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Two to four per cent of the population, predominantly women, are affected by fibromyalgia. If you are unlucky enough to be one of those people, the symptoms will soon let you know.

The most obvious symptom is persistent pain, often accompanied by stiffness on awakening or being in one position for a long time. You have tender points on your arms, legs and trunk, to the point that you don't like to be touched. You may also experience joint pain. However, there is no inflammation in the joints. Other than the misery you are feeling, you don't appear to be sick at all.

The American College of Rheumatology guidelines direct doctors making a fibromyalgia diagnosis to test 18 points on the body for tenderness by putting light pressure on them. Pain at 11 or more points may indicate fibromyalgia. However, there may be days when the pain is lessened, or completely absent.

The chronic pain is generally accompanied by fatigue. Even if you sleep an adequate length of time, it fails to refresh you, and you drag yourself around all day. You may experience insomnia. Restless leg syndrome is a common co-symptom of fibromyalgia.

Your digestive system may be in constant turmoil, with bloating, constipation alternating with diarrhea (irritable bowel syndrome).

Widespread pain, chronic fatigue, and irritable bowel syndrome are the most common symptoms. However, many fibromyalgia sufferers experience other symptoms as well, that wax and wane erratically, to the point of questioning their own sanity.

You may experience muscle spasms, leg cramps, numbness or tingling in the face, arms, hands legs, or feet. You may have a feeling that your feet are swollen, even when they aren't. You may have reduced tolerance for exercise, and feel muscle pain afterward.

You may become hypersensitive to odors, noise, bright lights, cold, or certain foods and medications. You may experience nausea or dizziness.

You may be in a "fibro fog", unable to concentrate or remember.

You may have an irritable bladder, requiring frequent trips to the bathroom. Pelvic pain and painful menstrual periods are also common.

You may have tension or migraine headaches, facial pain, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), dry eyes or a dry mouth.

Anxiety, mood swings and depression are also party of the clinical picture of fibromyalgia. Dark emotions tend increase the pain, making you feel even worse and creating a vicious cycle.

The severity of the symptoms may change depending on the time of day. 11 AM to 3 PM tends to be the best time. Morning, late afternoon, and evening are generally more difficult. Fatigue, tension, inactivity, weather changes, cold, overexertion, hormonal fluctuations, stress and emotional factors can all conspire to make things worse. Symptoms may continue indefinitely, or disappear for months and then recur.

Do not try to diagnose fibromyalgia on your own! The symptoms may be related to another health problem, such as hypothyroidism, polymyalgia rheumatica, or rheumatic disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Medical testing is necessary to eliminate these and other possibilities before a positive diagnosis of fibromyalgia can be made.

Sources and resources:
http://www.mayoclini c.com/health/fibromyalgia/DS00 079
Mayo clinic fibromyalgia information

http://www.fmaware. org/site/PageServer
National Fibromyalgia Association

http://www.webmd.co m/fibromyalgia/guide/understan ding-fibromyalgia-symptoms
list of symptoms

http://www.rheumatolog y.org/public/factsheets/fibrom ya_new.asp?aud=pat
American College of Rheumatology

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