A woman who is diagnosed with fibromyalgia may become pregnant and have a healthy baby. However, due to the disease you have and which affects the nervous system, pregnant women with fibromyalgia may experience stronger and more painful symptoms.
Fibromyalgia is a condition that affects our nerves and is characterized by general pain in both muscles and bones. Pregnant women may experience more severe pain, as well as symptoms of pregnancy more strongly. In this article, we will discover the relationship between fibromyalgia and pregnancy so that you know the points to be taken into account.
Is it possible to have a healthy pregnancy if you have fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a disease that affects 90% of women. For this reason, it is common for you to ask the question about whether it is possible to have a good pregnancy if you have fibromyalgia. The truth is that a woman with this disease can carry and give birth to a healthy baby; the only drawback of all this lies in the mother’s experience of symptoms, as she can spend a more painful pregnancy than usual, given her health condition.
Pregnant women with fibromyalgia may experience greater pain in their disease, especially from the third trimester of pregnancy. But the baby is born healthy, does not suffer any kind of complication because the mother has this disease. Postpartum is another moment in the period when women with fibromyalgia have a worse time: the side effects are more serious, and, in addition, there is a higher incidence of postpartum depression.
However, there is another line of research that points out that, during pregnancy, people with fibromyalgia may experience a lessening of their usual pains. Why is that? Because the ovarian hormone known as relaxin can help reduce the common symptoms of fibromyalgia and relax the muscles, which will positively affect the patient.
Therefore, we find two possible pathways: on the one hand, that the future mom will notice that the symptoms of her illness worsen during pregnancy, or, precisely, the opposite effect. Researchers continue, today, to conduct studies to test the effects of pregnancy in patients with fibromyalgia.
And what do we do with the medication during pregnancy?
People with this condition take medication daily. However, when a woman is pregnant, the medication she is taking must be carefully analyzed to avoid harm to the mother or the baby. In this sense, it is important to consult your doctor to assess whether it is safe for the developing baby, both inside the womb and during breastfeeding.
How can fibromyalgia affect pregnancy?
Fibromyalgia may cause some symptoms to appear during pregnancy that are typical of the disease. Some of the most common are the following:
– Intense pains.
– Fatigue and weakness.
– Mental blackouts.
– Sudden mood swings.
– Increased stress.
In addition, we must bear in mind that the time of delivery is also more painful for people suffering from this condition, which is why additional medications are often used to reduce the pain that appears.
Bibliography
Buendia, M. V. P., & Frances, S. F. (2014). Fibromyalgia in pregnant women: a systematic review. RevistaEnfermeríaCyL, 6(1), 8-12.
Monteagudo, L. V. (2015). Pain and pregnancy: A biographical story of a pregnant woman diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Memory Archives.
Garcés Fernández, M. (2017). Narrative review: gestation and fibromyalgia (Bachelor’s thesis).
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