Fibromyalgia (FM) is a poorly-understood chronic disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points. The word fibromyalgia comes from the Latin term for fibrous tissue (fibro) and the Greek ones for muscle (myo) and pain (algia). Tender points are specific places on the body, neck, shoulders, back, hips, and upper and lower extremities where people with FM feel pain in response to slight pressure. The image to your right indicated the 18 tender point locations on the body.

Although FM is often considered an arthritis-related condition, it is not truly a form of arthritis (a disease of the joints) because it does not cause inflammation or damage to the joints, muscles, or other tissues. Like arthritis, however, FM can cause significant pain and fatigue, and it can interfere with a person's ability to carry on daily activities. Also like arthritis, FM is considered a rheumatic condition.

Even physicians do not always agree on whether a disease is considered rheumatic. If you look up the word in the dictionary, you'll find it comes from the Greek word rheum, which means flux, not an explanation that gives you a better understanding. In medicine, however, the term rheumatic means a medical condition that impairs the joints and/or soft tissues and causes chronic pain.

While FM is one of the most common diseases affecting the muscles, its cause is currently unknown. The painful tissues involved are not accompanied by tissue inflammation. Therefore, despite potentially disabling body pain, patients with FM do not develop body damage or deformity. FM also does not cause damage to internal body organs. Therefore, FM is different from many other rheumatic conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, and polymyositis). In those diseases, tissue inflammation is the major cause of pain, stiffness and tenderness of the joints, tendons and muscles, and it can lead to joint deformity and damage to the internal organs or muscles.

• Widespread Musculoskeletal Pain
• Non restorative Sleep
• Fatigue
• Psychological Distress
• Specific Regions of Localized Tenderness

People with FM may also have other symptoms such as:

• Morning stiffness
• Tingling or numbness in hands and feet
• Headaches, including migraines
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Problems with thinking and memory (sometimes called "fibro fog")
• Painful menstrual periods and other pain syndromes

The earliest onset of FM can occur in childhood, however most people believe their pain originated in their early 20's and 30's. Although genetic research is just beginning, there is already evidence that FM runs in some families leading researchers to believe it may be hereditary. Although men and women are both effected by FM, women make up the majority of those effected. The reason is unknown.

Years Spent Searching For Help

If you've been from one doctor to another looking for a correct diagnosis, you're not alone. It takes many years for most FM patients to receive an accurate diagnosis. Many times this is because FM mimics other illnesses. Often times it's because many physicians don't understand FM, or don't believe it to be a real illness.