Patients with "Fibromyalgia" have higher incidence of Irritable bowel Syndrome
Taiwanese researchers reviewed a nationwide database and found that indivudals diagnosed with fibromyalgia-- muscle pain, myofascial pain, sleep issues, etc. had a higher incidence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The frequency compared to the rest of the population without pain was about twice as much. This is interested because in our conception many people diagnosed with fibromyalgia have TMS, tension myositis syndrome, tension myoneural syndrome, the mindbody syndrome (TMS). One of the clear associations that I have seen in my clinical work is that irritable bowel syndrome very commonly precedes or is associated with the TMS prone individual.
This independent confirmation from Taiwan supports the connection between these conditions which remain ill-defined and difficult to treat in conventional medicine. In my experience a mindbody approach, focusing on education, psychology, journaling, stress awareness and processing is highly effective for both muscle pains and IBS.
I'm wondering how many reading this who have TMS or myalgia or myofascial pain also have Irritable bowel syndrome currently or in the past?