PubMed · 11143827
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R Morehouse. 2000. Starting from ground zero.. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370004500901
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Clearly, fatigue is a large and challenging problem for those suffering from fibromyalgia. It adds greatly to the morbidity and disability associated with the disease. In the management of this specific symptom in fibromyalgia, attention should first be focused on identifying comorbidities that may be present and contribute to fatigue. As with other symptoms of fibromyalgia, education is a critical component of management. This can be done by the practitioner, with available free resources, or with specialized cognitive behavioral programs. This education process can be augmented with a variety of other nonpharmacologic therapies, especially very gradually increasing, low-impact, aerobic exercise programs. Numerous pharmacologic therapies may also be helpful as an adjunct to treatment. Classes of compounds that raise central levels of norepinephrine or dopamine appear to be the most specific for management of fatigue. There are also many medications used to combat fatigue in other disorders that have not yet been adequately explored as to the possible benefits in alleviating the fatigue of fibromyalgia. Advances in the management of fatigue in fibromyalgia are likely to come from a variety of directions. Easier access to well designed nonpharmacologic therapies is essential, because these treatments are underutilized in clinical practice at present. Improvements in pharmacologic therapies will come from new insights into mechanisms, especially those that might only be present in subsets of patients and would respond to more targeted therapies.
Despite disappointing results when subjected to randomized clinical trials, pharmacologic agents remain an important component of FM management. Addressing the main symptoms of pain, disturbed sleep, mood disturbances, fatigue, and associated conditions is essential to improve patient functioning and enhanced quality of life. However, much work remains to design clinical trials which address the complexity of FM, while satisfying evidence based medicine paradigms.
A precise definition of primary Sjögren's syndrome resting on 'revised' or 'international' criteria has been accepted by most experts. This is important because the symptoms of primary Sjögren's syndrome, namely, dryness, fatigue, and pain, are common in the population at large and can occur in the absence of autoimmune disease as a result of medication use, anxiety and depression, or normal aging. This widely accepted definition is particularly valuable as a tool for obtaining homogenous patient populations for trials of new therapeutic agents. In this review article, before discussing treatments for complications and current hopes about second-line drugs, we present an update on available treatments forthe symptomatic triad (dryness, fatigue, and diffuse pain) seen in autoimmune Sjögren's syndrome and in some cases of isolated sicca syndrome. These very bothersome and permanent symptoms have a negative effect on quality of life. The most recent data show that systemic cholinergic agonists (pilocarpine and cevimiline) are effective in the symptomatic treatment of dryness, that cyclosporine eye drops may relieve ocular symptoms, and that TNFalpha inhibitors may find a new indication in Sjögren's syndrome.