Second wave triggers spike in painful fibromyalgia cases

The stress of the second wave of the pandemic is triggering fibromyalgia, a painful condition with no easy diagnosis, in many people. Dr Biswarup Sen, a joint replacement and orthopaedic specialist, has seen a 10-fold increase in the number of fibromyalgia cases since last year and expects the number to go up as the pandemic continues.
“Psychological stress that people experienced during the second wave, the deaths around them, economic uncertainty, it’s triggering this condition,” said Sen. Clinically, it means continuous body pain, especially around the shoulders and lower back. “In some patients the pain is debilitating, it can be as painful as a fracture. Patients’ sleep is grossly disturbed and so is their ability to work and concentrate,” added Sen who consults at Max hospital, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi.
Musculoskeletal pain, mood swings, anxiety, sleep disruption and memory issues are classic symptoms of fibromyalgia, a condition in which the brain amplifies the sensation of pain.
In Hyderabad, Dr Keerthi Talari said she has seen a 30-50% increase in the number of cases since December last year. “The stress of the pandemic continues. Even last year when the lockdown lifted and patients started coming to OPDs we noticed a lot of them were presenting symptoms of fibromyalgia. In middle-aged women it’s there in 20-30%,” said Talari, a consultant rheumatologist at Yashoda hospital.
Vibha Choudhary*, 42, has been experiencing fibromyalgia pain and associated symptoms since she got Covid last year. “After recovering from Covid I was anxious and depressed. After some time, I developed pain in my right arm which then moved to my neck and the back,” said Choudhary who had to take steroid injections to get relief.
Many in the IT sector are presenting these symptoms, said Dr Bipin Jibhkate in Mumbai. “They say they are not able to concentrate well. They frequently feel the need to rest or sleep. It’s affecting their quality of life. If earlier they could walk 5km in one hour, now they can walk only 2km,” said Jibhkate, consultant critical care medicine, Wockhardt hospital, Mira Road, Mumbai.
A classic feature of this condition is that it’s difficult to diagnose. All investigations and reports come normal. “Misdiagnosis is common in fibromyalgia. It needs thorough clinical examination and detailed history taking. There’s no one test for it and even among physicians it’s not well recognised,” said Sen. There’s no official data to indicate its prevalence in Indian population but in the US, 5% of all patients coming to pain clinics have fibromyalgia.