Actress Priya Mohan reveals health battle with fibromyalgia: Why is it an 'invisible illness' with no cure

Actress Priya Mohan and husband Nihal Pillai have been avid travel vloggers for a long time, but of late, they have noticeably been less active. On their channel, ' Oru Happy Family,' they recently revealed the reasons for the same. Apparently, Priya, who is part of the Mollywood film family consisting of her sister Poornima Indrajith, Indrajith and Prithviraj Sukumaran and more, has been diagnosed with a disease which she has been suffering from for the past 1.5 years. The condition, called 'Fibromyalgia,' is something that causes widespread body pain. 

Apparently, it started as occasional body pain, which gave others around the impression that she is just being lazy. The stress in her life worsened it, says the couple. Her body was visibly inflamed with swelling around cheeks and eyes, but they didn't go for a diagnosis, being busy with various matters. At one point, she couldn't even get herself into a car like Innova with a little bit of height, though she looked healthy enough, says Nihal. She even slipped and fell into the bathroom once and couldn't get herself up. But it helped her understand that her condition is extremely worse. 

What is fibromyalgia
According to Mayo Clinic, Fibromyalgia is a condition that changes brain and spinal cord. "The change involves an irregular rise in levels of certain chemicals in the brain that signal pain," as per the platform. The various factors that lead to these changes are said to be certain gene changes that run in families, various illnesses that can trigger it and certain physical events like car accidents. Stress is also quoted as a possible factor that triggers the condition. However, experts aren't exactly sure what causes fibromyalgia. Therefore, it's difficult to prevent it and treatment mostly involves management of symptoms, says the Cleveland Clinic. It is also often termed an 'invisible illness' as its debilitating pain or fatigue symptoms can't be recognised easily. 

Symptoms of the disease
1) Widespread body pain
2) Extreme fatigue
3) Disrupted sleep
4) Difficulty to think with clarity
5) Migraine
6) Painful bladder syndrome
7) Irritable bowel syndrome
8) Depression
9) Post-COVID syndrome 
10) Anxiety