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UF Center for Musculoskeletal Pain Research

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Gainesville, FL
UF Center for Musculoskeletal Pain Research

The Center for Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research focuses on the study of musculoskeletal pain/fatigue

09/27/2025

What predictors do we have for who will go on to develop infection-associated chronic conditions (IACCs)? Female s*x is consistently linked to IACCs, which some scientists believe may provide clues to the mechanisms behind their development. Women are more susceptible to many immune-mediated conditions. Severity of the initial infection is also related to a higher risk of developing infection-associated chronic conditions, but they have also been reported in individuals who had mild or asymptomatic infections. A prospective, longitudinal study of college students identified 238 students who developed infectious mononucleosis. Of those students, 48 met the criteria for CFS 6 months after the initial infection and 18 students met more than two criteria for CFS. Compared to a control group of 58 students who had recovered from the infection, the 18 students who met two criteria for CFS had higher reports of stomach pain, bloating, and irritable bowel syndrome at baseline. They also had lower levels of the immune markers IL-13/IL-5.

09/25/2025

Long COVID offers a unique opportunity as an infection-associated chronic conditions (IACCs) as these conditions are typically identified long after the acute phase of the illness, past the point where you are able to identify the illness itself. In the context of the pandemic, many more individuals were testing and documenting their illness and there were fewer other illnesses (common cold, influenza, rhinovirus) spreading around that time. Many scientists believe Long COVID and CFS likely share root causes, like immune dysfunction, lingering viruses or viral remnants, reactivation of latent viruses, and disruption of the microbiome. If scientists can find biomarkers and effective treatments for long COVID, these discoveries may lead to similar breakthroughs for CFS, which has been underfunded and overlooked for decades.

09/23/2025

Not all infections end when the fever breaks. Some people never fully recover from viral or bacterial infections. Several names have been used to describe this phenomenon, including infection-associated chronic conditions (IACCs) and post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS). Many infections have been found to trigger long-lasting symptoms, including Epstein-Barr, influenza, polio, Ebola and most recently in the news, COVID. These long-lasting symptoms are very similar to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), with a range of symptoms—including post-exertional malaise, fatigue, brain fog, pain and poor sleep. Long COVID has brought more attention to this problem, as a high proportion of individuals with long COVID meet CFS criteria and the NIH launched their RECOVER initiative to better understand, prevent and treat long COVID.

09/17/2025

Tonmya (cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride) was recently approved by the FDA as a treatment for fibromyalgia. This is the first new treatment approved in 15 years, joining pregabalin (Lyrica), duloxetine (Cymbalta), and milnacipran HCl (Savella). You may recognize cyclobenzaprine as has been previously approved as an oral form as a muscle relaxant. Tonmya is a sublingual tablet designed to dissolve under the tongue and allow for rapid absorption. It is meant to be used before bedtime and significantly reduced daily pain scores when compared to placebo in two phase 3 trials. A third phase 3 trial found a reduction in pain scores, but they were not statistically significant. Among all 3 trials, the drug was well tolerated with mild side effects including oral numbness, discomfort or pain, dry mouth, canker sores, fatigue and drowsiness. It’s expected to become available next month.

09/11/2025

As we shared in our last post, autoantibodies are antibodies that attack your body’s own tissues and they have been found in a subset of fibromyalgia patients (FMS). The current study looked for some of these same autoantibodies in individuals with long-COVID, who suffer from many symptoms similar to FMS. The investigators evaluated 18 patients who reported significant pain and fatigue at least 4 weeks after recovering from COVID and 18 patients who had recovered completely. Similar to FMS Patients, they found autoantibodies to glial cells in both the FMS and both the long-COVID patients and recovered patients. After isolating these antibodies, they injected them into mice. The antibodies from the FMS patients were associated with more pain sensitivity and weaker muscles, but the antibodies from the post COVID patients did not significantly change pain sensitivity, muscle strength or the working memory of the mice. This fact suggests a different pain mechanism, maybe because long-COVID patients often have more localized pain complaints than FM patients. More research is needed to better understand the role of these autoantibodies fore FMS pain sensitivity and pain.

09/09/2025

Autoantibodies are generated by patients to attack their body’s own tissues. A group of researchers recently tried to assess their role in fibromyalgia (FMS). They tested blood from 184 patients with FMS, 25 healthy controls, and 30 disease controls with primarily neuropathies and myositis. They found that 68 of the FMS patients had autoantibodies, but none of the healthy participants or disease controls. These antibodies were bound to neurons that sense and transmit pain and glial cells that provide support for the nerves. Certain subgroups of the antibody patterns were associated with symptoms (like burning pain, stabbing pain and tingling). The presence of autoantibodies also correlated with lower pain scores. A better understanding of the subgroups of patients and the role of the immune system may lead to better and more personalized treatments in patients with FMS.

