Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a disorder that leads to extensive musculoskeletal pain and occurs in combination with fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.
- What is Fibromyalgia?
- Fibromyalgia & cannabinoids
- Text references, literature discussion
& clinical trials
What is Fibromyalgia?
Definition
Fibromyalgia is a disorder that leads to extensive musculoskeletal pain. and occurs in combination with fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues. It is thought that fibromyalgia increases painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.1
Symptoms 2
- Extensive pain throughout the body
- Fatigue
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Cognitive impairments
- Difficulty to focus, pay attention, and concentrate on mental tasks known as “fibro fog”.
Cause
Up to this date, the cause of fibromyalgia is not yet known. However, it is suggested that there are three factors that may increase the risk of developing fibromyalgia1:
- Genetics
There may be certain genetic mutations running in families that may increase the risk of developing fibromyalgia - Physical or emotional trauma
Stressful events such as a car accident or death of a loved one - Infections or injury
- Cannabinoids
- Cannabinoid receptors
- Endocannabinoids
- THC
- CB1
- CB2
- Terpenes
- Strains
- Enzymes
- Metabolites
Terpenes
Strains
Synthesizing & Degrading Enzymes
Metabolites
The connection between Fibromyalgia
& cannabinoids
Preclinical evidence proposes that the cannabinoid THC may be therapeutic in the treatment of fibromyalgia as cannabinoids may possess analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.3
Note: If you have any further information relevant to the connection between Fibromyalgia and cannabinoids, or find any of the information inaccurate, outdated or incomplete please contact us here.
Text references, literature discussion
& clinical trials
- Text references
- Literature discussion
- Clinical trials
Review
In a recent review about the effects of cannabinoids, it was reported that symptoms of fibromyalgia can be treated by Nabilone (synthetic cannabinoid-based drug) (Walitt, Klose, Fitzcharles, Phillips, & Häuser, 2016).
In another review, it was also shown that fibromyalgia-related pain can be treated by cannabinoids (Lynch and Campbell, 2011).
However, another review stated that there is a lack of evidence to declare that fibromyalgia-related symptoms can be treated by cannabinoids (Fitzcharles, Baerwald, Ablin, & Häuser, 2016).
One study found that cannabis use led to stiffness and pain reduction and increased relaxation, somnolence as well as a feeling of well-being in patients with fibromyalgia (Fiz et al., 2011).
In a subpopulation of patients with fibromyalgia, reduced pain perception was observed upon THC administration (2.5-15 mg). The authors proposed that this decreased pain perception can be due to the analgesic effect of THC (Schley et al., 2006).
In patients with fibromyalgia, improvement in pain reduction, and life quality were observed upon the use of the synthetic cannabinoid-based drug Nabilone (Skrabek, Galimova, Ethans, & Perry, 2008).
References
Clinical trials
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