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Fibromyalgia and its associated syndromes can begin with any number of symptoms. Some patients report an initial experience of flu-like aching, others find their energy levels sinking lower and lower with each passing day. Personally, I knew something was wrong when I was driving home from work one night and felt a normal stress headache gradually building into something much more alarming. I had never before experienced a migraine headache, but I was about to become well acquainted with one. After a few days of an intensely painful hammering sensation behind my eyes I sought medical intervention, but nothing worked. Two months, several different painkiller prescriptions, and an MRI later, I was nearly suicidally desperate to end the pain. Eventually the migraine went away, but my body was never the same. That was the beginning of my battle against fibromyalgia (FM).

Doctors rarely seem to connect headache issues with fibromyalgia, but when a group of FM patients gets together, sooner or later the conversation almost always turns to headaches. Migraines are a commonly shared symptom, and everyone seems to have a preferred method of relieving the pain or preventing the headaches altogether. Since fibromyalgia patients often have several debilitating symptoms, it is not uncommon for patients to take a large number of prescription medications; so sufferers are always on the lookout for effective ways to manage their symptoms without adding another pill. Today’s Huffington Post has good news on that front. A new study conducted by the Miami School of Medicine and published in International Journal of Neuroscience found that massage therapy, when performed correctly, can be a very effective way to alleviate the pain of migraine headaches:

Performed by the University of Miami School of Medicine, as published by the International Journal of Neuroscience, two groups of migraine suffers were studied. The first group (control group) took their prescribed medicine for the entire month, but did not receive massage therapy. The second group took their prescribed medicine as well, but also received a weekly massage. 60% of the massaged group had absolutely no migraines or headaches for the entire month. The massage therapy also helped to alleviate sleep problems and increased serotonin levels.

The University of Miami played around with several different protocols in treating the migraine sufferers. They found the most success with the following treatment regime: between migraine attacks, deep tissue work around the base of the skull, neck, shoulders, and upper back helped to relieve tension contributing to the recurrence of migraines. A side note with regard to deep tissue work: I would never let a massage therapist go deeper on you than you can tolerate comfortably and in a relaxed way. If you can feel your body tensing, your jaw grinding, your heart racing, these are a few red flags that you are likely producing cortisol and other hormones associated with stress, thereby creating diminishing returns for yourself in the form of even more tension — and possibly an aversion to massage. If it were me on the massage table, I would say, “Too much!” or “easy there”, “back off, bruiser”, or even the old favorite, “Uncle!”

When a migraine sets in, the scientists at the University of Miami had the most success with the sufferers face up only. Deep massage anywhere near the head at this time worsened the migraine. Light touch brought on relief. However, stimulation of the hands and feet with circulation enhancing massage helped to draw blood (and pressure) from the head to the extremities, alleviating the pain significantly.

So if you’re a migraine sufferer, give massage therapy a try, and let us know how it works for you!

Devil Ray Rocco Baldelli is feeling the fatigue.

The Sports Illustrated website expands on a story in their March 24 issue regarding Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ outfielder Rocco Baldelli’s mystery illness, which the baseball player referred to as “metabolic and/or mitochnodrial abnormalities.” Sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) recognize this as the current leading theory behind the syndrome’s diagnosis.

Baldelli described the same frustration with symptoms and a disappointing medical response felt by many CFIDS sufferers:

“My body is literally spent after a very short amount of time out on the field, which makes it extremely frustrating and difficult,” he said, at times appearing on the verge of tears. “But it’s something that’s kind of a reality right now, something we’re dealing with the best that we can.”

The Rays sent him to several doctors during the offseason, hoping to determine why he has been unable to recover from what they initially believed was a routine hamstring injury. The decision to place him on the DL was made after the experts reached a consensus on Baldelli’s condition.

“It’s one of those things, unfortunately, that they can’t diagnose 100 percent,” Rays executive vice president of baseball operation Andrew Friedman said.

“There’s a high confidence level that it is this. But we’re still dealing with a little bit of an unknown. We’re going to do everything possible from this day forward to continue to dig and figure out and try to identify exactly what it is and also how to treat it.”

The diagnosis comes after several injury-plagued seasons in which Baldelli’s body seemed unable to make the usual recovery after routine injuries. Baldelli, who hit .289 and stole 27 bases in his rookie season, began the season on the disabled list and will likely see his contract bought out in April.

Baldelli’s diagnosis is especially significant to the CFIDS/FM community, members of which face daily disbelief and accusations of laziness regarding their condition. The fact that professional athletes are no more immune to the debilitating symptoms of the condition than the general population might help to combat lack of education about the illness.

Unfortunately the stigma of the term “CFS” remains prominent, as illustrated by S.I.’s failure to actually name the syndrome anywhere in the article. After all, if celebrities with a $4 million bailout can’t say the words, what level of bias must regular sufferers face?