# Menstrual cycle in Fibromyalgia patients



## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

This was posted to the Co-Cure Emailing List:*************************************************Menstrual cycle influences on pain and emotion in women with fibromyalgiaJournal of Psychosomatic Research, Volume 57, Issue 5 , November 2004,Pages 451-458Authors: Carmen Alonso [*], Barbara L. Loevinger, Daniel Muller andChristopher L. CoeAffiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, 1202 WestJohnson Street, Madison, WI 53706-1696, United States[*] Corresponding author: Tel.: +1 608 262 5346; fax: +1 608 262 4029.E-Mail: calonso###wisc.eduReceived 30 September 2003;accepted 12 May 2004.Available online 2 December 2004.AbstractObjective: This study examined the influence of the menstrual cycle on painand emotion in women with fibromyalgia (FM) as compared with women withrheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to healthy controls.Methods: One hundred and twenty-five premenopausal women (21-45 years old)participated in this study (57 with FM, 20 with RA, and 48 controls). Painand emotion assessments were conducted during the follicular and the lutealphases of the menstrual cycle.Results: Women with FM experienced more pain, menstrual symptoms, andnegative affect than did women with RA and the controls. All women reportedless positive affect during the luteal phase, although this pattern wasmore pronounced in women with FM and RA than in controls.Conclusion: Although FM pain did not vary across the menstrual cycle, theseresults point to the importance of considering the lower level and cyclicalnature of positive affect when studying women with chronic pain.Keywords: Emotion; Fibromyalgia; Menstrual cycle; Pain; Rheumatoid arthritisCopyright ï¿½ 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.************************************************


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