Orthostatic stress testing in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue
syndrome (ME/CFS) patients with or without concomitant fibromyalgia:
effects on pressure pain thresholds and temporal summation
Abstract
Introduction: muscle pain/fibromyalgia (FM) is common among individuals
with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We
recently demonstrated that during orthostatic stress testing, adults
with ME/CFS reported increased pain. In the current study, we
hypothesized that pain pressure thresholds (PPT) would decrease and
temporal summation (windup) would increase after head-up tilt testing
(HUT), and that the presence of co-morbid FM would be associated with
greater change in both measures. Methods and Results: 248 ME/CFS
patients (164 with FM and84 without FM), and 22 healthy controls (HC)
were analyzed. In HC there were no significant differences in PPT
between pre- and post-HUT (finger: from 4.7(1.6) to 4.4(1.5); shoulder:
from 2.8(1.0) to 2.9(1.0)). In ME/CFS patients with and without FM, a
significant decrease in PPT post-HUT was found compared to HC (both
p<0.0001). Patients with FM had a lower PPT pre- and post-HUT
(finger: from 2.0(0.9) to 1.5(0.8); shoulder: from 1.2(0.5) to 1.0(0.5)
compared to patients without FM (finger: from 5.0(1.6) to 3.3(1.5);
shoulder: from 2.2(0.9) to1.9(1.0) (p ranging from 0.001 to
<0.0001). In contrast to HC in ME/CFS patients windup was
increased compared to HC pre-HUT (both p<0.0001), but did not
significantly change post-HUT. Conclusions: Pressure pain threshold
decreased in ME/CFS patients with or without fibromyalgia after head-up
tilt test (HUT), compared to healthy controls. Windup pre-and post-HUT
was significantly higher compared to healthy controls, but did not
change from pre- to post-HUT. These results demonstrate that, like
exercise, orthostatic stress can negatively influence the physiology of
pain perception in ME/CFS.