea?

Fibromyalgia is not uncommon in OSA pts, but there is otherwise no real connection. FM is a condition thought to be brought on some of the time by trauma (car crash, etc.) that leaves people with a cluster of at least 14 'points' of tenderness, though not necessarily related to trauma ones - there's a strict list of criteria that cites those points (and more can be present too). Certainly OSA (or using Cpap) does not cause it by any stretch, whether or not there are overlapping symptoms at times.

But perhaps tick infections as a common cause?

bbridge_GA wrote:I am beginning to wonder if my fibromyalgia and maybe even my brain lesions diagnosed as MS aren't the result of my sleep apnea. How common is fibromyalgia or ms in people with severe sleep apnea?

Hi bbridge,

If you feel comfortable doing so, please PM me with your email address and I can attempt to send you an MP3 podcast that Dr. Avram Gold, a sleep medicine specialist, did on the relationship between fibromyalgia and sleep apnea. For some reason, I had trouble successfully sending this podcast to someone when I previously attempted to email it but I am willing to try again.

49er

Treating sleep apnea can only help. There's evidence of disturbed REM sleep in people with fibro.

If you've been diagnosed with MS, please be sure to check out the Terry Wahls TED talk. Google it.

According to my own research fibromyalgia sufferers commonly show a pattern of what's called alpha-delta sleep or alpha intrusion into deep stage sleep. The body depends on deep stage (delta, or slow wave) sleep for restoration and healing. FM pain is thought, at least in some medical circles, to be related to the disturbance in delta sleep. The connection with sleep apnea would theoretically be that SA is one of the things that disrupt and interrupt deep stage sleep. So though it isn't necessarily a direct connection, it also does not appear to be coincidental.

I found this by Dr. Barry Krakow on the topic. Sleep related pain and 3am awakenings where major features of my "fibromyalgia". I agree with my neurologist who thinks fibromyalgia is a CNS disorder and the current treatments such as Lyrica would support that. I know in my case it could very well be that sleep disordered breathing caused the Fibro which consists of widespread pain that is worse at night or just after waking and daytime fatigue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6eD1YG ... F5CC561046

Julie wrote:Certainly OSA does not cause it by any stretch

Medical scientists admit they do not know what causes fibromyalgia and they have not been able to rule out sleep apnea as a cause. Julie, You don't know better than this.

bbridge_GA wrote: How common is fibromyalgia or ms in people with severe sleep apnea?

Some studies have shown 60% of FM patients have sleep apnea. Anyone who has FM should be screened for sleep apnea.

As a matter of fact I do - have spent decades working for neurologists and learned about FM long ago, whether or not a complete picture of it has been drawn out. I know there is some literature that says OSA may cause FM, but I don't believe that, whatever the relationship might be otherwise. And btw Lazer, ticks do not cause apnea.

Ok Julie. What is it that causes apnea then? And why can not bacterial infections do that?

Julie wrote: As a matter of fact I do - have spent decades working for neurologists and learned about FM long ago, whether or not a complete picture of it has been drawn out. I know there is some literature that says OSA may cause FM, but I don't believe that, whatever the relationship might be otherwise. And btw Lazer, ticks do not cause apnea.

Sorry, I don't fall for your beliefs. I will stick with the science which so far says the causes of FM have not been identified with any certainty and that sleep apnea cannot be ruled out as a cause.

"cannot be ruled out" is not the same as saying it's causal. And my belief is based on all the science I was part of working under very well respected doctors.

I don't know what causes OSA, only that saying this, that or the other thing does cause it when in fact that's only speculation, is not right.

Julie wrote:"cannot be ruled out" is not the same as saying it's causal.

Oh, your logic is exposed and now you claim someone said something they did not say. There is not a post in this thread that says sleep apnea causes FM. Check it for yourself or get one of your well respected doctors to check it for you.

Julie wrote: I don't know what causes OSA, only that saying this, that or the other thing does cause it when in fact that's only speculation, is not right.

Again, there is not a post in this thread that says sleep apnea causes FM. Check it for yourself or get one ...

But you did make this claim,

Julie wrote: Certainly OSA (or using Cpap) does not cause it by any stretch

and that is your biased belief which is not backed up by medical research.

I think the source of this is authoritative, and may explain some of the confusion expressed here:
http://www.arthritistoday.org/tools-and ... isease.php

bbridge_GA wrote:I am beginning to wonder if my fibromyalgia and maybe even my brain lesions diagnosed as MS aren't the result of my sleep apnea. How common is fibromyalgia or ms in people with severe sleep apnea?

I have two friends with fibro and both of them have to use CPAP. I have also seen some studies about brain damage due to sleep apnea. The experts have not figured out everything yet!