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Fibromyalgia

Dealing with Fibromyalgia during Pregnancy

By Teri Brown

Lynn Siprelle from Portland, Ore., lives with fibromyalgia on a regular basis. She wondered how the disorder would affect her pregnancy. "I developed fibro about a year after baby No. 1," she says. "With baby No. 2, it seemed to go into remission, which is not uncommon I'm told and stayed quite a bit better until just recently. So the pregnancy ended up impacting the fibromyalgia, not the other way around."

Unfortunately, she found very little information on the topic. When asked if her doctor knew anything about the disease she said, "Sadly, no, bless his heart. I've had to deal with the fibromyalgia pretty much on my own."

Sharon Waldrop, a mother of two from Royal Oak, Mich., had a very different experience when it came to her doctor. "He was a rare and fabulous find," says Waldrop. "He was very receptive to the information I brought with me and went out of his way to learn about the disorder."

Of course, being the director of Fibromyalgia Association of Michigan, one of the support group partners of the National Fibromyalgia Association, helped.

"Fibromyalgia waxes and wanes and that's the way it was all through my pregnancy," says Waldrop. "I found that my first and third trimesters were the worst as far as fibromyalgia symptoms goes."

Waldrop is adamant that women with fibromyalgia can have healthy pregnancies. "The most important things a pregnant woman with fibromyalgia can do is limit [her] activities, take the proper medication and getting support," she says. "And in the end, the smiles of my sons are some of the best pain relievers available."

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, medical director of the Annapolis Research Center for Effective CFS/Fibromyalgia Therapies and the author of From Fatigued to Fantastic! (Penguin/Avery, 2001), compares fibromyalgia to the blowing of a fuse. "Fibromyalgia is a syndrome caused by 'blowing a fuse' when one spends more energy than they can make," he says. "This can have hundreds of causes, like blowing a fuse."

The truth is fibromyalgia is more a set of symptoms than it is a disorder. No one knows the exact cause of fibromyalgia, though there are several theories. One theory is that it is caused by a brain chemical imbalance; other theories include having overly sensitive nerves and deep sleep disturbances.

Want to see more?

• Positive Energy: How to Build Vitality and Stop the Energy Vampires
• Restless Nights: Answers to Common Sleep Concerns During Pregnancy
• Pregnant Pauses: Managing Stress During Pregnancy
• Talk about it!

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