Fibromyalgia Symptoms and Top 10 List Checker
Pain all over is the hallmark of fibromyalgia, but this syndrome causes many more symptoms.1 Chances are you feel exhausted and your ability to think or find the right word is impaired (a symptom called fibro fog).2 Sleep is often disrupted and most patients wake up stiff and achy.3 Your variety of symptoms can be debilitating, but the tests your doctor orders usually imply you are healthy.4 It’s understandable to be shocked that you feel so lousy without laboratory evidence or obvious signs to prove what is wrong.
If your widespread pain were not enough, you probably have tight, knotted muscles, that hurt when pressed and cause additional pain to radiate to other areas.5 These firm knots are myofascial trigger points. They overlap substantially with tender points, and the more you have, the worse your overall fibromyalgia pain.6 Trigger points tend to occur in muscles that get the greatest use and may explain why you hurt more in your neck, shoulders, low back, hips, and forearms.
Between your symptoms of pain, fatigue, trouble sleeping and fibro fog, you probably feel as though you have to push yourself to get anything done.7 Your skin may burn, and your muscles may cramp or twitch. People with fibromyalgia often describe their symptoms as a flu-like infection that doesn’t go away.
Top 10 Symptoms
- Pain all over
- Fatigue
- Sleep difficulties
- Brain fog
- Morning stiffness
- Muscle knots, cramping, weakness
- Digestive disorders
- Headaches/migraines
- Balance problems
- Itchy/burning skin
Most Common Symptoms
Fibromyalgia causes so many symptoms, you may feel like a hypochondriac because no one can see what you are going through. In addition to the invisible nature of your condition, there is tremendous variability between one patient’s symptoms and another. This situation causes physicians to be perplexed and patients to be frustrated.
Although lab tests may reveal nothing, fibromyalgia can still be diagnosed by a physical exam that looks for the presence of 18 tender areas. These regions usually contain a knotted muscle (i.e., a trigger point), which is why pressing on these areas confirms for your doctor your pain is everywhere.8
Read about the top 10 symptoms.
Other Aggravating Factors
There are many symptoms associated with fibromyalgia that are not as common, but can be just as distressing. They may come and go, or change without reason, which may be baffling to you. Many of these symptoms could be related to other illnesses, so always check with your doctor before assuming it is your fibromyalgia.
In addition, there are several factors that can make your fibromyalgia worse, and you may be able to avoid them by using preventative measures.
Learn about less common symptoms and aggravating factors.
Fibromyalgia Quick Facts
- Affects 3 to 5 percent of the general population9
- Occurs in people of all ages, even children
- Men develop fibromyalgia too, although more women are diagnosed with it
- Symptoms are chronic but may fluctuate throughout the day
- Roughly one-quarter of people with fibromyalgia are work-disabled4
- Three drugs are FDA-approved for fibromyalgia and more are being developed
Don’t Just Put Up With These Symptoms, Learn How to Treat Them
We go to the medical conferences, interview the researchers, talk to the treatment experts, and package it all into helpful original articles that you can’t find anywhere else.
Let us do the work for you. Get our quarterly Fibromyalgia Network Journal and monthly eNews Alerts when you become a Member.
Join Today or learn about Member benefits.
More Basic Info is available at the following:
» Diagnosis | » Treatment | » Related Conditions | » Research