07/29/2025

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating whole grains, beans, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts and olive oil. These foods are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and have been found to be low-antigen and anti-inflammatory. A recent review analyzed 10 studies on the effects of diet on fibromyalgia. They found that the Mediterranean diet had a positive impact on pain intensity, fatigue, anxiety and bone density. The authors hypothesize that changes in the gut microbiome may play a role.

07/18/2025

Tirzepatide (like Mounjaro and Zepbound) and semaglutide (like Ozempic) are GLP-1 agonists that have been found to be successful in managing diabetes and weight loss. A 72-week study compared weight loss between these two medications in non-diabetic, overweight adults who reported at least one unsuccessful dietary effort for weight loss. The mean percent change in body weight was -20.2% with tirzepatide and -13.7% with semaglutide. On both medications, men lost less weight compared to women. Weight loss, waist circumference and blood pressure also decreased on both medications, but had a stronger effect in the tirzepatide group. However, both GLP-1 agonists are associated with a greater loss of fat-free body mass, which includes muscle. Loss of muscle can lead to sarcopenia and is associated with weakness, falls and fractures. If you’re taking a GLP-1 agonist, it’s important to make sure you are maintaining physical activity to try to counteract any muscle loss.

04/19/2025

What is chronic pain resilience? The ability to preserve functioning despite the chronic pain. To do problem solving in the face of adversity and not give up when things get difficult. Everyone needs resilience because everyone faces stressors in life. There are two types of resilient factors, those that cannot be changed (e.g. genetics) and those that can, which will be the focus of upcoming posts. Indeed, the key to becoming more resilient is improving the things you can and not worrying about the things you can’t change. In an acute context, pain always signals damage and therefore your attention is focused strongly on your pain. However, chronic musculoskeletal pain no longer signals acute physical damage, rather it is the result of functional deficiencies which require tissue restructuring. To perform this restructuring process, one must relearn the lost functions and tolerate some pain. However, if you want to regain lost functions it will be worth the effort.

04/05/2025

A study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic examined the effects of sleeping with a weighted blankets on chronic pain relief, focusing on whether heavier blankets could provide more pain relief than lighter ones. The study involved 94 adults with chronic pain, and participants were randomly assigned to use either a 15-pound (heavy) or a 5-pound (light) weighted blanket. The results showed that the heavier blanket significantly reduced chronic pain perceptions compared to the lighter blanket, especially in individuals with high anxiety. The pain relief, however, was not linked to changes in anxiety or sleep, suggesting that the pressure from the weighted blanket might help alleviate pain through other mechanisms, like its calming or comforting effects. Therefore, using a 15-pound weighted blanket could be a low-cost, accessible tool for improving chronic pain, particularly for those with high anxiety, and simultaneously, offering an alternative to drug-based treatments.

04/02/2025

Do you have trouble sleeping because of repetitive or worrisome thoughts when you lie in bed? One way to reduce repetitive thinking is by using the cognitive shuffling method. This technique is used to provide sleep-inducing thoughts by shuffling various unrelated words and images in your head to mimic the ordered chaos needed to fall asleep. Here’s how to do it: Pick a seed word that has at least five unique letters and use each letter of the seed word to come up with more words that start with the same letter. For example, choose “bedtime” and start imagining words that start with “B”, like “bank” or “broom”, spending a few seconds on each word until you run out of words. Then move on to “E.” If you come up with a word that is difficult to imagine, skip the word and try again, or move on to the next letter of your seed word. The ultimate goal is to reduce distressing and recurring thoughts and to tell the mind that it is safe and okay to sleep.

03/28/2025

Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals that our bodies use in trace amounts to maintain normal function in organs, tissues, and cells. There are 20 micronutrients including lettered vitamins such as A, C, D, E, and several numbered B vitamins as well as a variety of microminerals including iron, zinc and iodine. Most foods contain some amounts of micronutrients, but if the food is heavily processed or not enriched or fortified with vitamins and minerals, it may have few micronutrients per serving. Micronutrient deficiencies are not common in the US, but that doesn’t mean you are getting enough vitamins and minerals to maximize your health. To ensure enough daily micronutrients, you should focus on eating a varied diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats. If you don’t eat meat, it might also be a good idea to supplement with vitamin B12 and iron. If you don’t eat dairy, then a vitamin D supplements might be beneficial. If you are feeling tired and low in energy, make sure you are meeting dietary requirements for your age.

Address

1600 SW Archer Road, Rm G-056
Gainesville, FL
32610

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

(352) 265-8901

Website

http://rheum.med.ufl.edu/

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