Hollywood actress Olivia Munn struggled for years with chronic pain, fatigue, stress and fluctuating weight loss/gain until she discovered she had Fibromyalgia. With demanding shooting schedules and continually being in the public eye, Olivia suffered for years while trainers, doctors and nutritionists attempted to find solutions. It took a ton of research and a team of doctors at the UCLA medical center to determine what the culprit was finally. 

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain and spinal cord process painful and nonpainful signals.

Symptoms often begin after an event, such as physical trauma, surgery, infection or significant psychological stress. In other cases, symptoms gradually accumulate over time with no single triggering event.

Women are more likely to develop fibromyalgia than are men. Many people who have fibromyalgia also have tension headaches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression.

An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. There are at least 80 types of autoimmune diseases. Nearly any body part can be involved. Common symptoms include low grade fever and feeling tired. Often symptoms come and go.

While there is no cure for fibromyalgia, a variety of medications can help control symptoms. Exercise, relaxation and stress-reduction measures also may help.

Much of the time, fibromyalgia is an illness of flares and remissions. You'll feel not-too-bad for a while, then get knocked down by symptoms for days or weeks, then get back to feeling…well, not as horrible.

For more information: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354780

https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/fibromyalgia.htm

https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/fibromyalgia

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Olivia Munn’s credits include: The Newsroom, Date Night, Iron Man 2, Magic Mike, Deliver Us from Evil, X-Men: Apocalypse, The Lego Ninjago Movie, Six, and The Predator

To connect with Oliva: Twitter | Instagram

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