Weight gain
Weight gain can be a cardinal feature of fibromyalgia. There are several causes that can lead to weight gain.
Fatigue is one of the main causes of gain of weight in these patients. Fibromyalgia starts a wake-like disturbance in the brainwave pattern during sleep. This doesn’t allow the patient to take restorative rest.
Sleep apnea at night time can which further increases tiredness. Patient is unable to do any physical activity eventually leading to excessive weight.
One research found that a disrupted sleep can lead to increased hypocretin production. This causes increase in appetite of the person. When hypocretin levels rise they can cause fatigue and overeating.
In addition to fatigue, constant pain in the patients restricts the ability to exercise daily which makes them prone to gain weight. Apart from this, prescribed drugs taken to cure depression can also gain in weight. Duloxetine is one of the main examples which is taken to treat fibromyalgia associated-depression. It can cause increased appetite, fluid retention and weight gain.