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Up until the middle of last year I could jump out of bed like a young teenage girl. I noticed that after losing my job, certainly a job that had contributed to my high blood pressure, it was getting more and more difficult to get out of bed. I was in pain all the time. Some days when trying to get out of bed I would almost be in tears from the pain, and yet other days I felt no pain at all. I felt tired all the time even though I get adequate sleep. I suffer from what I now know is called restless leg syndrome as many times in the past I have felt the weird feeling in my legs which made me feel uncomfortable and I felt like I had to get up and walk around, stretching just didn't do it. Pressure on some parts of my upper body brings pain and my hands and feet feel like they are swollen. Could I be suffering from Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is characterised as a chronic condition with wide spread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons. The sufferer will have chronic fatigue and multiple tender points, which are places on your body where when slight pressure is applied causes pain. It occurs in two percent of the population in the United States and is more likely to develop in women then in men.

Symptoms can be triggered by emotional as well as physical trauma but in many cases there is no trigger. Signs and symptoms can vary depending on the weather, stress, physical activity or different times of the day. Symptoms also differ from person to person. Pain is described as a constant dull ache in the muscles which occurs on both sides of the body, upper and lower parts. Tender points on the body are areas such as the back of the head, between the shoulders, top of the shoulders, front sides of the neck, upper chest, outer elbows, upper hips, side of hips and the inner knees. A person suffering from fibromyalgia often wake up feeling tired even when they have gotten sufficient sleep. Experts believe this is caused by the sufferer never reaching deep sleep levels. Other sleep disorders linked to fibromyalgia are restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea. People suffering from fibromyalgia may also suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, anxiety, endometriosis, headaches and migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, osteoarthritis and post traumatic stress disorder.

Doctors are still not sure what causes fibromyalgia, and most likely is caused by a number of factors. Researchers have found that people suffering from fibromyalgia have elevated

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