The relation of fibromyalgia and fibromyalgia symptoms to self-reported seizures

Abstract

Objective Several epidemiological and clinical reports associate fibromyalgia (FM) with seizure disorders, and clinical studies associate FM diagnosis with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. However, these associations rely on self-reports of being diagnosed with FM or unstandardized clinical diagnosis in combination with small samples. We investigated the association of FM and self-reported seizures using a large rheumatic disease databank and the current established self-reported, symptom-based FM diagnostic criteria. Methods We selected a random observation from 11,378 subjects with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 2,390 (21.0%) of whom satisfied 2016 revised criteria for FM. Patients were inquired about the presence of any kind of seizures in the previous 6 months, anti-epileptic medications, and patient-reported symptoms and outcomes. Results Seizures were reported by 89 RA patients who met FM criteria (FM+) and by 97 patients who did not (FM-), resulting in an age- and sex-adjusted seizure prevalence of 3.74 (95% CI 2.95 to 4.53) per 100 FM+ subjects and 1.08 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.30) in FM- subjects. The seizure odds ratio of FM+ to FM- cases was 3.54 (95% CI 2.65 to 4.74). Seizures were associated to a very similar degree with symptom reporting (somatic symptom count and comorbidity index) as to FM diagnosis variables. RA patients reporting seizures also reported worse pain, quality of life, and functional status. Seizure patients treated with anti-seizure medication had worse outcomes and more comorbidities than seizure patients with no seizure drugs. Conclusions We found a significant and similar association of both FM diagnostic variables and FM-related symptom variables, including the number of symptoms and comorbidities, with self-reported seizures in people with RA. The observed association was similar to those found in previous studies of symptoms variables and seizures and does not suggest a unique role for fibromyalgia diagnosis. Rather, it suggests that multi-symptom comorbidity is linked to seizures in a complex and not yet clearly understood way. As the current study relied on self-reported seizures and was not able to distinguish between epileptic and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, future studies are needed to replicate the findings using both validated FM criteria assessments and clinically verified diagnoses of epileptic and psychogenic seizures.

Fibromyalgia Detection Based on EEG Connectivity Patterns

“…A higher frequency of spike-type grapho-elements was found in patients (17.8%) than in controls (0%), with potential symptomatic seizures from irritation of neighboring cerebral cortical tissue located on the right occipital and parietal regions [ 35 ]. This is a common finding, as nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are frequently found in FM patients [ 46 , 47 , 48 ].…”

Research Trends of Acupuncture Therapy on Fibromyalgia from 2000 to 2021: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Wolfe Frederick has engaged in the study of new clinical symptoms, the evaluation of treatment criteria, and the phenomenon of multimorbidity of fibromyalgia Syndrome in recent years. [32][33][34] Wolfe Frederick is the most cited and influential author in the field of acupuncture for fibromyalgia, as assessed by CiteSpace software, indicating that Wolfe Frederick's scientific findings are heavily cited by researchers in the field of acupuncture for fibromyalgia. As a long-time leading expert on the diagnostic criteria and pathogenic factors of fibromyalgia, Wolfe Frederick has been cited by researchers in the field of acupuncture for fibromyalgia, despite not having published directly on the subject, which makes him the most influential author in the field.…”