Fibromyalgia (FM) is a confusing condition with many symptoms. While no one knows the cause or indeed has a cure for this syndrome, it affects a large proportion of people, mostly women between the ages of 20 to 50.  Fibromyalgia is a syndrome rather than a disease. Unlike a disease, which is a medical condition with a specific cause or causes and recognizable signs and symptoms, a syndrome is a collection of signs, symptoms, and medical problems that tend to occur together but are not related to a specific, identifiable cause.

It does not cause inflammation and cannot be diagnosed with X-rays, blood tests or samples of muscle tissue.  Fibromyalgia is often treated by rheumatologists, pain specialists or neurologists. These specialists may help you get a diagnosis.  FM is not a life-threatening, deforming, or progressive disease. The symptoms are variable. It is one of the most common syndromes affecting the muscles, tendons, and joints in women.  Many health care professionals still do not recognize the condition as a disorder, most likely, because x-rays, blood tests, and biopsies often show no prevalent evidence to support the patient's complaints.  This syndrome is a chronic musculoskeletal syndrome characterized by pain, achiness, tenderness, and stiffness in the muscle tissue, ligaments, and tendons.  It most frequently affects the neck, shoulders, chest, legs, and lower back.

Diagnosis of fibromyalgia requires a history of at least three months of widespread pain, and pain and tenderness in at least eleven of eighteen tender-point sites. These tender-point sites include fibrous tissue or muscles of the neck, shoulders, chest, rib cage, lower back, thighs, knees, arms, elbows, and buttocks.

FM is not always easy to diagnose because many of the symptoms mimic those of other disorders, there are no visible signs of the disorder that a physician can see and there is no definitive laboratory tests.  The diagnosis is a clinical diagnosis.  Those who live with this type of chronic pain sometimes also suffer from an anxiety disorder. 

Fatigue is a key factor in fibromyalgia. Some healthcare professionals believe that fatigue may occur because the person doesn't get enough deep, restful sleep.  Fatigue, lethargy, depression, sleep disturbances, bowel irregularities, cognitive difficulties, and other symptoms also may be present.  FM is a complex disease that is influenced by multiple factors, including hormonal and psychological issues. For instance, the increased prevalence of fibromyalgia in women suggests a hormonal influence.

This syndrome is considered a muscle condition.  It is not a form of arthritis (a disease of the joints) because it does not cause inflammation in the joints.   It is a reaction of the body to chronic stress (usually appearing in women after episodes of significant stress in their lives). 

Patients with FM have been found to have elevated levels of substance P in their spinal fluid, a chemical that helps transmit pain signals from the brain. Scientists are currently investigating how the brain and spinal cord process pain and how substance P and other neurotransmitters fit into the process.  

Fibromyalgia is an extremely common chronic condition that can be challenging to manage, but seems to respond to lower levels of stress, deep sleep routines, some medications, exercise and things such as massage, herbal treatments and other natural remedies.  Many people are able to keep their FM in check and not let it control them.

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