While no clinical trial to date has specifically targeted fatigue , r and omized controlled trials , systematic review s , and meta-analyses indicate that treatment modalities studied in the context of other fibromyalgia symptoms could also improve fatigue .
Fatigue is a disabling , multifaceted symptom that is highly prevalent and stubbornly persistent .
Although fatigue is a frequent complaint among patients with fibromyalgia , it has not received the same attention as pain .
Reasons for this include lack of st and ardized nomenclature to communicate about fatigue , lack of evidence -based guidelines for fatigue assessment , and a deficiency in effective treatment strategies .
Fatigue does not occur in isolation ; rather , it is present concurrently in varying severity with other fibromyalgia symptoms such as chronic widespread pain , unrefreshing sleep , anxiety , depression , cognitive difficulties , and so on .
Survey-based and preliminary mechanistic studies indicate that multiple symptoms feed into fatigue and it may be associated with a variety of physiological mechanisms .
A pilot study of external qigong therapy for patients with fibromyalgia.
OBJECTIVES Although qigong is an important part of Traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) based on a philosophy similar to acupuncture , few studies of qigong exist in the Western medicine literature . To evaluate qigong therapy as a modality in treating chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia syndrome ( FMS ) , we report a pilot trial of 10 women with severe FMS who experienced significant improvement after external qigong therapy ( EQT ) .  DESIGN Ten patients with FMS completed five to seven sessions of EQT over 3 weeks with pre- and posttreatment assessment and a 3-month follow-up . Each treatment lasted approximately 40 minutes . OUTCOME MEASURES Tender point count ( TPC ) and Fibromyalgia Impact Question naire ( FIQ ) were the primary measures . McGill Pain Question naire ( MPQ ) , Beck Depression Inventory ( BDI ) , anxiety , and self-efficacy were the secondary outcomes . RESULTS Subjects demonstrated improvement in functioning , pain , and other symptoms . The mean TPC was reduced from 136.6 to 59.5 after EQT treatment ; mean MPQ decreased from 27.0 to 7.2 ; mean FIQ from 70.1 to 37.3 ; and mean BDI from 24.3 to 8.3 ( all p < 0.01 ) . Many subjects reported reductions in other FMS symptoms , and two reported they were completely symptom-free . Results from the 3-month follow-up indicated some slight rebound from the post-treatment measures , but still much better than those observed at baseline . CONCLUSIONS Treatment with EQT result ing in complete recovery for some FMS patients suggests that TCM may be very effective for treating pain and the multiplicity of symptoms associated with FMS . Larger controlled trials of this promising intervention are urgently needed
While no clinical trial to date has specifically targeted fatigue , r and omized controlled trials , systematic review s , and meta-analyses indicate that treatment modalities studied in the context of other fibromyalgia symptoms could also improve fatigue .
Fatigue is a disabling , multifaceted symptom that is highly prevalent and stubbornly persistent .
Although fatigue is a frequent complaint among patients with fibromyalgia , it has not received the same attention as pain .
Reasons for this include lack of st and ardized nomenclature to communicate about fatigue , lack of evidence -based guidelines for fatigue assessment , and a deficiency in effective treatment strategies .
Fatigue does not occur in isolation ; rather , it is present concurrently in varying severity with other fibromyalgia symptoms such as chronic widespread pain , unrefreshing sleep , anxiety , depression , cognitive difficulties , and so on .
Survey-based and preliminary mechanistic studies indicate that multiple symptoms feed into fatigue and it may be associated with a variety of physiological mechanisms .